Castle Tidings
Castle Golf Club Newsletter
Upcoming Events
March 2015
Annual Putting Quiz
Friday 6th March from 7.30pm
Tables of 4
€30 including finger food
Prepay to the office please or
email sandra@castlegc.ie to
reserve your table
Fun night with lots of putting
practise guaranteed!
February 2015
Dear Members,
Welcome to the
February edition of
Castle Tidings.
With the stretch in the
evenings many of our
members are beginning
to think of the golf
season that lies ahead.
For many others,
however, the season is
already in full swing.
Busy time-sheets for the Men's Winter League
and the Ladies Lamb competition show that
many of the members take advantage of our
wonderful course for 12 months of the year.
Our quiz night takes place on Friday 6th March,
this is usually a great evening that favours our
top class putters. Hopefully you can take a table
and make it along.
Men's Senior Open
Monday 2nd March
12 noon Shotgun start
Singles Stableford
Visitors €45.00
Members €25.00
To book online go to
www.castlegc.ie
The quality of our course and our Club is once
again confirmed by the strong interest in
membership this year. Election of new members
across the various categories takes place shortly
and we wish all our candidates success.
Captain Derry and Lady Captain Margaret
Gleeson clinches Intervarsity
Championship - 9 is fine!!
Castle's own Alex Gleeson representing UCD
completed an impressive wire-to-wire victory at
the Irish Intervarsity Championship at the
spectacular European Club links.
So dominant was Gleeson, who shot opening
rounds of 75 and 71, that he reached the 18th tee
one under for his round and a whopping 10 shots
clear of Maynooth University's Sean Flanagan, his
nearest rival to that point.
He fell foul of the challenges of the finishing hole,
however, and gave a wry smile as he finished with
a nine, fully aware of the impossibility of blowing
such a big lead but nonetheless delighted with his
first Intervarsity title.
Castle "Ryder Cup"
Masters Challenge
Castle "Ryder Cup" Masters
Challenge - Update
Castle's Jack Walsh representing Maynooth
finished 4th with rounds of 79, 74 and 75 around
the treacherous European Club.
Captains Lee Healion and
Collie Gleeson have both
reported that their Over 50
and Under 50 Squads
respectively, are playing well
and looking forward to the
forthcoming match play
challenge on 12th April 2015
to coincide with the final of the
Masters in Augusta
More information to follow in
March edition of Castle
Tidings
Alex Gleeson receives the trophy from Michael
Connaughton (GUI Presidet) with John Ferriter
(Leinster Chairman) and Castle 's Ann O'Sullivan
(Board Member - ILGU) and Pat Ruddy in
attendance.
Castle Pavilion member up to 40th in
world golf rankings.
Subscription for 2015
Gentle reminder to all
members that subscriptions
for 2015 are now due by Feb
28th.
If you paid your subscription
already please ignore this
notice.
Any Questions relating to your
subscription please feel free to
Congratulations to Castle Pavilion member
contact the Office Directly
01 4904207
Course Information
Hotline
Please ring the Course
Information Hotline to find out
if the Course is Open or Closed
during times of inclement
weather.
Please ring (01) 4999140 as
the primary source of course
information as it is regularly
updated.
Congratulations to Aleny
Collins from the Club Office on
the birth of her son 'Bobby'
born on Saturday 23rd
February
Shane Lowry
on his excellent start to the 2015 PGA season and
his attempts to win a playing card on the PGA
Tour. Up to 40th place in the world rankings it
was, however, a tough schedule for Shane in
February, having to battle the elements at Torrey
Pines in San Diego and Pebble Beach near Carmel.
At least Shane has something in common with
another Castle member -"Google"- oops Hilary
Haydon. They were the only two Irishmen who
played golf in short sleeves during the shortest
month of the year.
Shane's schedule allowed him to take last
weekend off and attend a gig by another group of
Castle favourites The Coronas in the 3 Arena in
Dublin. Hopefully Shane managed to avoid taking
the stage unlike his last public singing experience
when he played support to the Coronas in
Woodside Drive a while back. Morto
During the month of March Shane will play the
WGC Cadillac Championship in Miami and the
Texas Open in San Antonio- both very similar
locations to Shane's hometown, Clara in Offaly. All
the members of Castle wish Shane all the very
best for 2015.
February Bridge News
February has been a busy month for the bridge
section. We played our annual match against
Grange Golf Club, which this year was hosted by
Grange on Sunday 22nd. 32 Castle players took
part and a great night was had with Grange
emerging the winners.
Pro Shop - Members
Accounts
Our annual charity night took place on the 23rd,
this year's charity was Aware. The night was
We would encourage those
members holding credit to
please use it during the
coming months.
If what you require is not in
stock, we will do our best to
source it for you. Please talk to
David or Colin in the Pro Shop.
Members accounts are printed
every three months and the
majority of members receive a
statement of their account.
For those who currently do not
receive a statement and would
like a copy, please email
kinsella41@gmail.com
very well supported with 100 people playing
bridge and many more buying raffle tickets. We
raised €2,400 for the charity and our thanks
goes to all those who contributed to the event.
