A Matter of the Masters - Six Irish Golf Events

Sun kisses the 18th hole at Esker Hills at last year's event.

What golf nut isn't already thinking about the Masters? What golf nut isn't contemplating how they'll play their regular weekend round while ensuring they still get to watch every thrilling minute of the year's first and, for many, best Major?

May I steer you in the direction of a number of themed events, starting with From Esker Hills to

Spreading the Destination Golf Love

Castlemartyr's 7th and 5th greens

I spent yesterday driving part of Ireland's south coast, visiting four excellent golf courses to drop off copies of Irish golf's latest magazine: Destination Golf's Guide to Ireland.

West Waterford, Castlemartyr, Fota Island and Cork golf clubs. Remarkably, given our weather of late and what the forecast had predicted, I got to see the courses

Irish Golf Courses - Going Cheap

Do you ever feel like a complete mug… … scratch that! Do you ever feel like you’ve been mugged?

For the last while I have been saying that I’m partially in favour of seeing NAMA support the golf clubs that fall under its auspices. That said, I don’t like doing it, for two reasons:

1.     Too many other financially viable clubs are struggling and, sometimes, as a direct result of the courses propped up by NAMA.

2.     Some of these courses are entangled with hotels/resorts that should never have been built in the first place and were developed on what we might today be called ‘empty promises’... or empty wallets, certainly.

But these are good golf clubs for the most part, and golfers would be poorer for not having them. I’m thinking of Portmarnock Links (more than half the price of any other 18 hole links in the region, bar Corballis), Tulfarris and Fota Island in particular. Fota Island’s golf course was built in 1993, and, when acquired by the Fleming Group in 2004, was upgraded to a 27 hole course, with a hotel and spa added in 2006.

[Photo: The par five 18th - reachable in two]

Why was I in favour of NAMA’s approach? Because their approach was to prop up these resorts and courses with the taxpayer’s money so that they would eventually be able to sell them on at a ‘profit’ when the economy recovered… thereby delivering a return to the taxpayer. I liked that argument. It made sense. Personally, at the start, I wanted NAMA to simply abandon these places – let them sink or swim – but that would actually cost the taxpayer more. No, I decided, keep them afloat and sell ‘em on.

So how stupid do I feel now that NAMA have put Fota Island up for sale. The numbers look like this: NAMA took on the resort covering the €40 million debt of the Fleming Group (which invested some €90 million to develop it in the first place). Since then the resort has been trading successfully, delivering a profit in 2012 of €1.3 million on turnover of almost €12 million… and yet NAMA’s asking price for the place is a mere €20 million. Surely this flies in the face of the very logic they were driven by! OK, so €20 mill is hardly pocket money, but when we owe billions it sure as hell feels like it.

[Photo: Approach to the 4th]

Adding insult to injury, the Irish consortium bidding on Fota has declared it can sell the resort on in seven years’ time for – wait for it – €40 million. Not only that, but the investors will reap a tax-free return on the capital gains because of a change to the law last year that was designed to boost the property market.

Here’s a viable business and NAMA, having supported it for a three years, have now decided to sell it on at a ‘loss’ even though others now see it as a gold mine. Well done NAMA – still doing what you and everyone else in the Government is so good at: not knowing your arse from your elbow.

Top Golfer 2012

[Photo: the drive on 18 at Fota Island]

Top Golfer has just launched its 2012 Junior and Senior Scratch competitions.

The competition is designed for golfers with a handicap of 9 and below, and it creates a strong competitive environment for amateurs. Plenty of golfers in that handicap range already play for their club (Barton, Junior Cup and various others), but Top Golfer creates a more community spirit where you're competing against other golfers from across the country and results appear on line showing how you compare with your peers.

[Photo: some start to reach the 1st tee at Lough Erne]

There's also an order of merit that runs across all competitions, so it builds on that community feel.

The winner of each event qualifies for the Tour Championship, which will be held at Fota Island, while the Order of Merit play-offs are at the K Club in September.

[Photo: the superb 7th at Lough Erne]

There will be 43 events this year (see below). You can play in as many or as few as you like (subject to handicap) and there are some cracking courses, with some big names on the list. Undoubtedly the coup for Top Golfer has to be Lough Erne, on 22nd April (£50). That's seriously good value for a course this good. And it's an experience you're unlikely to forget.

