Random Golf Thoughts

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390102#Comment_119390102

Yeh my club (based in Tipperary) have been doing it for my whole life. Was an older fella who has since passed on but someone else started doing it then the last few years. Don't think the club officially operate it but it is fun looking at prices

I'd be skeptical mind you of max bet/max payout if you struck lucky

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390132#Comment_119390132

Bit of craic but somehow the prices always seem extremely accurate in our place.

There's no real limits on our one, you'll see serious money being exchanged.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390102#Comment_119390102

Yep, two clubs I was a member of do this

Bahanaman

The Black Tees Challenge in Macreddin.... Yay or nay?!

blue note

It's a very nice course, I'd go for yay. It's very tight for the back tees though. The fact that you've gorse either side of the fairway means you've a lot of last balls, especially if you're hitting line clubs. It sounds fun though!

blue note

I'd love to do the back tees challenge in Killeen Castle. Having played it from the whites, I think it looks great fun from the backs. If I drove it well I'd be leaving myself over 200m to the middle of the green on half of the par 4s I reckon. It just sounds nuts!

benny79

I done it in Palmerstown house in Naas a couple of years ago. A junior member of the club played off the whites with us on the day he was 80/100 yards ahead of us on a lot of the tee boxes 😂 Kept you more focused had 32pts after the 14th but my legs just gave in and was exhausted! Ended up scratching the last 4!

callaway92

Is Gort's Golf Club any use? I'm based in Clarecastle/Ennis and the lack of cleanly available Fixtures for Saturday (obviously requiring open comps) to view is frustrating

Shannon/Ennis/Woodstock/Dromoland all poor sites in their own rights

Anyway - Landed on Gort so have provisionally anyway put my name down so curious on any thoughts on their course

Sidenote - As I've often mentioned here, Golf course websites are genuinely the worst

Ivefoundgod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119394329#Comment_119394329

I'd agree about golf course websites being universally terrible but at the same time I don't particularly blame them. A members owned club would need to hire someone as a web admin if you want a well designed and maintained website. Thats not a justifiable expense and I think the vast majority of members would not be in favour of it. So that said you end up with some of the office staff as the web admins, depending on how the site was setup and if there a CMS then it might be difficult or awkward to post proper updates or new pages to the sites. Facebook/Twitter etc. are much simpler and is where most clubs seem to post their updates these days. I think with BRS handling bookings there isn't much value for a club to invest in a good website which is why you don't see many. Even higher end clubs have pretty rubbish sites in my experience too.

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119394825#Comment_119394825

Yeh exactly - The unfortunate thing in examples like this though is that I've ended up choosing Gort when potentially I'd have played Ennis/Woodstock/Dromoland/Shannon if they had fixtures readily available and had an Open comp. Ennis are the only club in Clare that show on https://www.brsgolf.com/opencomps/ireland which is frustrating.

Just look at Woodstock's website! ha

Ivefoundgod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119394843#Comment_119394843

Wow that Woodstock website is like something from 1995. Someone seems to be updating it though which is more than can be said for lots of sites.

Not using BRS for open comps is incredibly frustrating allright. I think all the in the surrounding counties near me use it so haven't had the hardship you've come across.

billy3sheets

Are ladies allowed to partake in back (black) tee competitions? Asking as these tees wouldn't normally be rated for ladies.

Mantis Toboggan

Anyone heading to the KClub this week? Lots of Irish in action.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119394329#Comment_119394329

Gort is a decent track, quite exposed but a good variety of holes, all largely in front of you so no undue suffering playing it for the first time.

callaway92

Nice one, thank you

In the mood to just get Driver out and let it fly, so that might suit me

coillcam

Picked up a Sim2 ti 3 wood recently on adverts. The thing is a cannon. I've hit a couple off the fairway that were pushing driver territory. Surprised with the forgiveness and launch. Fantastic club tbf.

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399053#Comment_119399053

Have to say, the course was really impressive

Unfortunately got saturated on Back 9 but greens had as nice a roll as I’ve ever seen

callaway92

Anyone have any idea of Open Comps in the Clare area on Tuesdays (specifically 9th August)

Anywhere in Clare or Galway/Clare border or Limerick-ish is fine

Thanks!

Rikand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390102#Comment_119390102

This was the first year that Athlone didnt run one. So when I was up in Castlebar last month, I stuck a couple of quid on a lad up there for a price of 16/1. Still waiting for the results to see if I won ;)

Mantis Toboggan

Anyone use the Garmin CT10 sensors?