New faces are always welcome at bridge on
Monday nights, we run a "joker" system so
anyone without a playing partner is assured of
getting a game, we have all levels of players
from novices up.
ILGU News
ILGU NEWS
Due to St Patricks Day Falling
on Tuesday 17th March Ladies Singles Strokes will be
played on Monday 16th
The Timesheet for Monday
16th will go Live on Monday
9th March @10am
Due to Golf on the Monday
16th of March the timesheet
for the 24th of March will now
go live on the 9th March @
10:10am
Robert Browne wins
Leinster Pennant
First Ladies Tea of the year took place on
Tuesday 24 February and was very well
attended. The ladies golf competition on the day
was a 13 hole White Elephant team event with a
draw for partners. There was no entry fee, so
everyone who played brought a gift (value €15)
so there was a prize for everyone on the night
and there was certainly a wide variety of gifts.
The winning team was Martha Jones, Angela
O'Connor and Jackie Hall.
The results of the Lamb Competition were
announced by Lady Captain on the night. The
Lamb Competition was introduced this year in
place of winter league and proved to be a great
success. The competition ran over 6 weeks
alongside the regular nine hole competition from
beginning of January and the best four scores
from every player were used to calculate the
winners. There was such a good entry every
week it allowed for a first, second and third prize
to be awarded in class 1, 2, 3, 4. The scores
showed how consistent the winners were in the
weekly nine hole competition and let's hope this
continues as we start our 18 hole competitions
on 3rd March.
Finals day this year takes place on 13th
September. This is the day that final of all
internal club matchplay competitions of GUI and
ILGU are played. The details of these
competitions and entry sheets are on the ladies
notice board. Just bear in mind if you are
booking holidays that you must be available to
play in final on Sunday 13th September if you
enter.
Castle's Robert Browne (2)
played a leading role in
helping St Andrews College
win the Leinster Schools
Senior Title.
Robert won his match 2 up
against Dunshaughlin
Community College at Beech
Park.
An away day to Royal Tara Golf Club is being
planned again this year due to the success of
last year's outing. Details will be announced as
soon as the date is confirmed.
Please pick up the blue sheet in the ladies
changing room which has all the details of club
competitions, teams, and dates for ladies teas
and prize giving. Note there is a change in date
of next ladies tea it is now on Tuesday 24th
March and the rules night is now on Thursday
16th April not 14th April as listed in blue
document.
St. Andrew's College will
now progress to represent
Leinster in the All Ireland
Finals at Farnham Estate Golf
Club on 21st April 2015.
Juvenile News
On a Par 3 hole, a competitor
hits his tee shot into an
unpleasant lie on a fairly steep
slope beside the putting green.
Believing that the ball might
move at address, he does not
ground his club in preparing to
take his shot. At that point,
the ball rolls backwards and is
stopped by the player's club.
He removes the club and the
ball rolls farther down the
slope onto a flat lie. The player
plays the ball from it's new
position. He chips it on to the
green and two putts.
The Juvenile Golfing Season is well underway
with Winter League matches been played home
& away.
With 67 of our most
enthusiastic juveniles receiving individual lessons
from Colin the Juvenile section is very
optimistic for the season ahead. Lots of fun and
great improvements are taking place. Great
levels of participation and an ever improving
standard. 2015 will surely be a great year for
Castle Juveniles.
What is his score for the hole?
The answer is 7.
Why? When the player stops
his ball, it is a one stroke
penalty and the ball must be
replaced on the spot at which
it was stopped.
By not replacing the ball, the
player has now breached
another Rule and gets a
further 2 stroke penalty for a
total of 3 penalty strokes.
( See Decision 19-2/1.5)
Happy Golfing
Anne O'Sullivan
ILGU Rules Official
Aoife Leavy (Above) is already leading the way
winning her Class in the Ladies first 13 Hole
Competition of the year. Exciting times for the
Juvenile Section.
Well done to those who braved the elements &
played the Valley Course during February Midterm break. We look forward to welcoming the
New 2015
Juveniles in March & to seeing all practising in
Preparation for the Easter & Summer
Competitions.
Gentle reminder & call out for unwanted Castle
Branded Jumpers & Shirts any sizes' gladly
accepted! Our Juveniles Love to wear the Castle
Logo with Pride.
The snooker season starts to
heat up as the eagerly awaited
championship draws were
made last week.
With a good season of snooker
under everyone's belt, the
snooker championships have
never been as open.
Unfortunately the Castle team
agonisingly lost 3-2 to a very
strongly fancied Newlands
team in the Paddy O'Brien
The interclub league though is
still firmly in our sights and we
have two matches to conclude
our section over the next
couple of weeks
We are well on course to make
the semi-final stage for the
second successive year.
For more information regarding Juveniles please
contact Joanne Smyth joannesmyth19@yahoo.ie
Winter League Update
Dublin topple Kilkenny to clinch Semi Final
Place
Where have we seen that headline recently!