There are other new courses too: Dun Laoghaire, Loughrea, Mallow, Grange, Blainroe, Naas, and Killeen.

If I had my way I'd try to get to a dozen or so, but for now I'm eyeing up: Dun Laoghaire, Rosslare, Mount Wolseley and Enniscorthy. And Concra Wood if I can get there.

[Photo: views from the top of Concra Wood]

Events start on April 20th with a Junior Scratch at Castle, in Dublin, and wrap up with the finals at Fota Island in October.

2012 TopGolfer Tour Schedule

Friday April 20th Castle Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday April 22nd Lough Erne Resort Junior Scratch Cup

Saturday May 12th Dunmurry Springs Junior Scratch Cup

Saturday May 12th Dunmurry Springs Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday May 13th Delgany Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Saturday May 19th Loughrea Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Saturday May 19th Loughrea Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday May 20th Glen of the Downs Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday May 27th Rosslare Golf Links Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday May 27th Lee Valley Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday June 3rd Dun Laoghaire Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Monday June 4th New Forest Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Saturday June 9th Arklow Golf Links Junior Scratch Cup

Saturday June 9th Arklow Golf Links Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday June 10th Killeen Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday June 10th Killeen Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday June 17th Knightsbrook Resort Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday June 17th Enniscorthy Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday June 24th Warrenpoint Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday June 24th Grange Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday June 24th Grange Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday July 1st South County Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday July 1st South County Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday July 15th Cork Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday July 15th Mallow Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Saturday July 21st Roganstown Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday July 22nd Concra Wood Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday July 22nd Concra Wood Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Saturday July 28th Bray Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday July 29th K Club Junior Scratch Cup

Saturday August 4th Ashbourne Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday August 5th K Club Senior Scratch Cup

Monday August 6th Woodenbridge Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Monday August 6th Knightsbrook Resort Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday August 19th Dromoland Castle Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday August 19th Dromoland Castle Senior Scratch Cup

Friday August 24th Rathsallagh Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday August 26th Naas Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday August 26th Mount Wolseley Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday September 2nd Delgany Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday September 9th Charlesland Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday September 16th Blainroe Golf Club Junior Scratch Cup

Sunday September 16th Blainroe Golf Club Senior Scratch Cup

Sunday September 23rd Order of Merit PlayOffs at The K Club

Saturday & Sunday October 6th & 7th TopGolfer Tour Championship at Fota Island Resort

There is no cost to join, just go to the website and sign-up. You even get some freebies on the day.

Fota Island Golf Offer

[The par five 10th]

Interestingly, a four day Fota Island offer advertised yesterday has 'sold out'. When I first saw it I thought it a rather strange one:

€87 instead of €174 for a round of golf, Fota Island branded polo shirt and 1 dozen golf balls.

Excuse me for being cynical, but 'sold out' seems unlikely unless they were selling only a handful of this deal. For one thing, it's not exactly an attractive offer (the golf balls were 'Noodles' by the way). At the moment, a round of golf mid-week is roughly €40, a polo shirt should be around €30, and a box of Noodles, for the sake of symmetry, costs €17. Dah-dah, that's €87.

How can that package ever have costed €174? And €87 isn't what I'd call great value either.

The positive thing is that the offer is something out of the ordinary, so it's good to see a golf club trying to be different. If it sold out, genuinely, then I'm very impressed, but I suspect someone screwed up along the way and either the offer or the price should have been something else.

By the way, I love the course and the facilities... it's just the offer that leaves me cold.

Fota Island up for sale

[The par three 7th]

The trouble has been brewing for long enough, and the recent NAMA 'list' included 8 golf courses under their control, of which Fota Island Golf and Spa Resort. It now appears that the most glamorous parkland course in the south is going to put up for sale. It opened in 1993 and has held the Irish Open twice (2001 and 2002), but if NAMA can make money out of it, then it 'makes sense' to try and sell what is a very viable asset... because the resort is trading well, which improves its chances of being snapped up.

[The drive on the par five 18th]

Who'd buy it? With a price estimated around 20 million euro, there should be plenty of buyers, from hungry funds, global hotel chains (it was a Sheraton hotel until September 2009) and the cash rich Chinese - who seem all set to buy Europe.

There's a full piece in the Irish Examiner today: Fota Resort Up For Sale