But how does it feel to discover that you’ve won the whole thing, and all you get for your golfing brilliance is a tacky lamp. Only it’s worse than that. It’s a lamp made out of a brass figurine of a golfer. Yea, the kind of lamp you wouldn’t put anywhere in your house, couldn’t give away as a present, and shouldn’t even mention in polite company. Hell, you wouldn’t even use it to beat your worst enemy to death with. You also know it was on sale for half price, because that’s the only way those disgusting things ever sell. That or a car boot sale!
Your joy of winning has been cruelly crushed. How can you brag about that 5 iron to two feet when you can’t brag about the prize!
Simply put, all too often the prizes offered by golf clubs are a turn-off. Or useless. Or both. I’m sure some of you will say that it’s not the prize or even the winning that counts, it’s the taking part… pleeeeeease! You’re kidding yourselves and you know it. Winning IS a big deal, and you want to win a prize that means something.
So what makes a good prize? That depends on you, doesn’t it! The golf figurine lamp might just be your thing, but what about the other options? I’ve done a bit of research on the matter (through Twitter and Boards.ie) and here are the scores.
Crystal
A popular prize for big events – e.g. Captain’s Day. It’s a big deal, so a big prize is well deserved, but that still leaves questions: what do you use it for, and where do you put it? Does it end up proudly displayed, collecting a few years of dust before it quietly disappears into a cupboard? How about a bowl full of pot pourri or a vase filled to the brim with jelly beans… there are only so many uses and only so much crystal your spouse will tolerate…
… especially if the name of your club is engraved on the glass. If you win a piece, wouldn’t you at least like the option of selling it on eBay? With the club name emblazoned across it, the eBay value has dropped from ‘weekend-away’ to zero faster than our economy’s pants dropped around its ankles.
And in case you hadn’t heard, Ireland’s famous Waterford Crystal ain’t made in Waterford no more. Now everybody seems to make it: Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Italy… ah yes, that Irish symbol of quality.
Desirability: 9%
Golf Vouchers/Golf Green Fees
Yes, very desirable: you’re playing golf so why not win a prize that corresponds – we all like to buy extra golf gear, be it new shoes, a new bag or a classy, sleeveless, pink Pringle sweater (you fashion icon, you); and green fees for a big name club always hit the sweet spot. It’s great to be able to treat your buddies for ‘free’, especially when you know they’ll be buying the drinks.
Then again, golf clubs don’t see much kudos in putting an envelope on the prize winner’s table. Not when they’ve got golf figurine lamps collecting dust in the basement. No, in your golf club’s eyes (or the sponsor’s) an envelope doesn’t say ‘you’re a winner’ quite like a golf bag, lamp or crystal bowl does, which is why envelopes are usually reserved for lower placed prizes.
Desirability: 34%
Golf Gear
Golf gear is close enough to Golf Vouchers as makes no difference, but a golf bag often appears on the table because it looks big and expensive. The prizes are fine as they are, but even if they’re not you can always take it back to the Pro shop/retailer and exchange it for something you actually need – maybe swap that pink Pringle number for the blue one with the yellow stripes.
Desirability: 19%
Weekends Away
A smart prize, for sure and your partner finally gets something out of all those hours you spend on the golf course. Yes, after listening to you endlessly moaning about missed putts, unlucky breaks and shots into trees that mysteriously moved since last week, she (or he) gets to be a winner too. Whisked away – your clubs hidden in the boot – you even have a legitimate reason to sit her down and talk her through every single shot of your prize-winning round. She’ll be so proud of you she might even listen.
Desirability: 33%
Bottles of Wine/Newbridge Cutlery etc.
Not a bad prize actually, especially if you’re throwing a party or you have a wedding present to source.
Desirability: 4%
Golf Clubs/Sponsors could learn a thing or two about selecting prizes. Good prizes keep golfers happy and interested; bad prizes can be a serious turn-off to entering Open events.
