Hermitage Golf Club

What's your budget like in terms of annual subs and are you willing to pay a joining fee?

Might be worth giving a little more info and people could offer up some suggestions.

As per Fix, Hermitage is a superb course, but I'd imagine there is a joining fee and a fairly steep annual sub for it

Have you considered Druid's Heath? Subs are c.€1500 and no joining fee and the commute would be suitable. Stackstown, Delgany and Bray would be suitable alternatives

If stackstown is viable distance wise then Edmondstown or Newlands could be an option

Op, I would have thought your budget would allow for almost any club in South Dublin, bar maybe the likes of Castle, Milltown etc.

Depending on where you're coming from and what exactly you're looking for, there's a lot of choice I think. Rathfarnham is about €6k joining I think, not sure about Edmondstown but I'd guess its similar. Likewise I'm not sure what Newlands is these days or if its full. At the other end of the scale and not quite down the N7 like Palmerstown, you'd have say Beech Park, Slade Valley, Lisheen etc. For me, it would be about balancing up what I can afford, with say, getting in somewhere that you need to be on a timesheet even to play 9 on a Thursday evening, versus somewhere maybe 10 minutes further away but you can rock up after work and just head out if you fancy it. Swings and roundabouts. I was only talking to my boss the other day about golf and asking him had he played on the Wednesday evening and he said no he wasn't on the sheet, I asked would he not just go up and get out and he was saying, no you wouldn't get out. I couldn't get my head round that tbh, I'm in a "lesser" club and we slightly struggle for members at times, but I can head up any summer evening and always get out for 6/9/18. There might be only 20 cars in the car park, so its both a strength and a weakness, but suits me perfectly.

All that said, Hermitage is a super track, would happily play it week in week out !

Hermitage is not that exclusive anymore.

Theres tradesmen's vans parked in the car park.

You could ask them lads to park out of sight..

It is a little further out the road, but if you're considering as far as Beech Park, Castlewarden should be on your list. Has a driving range, pitching area with practice bunkers, chipping and putting greens. Nice, well kept course with tricky greens and friendly membership.

It's only about 10 mins further out the road than Newlands

stackstown is quiet unforgiving and easy enough to come away with a lost ball from a shot only slightly off target......but very accessible timesheet, friendly members and reasonably easy to get to in the middle of south dublin more than balance it, for me at least

Hermitage had all members using mats on the fairways last Winter if I'm not mistaken. That may or may not be important to you, but it would be a deal breaker for me.

I lived in Rathmines and joined Carton House. Never used it after work. 30 minutes each way drive time.

Hermitage is 10k entrance fee and 1620 per annum. The 10k can be split over a number of years. (Source: A Member but ring to confirm)

I played as a guest with a member and he said the sub was just north of €2k (2 years ago). He didn't mention a joining fee but said the €2k was excellent value for his circumstances. There were always tee time options on at least one of the two courses. Note to mention the top-class practice facilities and amenities. Not sure if there are any perks in the sub related to the use of non-golf amenities at Carton House. In terms of joining/proposers, he'd have had no issue as a businessman with connections and sponsored a couple of small comps too. For him, there were closer options for €1k but the two high-quality courses and facilities made it a no-brainer.

I see this both ways, I agree that normally winter pain of playing off mats means once they are gone you'll be absolutely playing on the best tee boxes you'll ever play on.

For me, I would absolutely HATE to play off mats all winter. I'd rather a course had a bad tee box or part of a tee box used for winter only rather than playing off mats.

It would be a deal breaker for me too. I'm looking at Beech Park now myself, not sure if its full or not. I think I played it once before and loved it. Its 25 minutes each way from where I live. Grange Castle has less than 10 people on the waiting list (I rang to ask), so might stick my name on it. I might do like the OP is doing and do a bit of a spin around a few of the local courses, just to see what their expected waiting lists are, etc. No harm doing it.

That's a fair wedge. I'd have my local club's joining fee and several years of a sub paid off with that.

OP. Not sure why you say you live in south Dublin so local clubs are off limits. If Hermitage os on your radar, no reason why any of the South Dublin Clubs shouldn’t be. As in I imagine entry fee and subs are going to be on a similar scale.

would be interested in knowing where you are actually based? I’m a member in a north Wicklow club and I’m speculating here based on chats with other members but I would say that there is easily 40% of members based in south Dublin…… I live even further the other side of the M50 toll. I’m 40 minutes away, it’s to far, but I’m a lifer there so it’s just a hit I take. But for most guys in around Blackrock, Cabinteely, Sandyford etc it’s no more than about 20 mins away which I think is a pretty fair commute to play golf. We would all like to live next door to our club but it’s just not possible, especially on the southside.

I think you should list all the clubs within 30 mins drive of your house. They will all have merits and disadvantages. Rule some out straight away. Process of elimination there after. Make sure you play your chosen course a few times before dropping a big wedge. Go in and have bite to eat and few drinks in the bar etc to get a feel for the place. Look at what they do in terms of teams.

you said you are willing to drop a good few sheckles on a joining fee, so in my opinion you should be looking at a proper old school club. It’s going to be a long term investment and somewhere like Grange Castle (no offence to them but it’s a different league) is not where you should be leaning. The older clubs are better clubs and generally maintained to a higher standard.

Well if there is a hefty joining fee as most well established (Dublin anyway) clubs have, then you are bringing in members who are making a commitment and likely to stay around

the crash of the tiger saw such cheap membership subs with no joining fees, and special discounts for new members. It created the nomad golfer who jumped from one club to the next with no loyalty and wasn’t good for any of the clubs really.

so freedom to move around is not a good thing IMO

Lol, the European is easily another hour onto his day so it’s a non runner. It’s not a really a club either is it?

My Mate does it in 20 mins 🤷‍♂️ It is very old school club. He won he club championship there last year!

if he is telling you that you are awful gullible to believe him. Googled it. 70 km from Perrystown. So he averages 210kmph to get there in 20 mins. 😂

God you have way to much time on your hands 😂😂😂

either that or i don't like the smell of bulls1t 🤣

Exactly, it's a lot easier and quicker if you fly it.

They’ll get a(nother) rude awakening at some point. The price gouging on tourists coming into the country will eventually bite and the tourism will drop off.