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119412657#Comment_119412657

I doubt you would have got 16/1 on the winner. He's just after winning for the second year in a row earlier today. Amazingly consistent at this time of year.

How'd you find the new course, bit of a change since you were last there.

Rikand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119413502#Comment_119413502

Yes, a bit of a change. The last time I was up there was 2014. The 9th was the 18th the last time I played it. The new holes are grand. It's a lovely course ye have up there.

I was managing the all ireland fourball team that took out castlebar in the connacht semi finals. We have the connacht final next weekend now in roscommon against connemara isles. Should be a good one ;)

I had my money on DK. His short game in the match was out of this world. It wasn't until the 20th hole he came unstuck...

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119413753#Comment_119413753

Ah congrats, if I had of known I would have popped up. DK didn't feature today but I heard he played great that day, hadn't a lot of help on the day apparently.

The new holes are a nice addition but can't help but feel it was a missed opportunity to add some variation / a few dog legs imo.

Best of luck in the final. I think our PP's are playing the final in your club.

callaway92

Curious on people’s thoughts on Green Fees, especially bargaining on price

A Tipperary based course had a completely empty timesheet today (I’m a member in a different Tipp club)

Messaged them and said there was a 3 ball looking for a game around 15:30 and if there’d be any negotiation on the green fee price of €25

Response was price is the price

We left it and are playing a different course for a few quid less

Just found it disappointing that with a completely empty sheet they couldn’t cut a few quid off it (that probably would’ve been spent between stuff in pro shop and restaurant after the round anyway)

blue note

My thoughts are it's up to the club. Clubs might not want to get into a war undercutting each other because that's just a race to the bottom and I can appreciate that. That's kind of what happened during the NAMA years. Normal clubs (trying to balance their books) were competing with really good courses in NAMA who were charging pennies for a round of golf, just to get in whatever revenue they could. I'd say we were all getting those e-mails for 2 balls on really good courses for €25 and the like.

If they want to charge less than their advertised rate, particularly for a large group that's fair enough. But if there's no negotiation we can't really complain.

I rang Portmarnock links wondering if they did a twilight rate or the like and they don't either. It's a pity because if I found myself free some evening at 7 o'clock it would have been great to pop down there for 14 holes or whatever I could get in. But I certainly won't be paying whatever their GUI rate is now for it. At the end of the day though, it's up to them.

SuprSi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119412910#Comment_119412910

I have a full set of them to go with my Fenix watch. I find them good, accurate, though with a few issues like replacing the battery and making sure it's screwed back on fully so the battery (and cap) doesn't go flying somewhere. The stats in the app are reasonable but the interface is clunky and I'm sure they could make much more use of what's captured.

I already had my watch so it made sense for me to get them, even if they are more expensive than some alternatives, and I mainly like them for finding out how long I hit a particular drive, so at this stage (having had them for over 2 years) they're a nice gimmick to have.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119444477#Comment_119444477

€25 mid week was already a good price I suggest, I do a fair bit of mid-week golfing, take a day off and play two rounds. There are plenty of great value options out there but I'd never try and phone up to get a discount on €25 green fees.

I'm organising two rounds for next week and phoned Powerscourt and they would not budge for a 3 ball, their loss as huge gaps in their timesheet and we would have been having dinner there too, they lost ~€300 green fee and ~€75 restaurant/pro shop snacks.

Looking to go to Silloge and Forrest Little instead, €38 for both rounds!!!

Ivefoundgod

Depends on the course as others have said but I think anything under €40 doesn't leave much wiggle room for a club in terms of a discount. Probably worth remembering that you're not likely speaking to the club pro when you message/email a golf course so you might have better luck ringing them up directly if you are looking for a discount.

One thing to remember for many courses when people talk about eating in the restaurant/bar afterwards is that in many cases they are an entirely separate entity to the golf course so its not like the course benefits from giving you a discount on the golf just because you might have a bite to eat afterwards.

callaway92

Yeh I do understand definitely that €25 for a round anywhere these days is not bad in fairness, but I just was of the assumption that something of a wiggle room would be offered, even if just given for €20 per person, especially with the empty timesheet €60 is a lot better than €0. I actually can't think of any positive reason for them to not offer something off, but it is what it is!

gypsy79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119412910#Comment_119412910

Yes, they are very expensive for what they are and the app is BRUTAL

Like there is no way to look at all my 6 iron shots to see how distances are