[Another popular fallback prize...]
Don’t believe me? I went to a Scratch Cup with two friends and we had lunch before heading out. There, on the winner’s table, were the brass, golf figurine lamps I mentioned. We made unappreciative noises as we headed out…. and five hours later, we were standing on the 18th as one of my friends drained a birdie putt for a serious score. He looked at me and smiled weakly.
“Of all the days to play perfect golf,” he said. “Do I really have to accept that thing if I win?”
He did win, and as he accepted the prize his smile would have made a politician proud.
We didn’t go back the next year.
And if you happened to notice that the above totals only add up to 99%, that’s because 1% of respondents want to win a golf figurine lamp. Lads, get yourselves on eBay – my mate’s auctioning it tomorrow.
[Photo: Enniscrone's par three 3rd, green to tee]
Then again, if you’re here for golf, your requirements are straightforward: clean, comfortable and accessible. And a well stocked bar.
The Offer
For €159 per person sharing you get:
· 2 nights B&B (full Irish)
· 1 four course dinner
· 2 rounds of golf at Enniscrone
[Photo: the par five 16th, shot from the 17th tee]
That is amazing value for one of the top links golf courses in the world. Consider that for that same money you wouldn’t even get out on some other links courses (at peak season, granted) for a single round of golf.
What Else Is On
Of course golf is not the only thing here: Enniscrone is famous for its seaweed baths (I tried it once, and while I wouldn’t want one every week it was an entertaining if slippery experience). There are glorious beaches, lots of hill walking opportunities and surfing is growing in popularity.
There’s also the ‘Eagles Flying’ Research Centre (between Enniscrone and Sligo) where you can watch eagles in full flight and in all their glory. The centre is only open between April and November.
Views of Bartra Island and the Nephin and Ox Mountains form an enchanting backdrop, and the town of Ballina is only 15 km away. Sligo town is 55 km east, but has the added attraction of Strandhill Golf Club and Rosses Point Golf Club – another two links beauties – as well as Castle Dargan’s parkland course nearby.
Other Offers
The Diamond Hotel, with its 92 rooms, has several offers on: a Winter Warmer, €139 total, for two people for two nights B&B; a Golden Years package, €169 pps for 3 nights DBB; and Family packages are also on offer. As you can imagine, the town is quiet at the moment so it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of our mild winter weather and play some unhurried, heavenly golf.
The golf offer above is valid all week and weekend (subject to availability obviously). And expect prices to go up as the golf club’s green fees acclimatise to the season.
But when was Waterville founded?
A Golf Week article (January 19, 2012) by Martin Kaufmann, listed it at number four in the Top 40 GB&I golf courses built since 1960… i.e. the Modern era. It lists the designer as our beloved Eddie Hackett, and the date as 1973.
[Photo: Waterville's 1st hole - Last Easy - green to tee]
I strongly suspect that Waterville GC would take exception, seeing as the course was established in 1889. It was one of the earliest courses to be played in Ireland and was one of the first clubs to be affiliated to the Golfing Union of Ireland.
It’s history started with the hundreds of workers drawn to nearby Valentia Island to work on the first trans-Atlantic cable, which relayed messages between North America and Europe. The workers gradually migrated south towards Waterville, where golf was played in the winter months.
Back then it was a nine hole course, and membership varied alongside the demand for cable communications. By the 1950s, such demand had evaporated and the links at Waterville fell dormant… ‘dormant’ being the important word.
[Photo: Waterville's famous par five 11th: Tranquility]
John A. Mulcahy, the Irish born American, ‘rediscovered’ Waterville in the 1960s and had a vision to build the world’s most challenging links. He asked Eddie Hackett to design this eighteen hole course, which Eddie did, brilliantly. The revitalised Waterville opened in 1973… which is where the Golf Week list comes in.
I disagree that Waterville should be included in this ‘Modern’ list. Eddie Hackett’s course reconfigured and expanded the original holes to create today’s front nine.
