We would like to inform members that our essential yearly hollow coring of the greens will be commencing at the end of September.
This essential work is being carried out is to ensure that we can continue to provide high-quality putting surfaces over the months ahead and into the 2022 season.
Sunday 26th September the front nine on the Championship course will be closed from 3pm in the afternoon.
Monday 27th of September the front nine on the Championship course will be closed all day. The back nine and seven-hole course will remain open on Monday, but unfortunately, we will not be running our Monday Open competition.
Tuesday 28th the back nine on the Championship course will be closed all day and the front nine and seven-hole course will remain open.
Apologies for the short-term disruption caused, below are the reasons aeration helps your putting greens.
A large number of members have now registered and logged in to the new Golf Ireland website to check their handicap index. If you have yet to do so, the link is here.
If you would like to know what your playing handicap will be based on the index currently being displayed on Golf Ireland, you can do so here.
Choose 18 hole round, then the option “without course rating minus par”.
Enter your handicap index along with the slope of whichever course you are searching for.
Our slope ratings are: Blue 122 | White 119 | Red 125
This will give you the course handicap for this set of tees. The playing handicap in a singles competition will be the course handicap x 95%.
If you have any queries, please send them to the Handicaps Committee by emailing [email protected].
Recently there has been a noticeable increase in non returned scorecards from players that have signed in to the competition. I appreciate we have had a recent frost delay and some very inclement weather to contend with but all competition cards should be returned to ensure standard scratch is accurate and fair.
To this end, I would like to remind members of sanctions that were published following our AGM earlier this year:
‘Non-return of scorecards will in the first instance result in a warning being issued, a subsequent non-return will result in a suspension from all competitions, both home and away, for two weeks and a further non-return result in a month’s suspension’. If you enter a competition please ensure your card is signed and returned for inclusion in results and handicap updating.
Yours in golf,
Paul
Mens Competition Secretary
Grange Castle Mens Club
We’re delighted that we were able to re-open our gates to members on Monday just gone. As expected, the timesheets were extremely busy with eager golfers dying to hit the fairways (or rough) again. There were more than a few rusty golf swings spotted on the 1st tee and some wayward ball flights to match. Despite this, everyone is glad to be back.
We are adjusting to our “new normal”, and we thank members in advance for their support and co-operation. As always, our main priority is to keep everyone safe and to make sure we do not have to close the golf course again, to ensure this, please read the “How to Use” venue guideline below.
A final reminder to all members to adhere to the rules regarding the number of rounds you can currently play. If you are booking other members in on the timesheet, please make contact with them before the timesheet goes live.
There has been a lot of coverage in the media recently about how safe it is for golf clubs to re-open. As of 23rd April and pending further announcements from government, the golf course will remain closed until at least 5th May 2020.
The whole team at Grange Castle are really looking forward to welcoming you back to the Golf Club. We are all hoping for a positive announcement from the Government over the coming week and if that comes, members will be the first to know.
Our dedicated team continues to work hard to maintain the golf course to its usual high standards (see pics below from this week). Upon your return, you will be presented with an immaculately prepared golf course and special thanks is offered to Paddy and the team for going above and beyond at this strangest of times. Essential work carried out this week has included top-dressing, spraying, rough maintenance and dry cutting greens.
In the meantime please stay safe and well and we look forward to welcoming you back onto the course soon.
Golf Course Improvements in 2019
– Two Tee Boxes were Levelled
– 150 Trees were planted to further Improve the Definition on the Golf Course
– New trees were put in place to create more of a separation between the 12th & 13th Holes
– A Further 900 Tonnes of Sand was spread to continue Improving the drainage and playing surfaces
– We thinned out the heavily planted areas on the golf course, we also removed the lower branches to open up the golf course
Course Improvements to come in 2020
– New 6th Tee in Play for April next season
– 800 tons of Sand will be spread on the fairways and rough in 2020. This will improve the drainage of fairways and also the quality of the surfaces
– 70-80 new trees to be planted on the course in 2020
– Overseeding of all greens & approaches to improve surfaces for 2020
– Continuation of thinning out the Spinnies on the course (1st & 9th, 2nd, 7th, 10th & 18th).
– Improvements to the Showers & Changing Facilities
– Broken Tee Collectors on every Tee Box for Spring 2020
The AGM of the Men’s Golf Club will take place in Morans Red Cow Hotel on Wednesday 26th February 2020, commencing at 8pm.
