Centenary Ball Ticket Sales
 Tickets for the Centenary Ball go on sale on Friday 22nd February in the Clubhouse. For full booking details and conditions please click here.We are looking forward to a fantastic members' event and we know this Gala ball will be the talk of the club for many years to come.
Its time to dust down your tuxedo or get out your killer heels.... Not necessarily worn together!!!
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GUI Champions Ball
 On Friday last an intrepid group, lead by our new Captain Michael who was aided and abetted by our immediate past Captain Paschal headed to Carton House to attend the Champions Dinner hosted by the GUI as the Senior Cup Champions. The managers Harry and Jim who had organised everything so well over the year maintained their attention to detail, ensuring all where there, dressed accordingly (although the skinny ties raised a few questions, great to be young!) but most importantly, there very much as a team.
The entire team minus Daniel who is still in America and Jack, who decided he would rather sit with the Leinster panel (he had to as he had played for them and represented Castle this year) sat at table 16 upon which sat the magnificent Senior Cup trophy.
It was an occasion to reflect upon the previous year, for all present to acknowledge both the individuals and teams who had worked so hard to achieve their own goals. Each individual and team was introduced to everybody, where they had to stand and receive the applause and have their photo taken with their respective trophy. The evening was hosted by Greg Allen, who allowed it to flow in a way that even the usual speeches did not seem to go on too long and he conducted it in a way that kept it reasonably informal and added to the evenings enjoyment, as did the one or two minerals taken! The final speech was by the new Captain of The R&A, Pierre Bechmann in which he highlighted the importance of the club and the amateur game, with special reference given to the standard of golf in Ireland which has led to the leading lights in the world game being brought through the system. With the Senior Cup back in its case being brought to bed by Fergal Walsh (you will have to ask him!) there was an acknowledgement that maybe this was it, the final night out with the cup and it was time to refocus and prepare to defend our title and maybe add to our collection. Once is never quite enough!
More good news regarding our Senior Cup Champions, Alex Gleeson has been selected in the Ireland Senior squad, Dan Holland has been selected in the Leinster Senior Team and Jack Walsh has been selected in the Ireland Under 18's.
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Bird Watch Ireland
 I, along with 60 other Castle members spent a wonderful evening on Wednesday 23rd January in the club being entertained and informed by Niall Hatch the Development Officer for Birdwatch Ireland. His topic for the evening was Garden Birds. With a name like Hatch and speaking about birds I knew that it would be fun. As I walked into the club Gerry inquired 'was I here for the birds?'.
I came along more out of interest than anything else as I know almost nothing about birds. Niall spoke for about an hour with a slide presentation and hardly stopped to draw breath. He spoke about all the common birds we see in our gardens. How we could recognise them by size, shape, colour, shape of beak etc.and their peculiarities and feeding habits. His knowledge is encyclopedic and delivered in a most gentle and interesting manner. He works on a full time basis with the charity Birdwatch Ireland and on bird conservation projects in Europe. I have never listened to a man so enthused by his subject as he brought his slides to life. His delivery was excellent. He encouraged us all to promote the birdlife in our garden and gave us many tips in that regard. I could have listened to Niall all night.
We had a brief questions & answer session at the end. I had no idea that a talk on birdlife in a garden could be so enjoyable and informative. Niall is returning to the Castle on Sunday May 12th at 4.30am to help us listen to and understand the 'dawn chorus' and I think that he will get a big turnout. So impressed were his audience on the night that 17 of us took out membership of Birdwatch Ireland and received our book/dvd etc. Thanks Niall for a most enjoyable evening. Paul Swaine |
Christmas - Santa Visits Castle twice!
It really doesn't seem right to be mentioning Santa at the end of January, but we have to briefly, as he delights us all every year by visiting members and their little ones. The Santa lunch has been running with great success for many years at Castle and has become so popular that there are now two Sundays in December that Santa visits. The Clubhouse is transformed into a Winter Wonderland, with Santa's Grotto to welcome all the children of our members. A beautiful lunch is served from 1pm in the dining room and after there is lots of fun to be had, with face painting, magician entertaining the kiddies, even Cruella enjoys the day and is nice to everyone!! Of course the highlight of the day is meeting Santa and receiving that little gift. A big thank you to our Social Committee and to all of Santa's Elves over the two Sundays. Special thanks to Collie Gleeson and Conor Deegan for all their kindness and patience and a job very well done!! Wink, Wink!! Thanks to all the parents who brought gifts in aid of the Womens Refuge in Rathmines, they really do appreciate it.