Andrew Keely's Dublin time pulled off a dramatic
final day result when they ousted Brendan
Butler's Kilkenny team out of the final semi-final
spot. Not even the magnificent score of 24
points from Niall (DJ Carey) McDonnell could
stop Andrew's Army. Kilkenny were the early
leaders of the Winter League.
Al Murray's Galway tribesmen took 5th place on
the count back.
Ted Fearon final between the
Grange and the Castle is on
Friday 27th February.
We wish the team the very
best of luck and hopefully in
next month's tidings bring you
news of a successful ending to
our campaign
If you would like to be
included in the email notices
then please email
mbyrne@totalproduce.com
We are keen to get you
involved whether you are an
ex player or just starting.
Looking forward to seeing you
in the snooker room.
The Snooker Committee
Think Castle!
There are a limited number of
dates still available for Golf
Outings in 2015. So if you are
involved in a professional
association or business group,
please 'Think Castle' when
booking your next society or
corporate golf outing. For
further information please
contact the General Manager
on (01) 4904207 or
manager@castlegc.ie
Castle Diary 2015
The 2015 Castle Diary is now
available for collection around
the clubhouse. To view the
The final League Table before going into the
Playoffs is
County Captain
Wexford Hilary Haydon
Mayo
Lee Healion
Cork
Colm Gleeson
Dublin Andrew Keely
Galway Al Murray
Kilkenny Brendan Butler
Clare
Neil Kelly
Kerry
Brian Nevin
Tipperary John Rogan
Meath
Michael Brennan
Total
602
593
591
581
579
579
566
551
550
549
Semi Final Line Up
Wexford v Dublin
Wexford captained by Hilary Haydon produced a
stunning display on the final qualifying day with
John Jones and Brian Cunningham bringing
home 22 points each and Ray Skelly taking one
of the nearest the pins.
Wexford will now take on Andrew's Army and the
might of Dublin for a place in the 2015 Winter
League Final.
Dublin can call on current hotshot Captain Derry
Byrne, Rob Stanley and Dec Allen while Wexford
are not short on talent and experience with
Dermot O'Beirne, John Leonard and Jim
Quinn,This promises to be nail biting encounter.
Mayo v Cork
Lee Healion as Captain of Mayo will have an
opportunity to pit his wits against Collie
Gleeson's Cork team in the semi final.
With both Captain's already installed as the Over
50's and Under 50's Captains for the Augusta
Masters Matchplay Challenge there should be
plenty of sparks flying in this semi final
encounter.
Cork are strong with the Gleeson's (Brian and
Harry) supported by Captain's Prize winner Joe
Connor while Mayo boast the in form David
Dixon , Michael Smith and Bryan Knott in their
panel.
PDF version of the 2015 diary
please go to www.castlegc.ie
To download the Castle diary
to your Microsoft Outlook
please go to www.castlegc.ie
The Plate Final
All other teams will continue to compete in the
Plate Final.
Final's night 7th March 2015 - all are welcome.
Social Media at Castle
Connect with other members
of Castle Golf Club by clicking
on the hyperlinks below:
Click here to join
Lounge Refurbishment
Click here to join
Refurbishment of the Lounge area has taken
place The following is a summary of the work
that was completed :

Click here to join
This Newsletter is brought to
you by our Marketing &
Communication Committee.
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We love a bit of good news to
share with our members!

If you have anything you
would like included in the
Newsletter such as a 'big'
birthday, new baby, an
engagement or wedding
please drop an email to
info@castlegc.ie

The area has been re-furbished from the
windows overlooking the 1st tee to the
dance floor
The ceiling and walls have been painted
New ceiling lighting have been installed
The Bar Counter, Backdrop, and "Below
Counter" are re-modelled. This will
include new shelving, fridges,sink units
and dishwasher.
The existing chairs have been re-covered
and they are complimented by new round
tables.
New round tables are provided in the
Members Bar also to match the
rectangular tables which were put in last
year.
Ladies Teams 2015
AIG Ladies Cups and Shields - previously
known as the Private Home Care Inter-club
Championships
Challenge Cup (29-36) - Our matches get off to
an early start this year with the Challenge Cup
playing a preliminary round against Dun
Laoghaire on Sunday 29th March at 1pm. There
is a new format of home or away for the
preliminary round, with 3 matches at home and
two away.
Minor Cup (23-28) - Castle v Milltown in
Charlesland on Sunday 26th April at 1.30pm
Intermediate Cup (16-22) - Castle v Woodbrook
in Millicent on Tuesday 5th May at 10.45am
Junior Cup (8-15) - Castle v Newlands in Foxrock
on Thursday 30th April at 9.00am
The Mary McKenna Diamond Trophy
This competition has been launched by
Woodenbridge Golf Club, an all-Ireland senior
club championship for women (over 60 years),
format is scotch foursomes.
Castle play Clontarf in the first round, in
Clontarf, on Friday 20th March at 1pm.
Please check the notice board in the ladies locker
room under 'Teams 2015'
for regular up-dates on fixtures and results. A lot
of work has gone into preparing for these
matches by managers, players and caddies.
Please show you support and appreciation by
coming along to support your club on the above
dates wearing the club colours!