Recommend a Novice Course / Club

Boots2006

Hi all,

I'm looking to join a golf club to get a handicap. I'm not really prepared to pay 000's to join a club, and was considering Elm Green or Corballis to get me going.

I've been playing for over 10 years, but only 2 or 3 times a year, so I can hit the ball, just not very consistently!

Am I better off in Elm Green (an easier course I think), in order to get a lower handicap, or should I go for Corballis and get a higher handicap?

Any other suggestions for a suitable course (preferably North Dublin)?

Boots

Sandwich

Your skill should not be a factor in choosing the coarse.The difficulty of the course will not affect your handicap.

Not familiar with either track but would recommend choosing the better/moreinteresting/varied/well kept course.
If you feel the quality of the course is not important to you then base it on;convenience, cost, do you know people there, aesthetics. Easy/hard is not important at all.

Boots2006

Thanks for the quick reply. Corballis is the closer one, and its more interesting (to me anyway), as its on the sea. The greens are very good too.

I thought the handicap system was to even out players, and was based on average of 3 scorecards around the course. If the course is difficult, and I take loads of shots, then surely I would end up with a big number for handicap?

Ta me anseo

Boots2006 wrote:

If the course is difficult, and I take loads of shots, then surely I would end up with a big number for handicap?

But if it's difficult, then everyone will take loads of shots!! So, you will fit into the same position in a field of 100 players say, as you would have at Elm Green. It's all relative!

If you play better than Joe Bloggs but not as good as Jeremy Bloggs, then that will always be the case regardless of the course. You will have a lower handicap than Joe but a higher one than Jeremy!

At Corballis, you may score 100, Joe 110 and Jeremy 90. At Elm Green perhaps it might be you 95, Joe 105, Jeremy 85. But your handicaps will still be same!

Davidth88

Both tracks I think are run by Carr Golf for Finglas CC.

Elm Green is a parkland course , Corballis a links ( for those of you who don't know them ) .

Played Elm Green last week , it is in great nick, never played Corballis but always had good reports on it.

It's horses for courses , do you want to play links or parkland on a regular basis ? Links golf is great fun , but think of the weather/shelter etc , I don't know what Corballis is like but often on links courses they require a certain dedication to the sport if you know what I mean

I agree what the other guys are saying here , don't pick a course to ' suit your handicap ' because it doesn't really out that way.

Mister Sifter

i play Em Green quite a bit as it is close to the house, it is indeed in great nick at the moment. I'd imagine it would be a great course for a beginner. I play off 3 but still enjoy it, even though i'm hitting half a wedge for most second shots.

On the handicap side of things, i think i'm correct in saying that the standard scratch score is a good few shots less than par at Elm Green... maybe someone else can confirm / or deny. Not sure about Corballis. Keep meaning to get up and play it.

Hollystown could be another option for you.

GreenHorn

Graeme1982 wrote:

i play Em Green quite a bit as it is close to the house, it is indeed in great nick at the moment. I'd imagine it would be a great course for a beginner. I play off 3 but still enjoy it, even though i'm hitting half a wedge for most second shots.

On the handicap side of things, i think i'm correct in saying that the standard scratch score is a good few shots less than par at Elm Green... maybe someone else can confirm / or deny. Not sure about Corballis. Keep meaning to get up and play it.

Hollystown could be another option for you.

On hte subject of Elm Green, it was mentioend to me recently that their SSS may be inaccurate and they're supposedly notorious for dishing out unfair, unrealistic handicaps... I was given 14 there when I was realistically an 18... I've never played to my handicap of 14 once (have it about a year).

Just making small talk with a chap the other week and he mentioned Elm Green had a rep for this...

Mind you, in my year there I really liked the place, just the wrong side of the M50 for me unfortunately...

Still, if you've a handicap of 14 around Elm Green, it means you're probably more like 16 in somewhere like Killeen and more like 18 in somewhere like Carton house...

Hence, the SSS thing I gather...