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Rules Rules Rules
I am sure you all heard about Tiger missing the cut by one stroke in the Abu Dhabi Championship last week. If he hadn't broken a local rule on the 5th hole he would have made the cut. There was a local rule in place for the championship which stated "through the green (the whole area of the course except the teeing ground and the putting green of the hole being played and all hazards on the course) a ball that is embedded in its own pitch mark in the ground may be lifted, without penalty, cleaned and dropped as near as possible to where it lay but no nearer the hole...etc. added to that local rule was the following exception... "A player may not take relief under this local rule if the ball is embedded in sand in an area that is not closely mown..." Tiger's ball was embedded in sand in an area that was not closely mown so having taken relief he was penalised two strokes. It is hard to credit that neither he, his caddy nor his playing partner had read the local rules properly. I bet it won't happen again!!! Now fellow golfers, how many of you actually take the time to read our local rules? Furthermore every time you play on a different course the first thing you should do is read the local rules. It could save you a lot of grief. On our card it explains about the out of bounds. Important to note what the furrow means and that if your ball lies in it or beyond it, it is out of bounds. On many courses there will be internal out of bounds or out of bounds areas when playing a particular hole. Generally to protect staked trees there is free relief but not always. Check the card. On our course, if a staked tree or its supports interferes with stance or swing you must take relief. 2 stroke penalty if you don't! If it states that something is an integral part of the course there is no free relief e.g. our flowerbeds (poor Esther, her heart must be broken). On some courses if you played out of the flowerbeds you would be penalised, so check. In Castle a player may play out of GUR but in some clubs there may be a local rule forbidding this. Every local rule broken is either a two stroke penalty or loss of hole in match play. If distance marker stakes / water hazard stakes interfere with your swing/ ball/ stance you may remove them in castle. On some courses it is forbidden to remove them (players fail to replace them) so the player may have free relief under rule 24. But pulling the stake out of the ground without checking could cost you 2 strokes. We have free relief from artificial paths and roads. (drop the ball within one club length of and no nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief) we also have a local rule about relief when a sprinkler head lies within 2 club lengths of the green and your ball lies within 2 club lengths of the sprinkler head check it out.. Worth knowing... I could go on and on but I know you will get fed up reading this!!! To finish, does Castle have a local rule about DMD's (distance measuring devices)... Yes we do. It is on the notice board. So we may use them in our competitions. Check the notice boards for any extra local rules especially if in another club playing a match. Check with the professional also. Our David or Colin can always help out with queries. To finish some news for the ladies. I am sure some of you will be delighted to hear that the ILGU has changed its policy on dmd's. From now on you may use them in all ILGU competitions provided that the device conforms to the regulations as set down by the R&A. Now, that is plenty to think about. Enjoy your golf. Anne O'Sullivan. ILGU Rules Official |
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New Year's Eve
Ringing in the New Year at Castle was a special event this year as it kick started our Centenary Year. Many members and their guests made Castle a popular choice to start the next 100 years in Castle. A Black Tie Ball, the glamour was something emulating the 'Golden Globes'. Our Centenary Captains, Justine and Michael meeted and greeted all their guests along with a glass or two of bubbly. The nights live entertainment was superb band Cover Up and had the dance floor full all night with couples spinning and jiving round the dance floor. A great night was had by all and needless to say it went on until the early hours, as we all know by now, the Castle crew are a fun bunch never wanting to go home.....The first of many wonderful nights ahead no doubt.
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Monday 4th February
A double celebration!!!! Good Companions Michael Mooney & Peter Grant both turn 70 this month, wishing you both a super birthday.
Castle Golf Club are delighted to congratulate Paul McGinley on his well deserved appointment as Ryder Cup Captain for 2014. We wish Paul and the European team great success.
C