ALL members are encouraged to attend.
Motions for the meeting should be sent to the Honorary Secretary, to arrive no later than close of business on Wednesday 5th February.
In the year of its 20th anniversary, Grange Castle Golf Club, located in the heart of Clondalkin in South Dublin, has been voted 99 in the top 100 golf courses in Ireland, the first for any public golf course in the country. Owned by South Dublin County Council, but managed and maintained since 2014 by Synergy Golf, the professional golf course management specialists, the 18-hole championship course, with an additional 7-hole course, is in an elite league, showcasing public golf at its very best.
Opened in 1998 by Ireland’s esteemed professional golfers, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, Grange Castle now boasts over 800 members while thousands of golfing aficionados from across the city come to play each year. Designed by the late Patrick Morrigan, the par 72 championship course has an established reputation for providing outstanding golfing conditions and is known for being an enjoyable test of golf for everyone from single figure golfers to beginners. The additional 7-hole course (Home to the Eastern Region Special Olympics Golf League), is specifically designed for beginners, families and those looking for a quick game before or after work.
Speaking at the 20th anniversary fundraising Special Olympics Pro-Am event at Grange Castle on Saturday, Andy Kenny, Director at Synergy Golf, says:
To celebrate the occasion of Grange Castle’s 20th Anniversary and to mark its place in the Top 100 Courses in Ireland, we wanted to create an event that socially included everyone in golf. A “Mini Pro-Am” in the morning gave opportunity to the Special Olympic athletes from the Eastern Region to play alongside PGA Professionals John Kelly (St. Margaret’s) and Donal Murphy (Grange Castle). An afternoon masterclass with John Kelly and former European Tour Winner Simon Thornton (Tulfarris Golf Resort) was a treat for all the members, visitors and the athletes. We followed the exciting morning activities with a PGA Ireland Pro-Am, won by Simon Thornton with a new course record of 65. Following our pro-am fundraising event, we were honoured to present a cheque for €5K to Mr. Matt English (CEO) of Special Olympics Ireland.
In reply to Grange Castle’s Twitter Post – CEO of Special Olympics Ireland Matt English said:
“Most wonderful day at ProAm (Grange Castle). First class hospitality. Highly professional event on every level. Tremendous funds raised for @SOIreland. Fitting celebration of 20th anniversary & Club’s status in the top 100 courses. Special Olympics Ireland athletes treated like #Royalty.
Mary Maguire, Senior Executive Officer, of South Dublin City Council says:
“South Dublin County Council originally built the golf course as a public golf facility to make golf more affordable and accessible for the residents of South Dublin, and Synergy Golf took over the management and maintenance of the facility on our behalf in 2014. Since then they have worked tirelessly to build a reputation for Grange Castle of which we are extremely proud. The achievement of being the first and only public course to be positioned in the top 100 golf courses in Ireland is a testament to their dedication, professionalism and ultimately their passion for golf. They have a combination of course management and business development expertise which allows them to run the course and club to the highest of standards, and to identify ongoing investment requirements to ensure the long-term development and growth of the course. The success recently achieved under their stewardship is beyond our expectations, and we are really delighted and proud to celebrate Grange Castle’s 20th Anniversary with Synergy Golf, Special Olympics Ireland and Grange Castle club members with such accolade. We hope it has cemented its future for many years to come.”
Synergy Golf, set-up by Directors Andy Kenny, Garrett Donnery and Ronan Brannigan in 2012, is the Irish owned professional golf course management specialist, at the forefront of course maintenance and golf club management in Ireland.
Andy Kenny, Director at Synergy Golf, continued:
Grange Castle is a huge part of who we are as a company. Myself and fellow Director, Garrett Donnery, grew up in Clondalkin and Grange Castle was the reason we started playing golf. We were 16, and there was a lot of difficulty getting into golf at the time, but as a public course, Grange Castle was welcoming. Fast forward 20 years and it now sets the standard for municipal golf courses in Ireland and we are delighted to see it voted by an esteemed panel of experts as no. 99 in Ireland and be the first public course to ever make the list. Since taking over the contract, we have invested significantly in the club and course, most recently with the addition of a new 7th, a new 10th and a new 18th tee, we have lengthened the course by approx. 70 yards and boosted its overall appearance. We look forward to our continued relationship with South Dublin County Council, Special Olympics Ireland and what the future holds for Grange Castle, as our home from home.”