So, the question is, does reconfiguration and expansion make it a Modern course? Personally, no, it doesn’t. The provenance is too strong and too influential to the final design.
[Photo: Approach to Enniscrone's mighty and terrifying 12th]
The European Club (ranked 6th) was built in 1992 from scratch. There was no history to the place. The same applies to Carne (ranked 8th), built in 1995. These can’t be disputed, but the same issue of Modernity applies to Enniscrone (ranked 9th), founded in 1918. A course has always existed on the links, although the current 18 uses little of the old nine hole course. Like Waterville, however, I suspect Enniscrone wouldn’t be pleased to be regarded as a Modern course.
It is also worth noting that Eddie Hackett played a major role in the design of Carne and Enniscrone.
The list also includes the Irish Courses of:
Old Head of Kinsale 7
Lough Erne 10
Carton House (Monty) 11
Tralee 12
Doonbeg 13
Ballyliffin (Glashedy) 14
Rosapenna (Sandy Hills) 19
Druid’s Glen 26
The K Club (Smurfit) 28… SERIOUSLY!
Fota Island 32
The K Club (Palmer) 34
Ballybunion (Cashen) 40
So said Michael Ring TD, Minister of State for Tourism & Sport, at last night’s launch of the 2012 Golfers Guide To Ireland. His point was that we had to stop beating ourselves up, and spend more time focusing on the positives. And, on the back of a 7% increase in tourist numbers last year, he had reason to be positive. His audience was the great and the good of Irish golf clubs (north and south) who had assembled for the launch of the Guide and the inaugural Golfers Guide Awards (in association with Tipperary Crystal), at O’Connell’s Restaurant in Donnybrook.
Paddy McCarthy and Marty Burke are the men behind the 21st edition of a guide that gives a snapshot of every golf course in the country. It also gives a multitude of accommodation options in each of the provinces. Greg Allen, who spoke at the launch, has written a piece on Golfing Getaways around our island. He picks many of the high profile courses and throws in some lesser known gems as well (Strandhill and Concra Wood most notably), alongside suggestions on where to stay.
[Photo: Strandhill's 5th hole, taken from the 15th green]
The award giving – by Michael Ring TD and a representative from Tipperary Crystal – was the main event and it was one of the smartest ways to identify and reward the ‘best’ golf clubs, because it didn’t attempt to rank anyone…
… not like Golf Digest Ireland’s top 100 courses, which were published before Christmas, and Backspin’s top 30 parkland/links courses, published only a couple of weeks ago. Both have come in for a bit of grief from the golfing public, despite having their merits and different approaches to rating and ranking.
The Awards
The Golfers Guide picked straightforward categories and then divided them by province. The only ‘ranking’ that occurred was to pick one overall winner in each category.
[Photo: the finishing hole in all its glory on the Killarney Killeen course]
OVERALL
Parkland Winner: Killarney Golf & Fishing Club
Links Winner: Royal County Down
REGIONAL (parkland/links):
Leinster: Headfort and County Louth
Ulster: Belvoir Park and Ballyliffin (Old)
Connacht: Westport and Enniscrone
Munster: Cork and Waterville
BEST RESORT
Overall: K Club
Leinster: Mount Juliet
Ulster: Rosapenna
Connacht: Ashford Castle
Munster: Castlemartyr
BEST HIDDEN GEM
Overall: Bunclody
Leinster: Woodenbridge
Ulster: Concra Wood
Connacht: Strandhill
Munster: Dundrum House
Best Golf Club Manager: Maurice O’Meara, Killarney Golf & Fishing Club
Best Hotel: Fota Island
Best Hotel Manager: Conor Hennigan, The Malton, Killarney
Best Boutique Hotel: Bushmills Inn, Co. Antrim
Each of the award winners received a unique Graham Knuttle commissioned ceramic wall plaque crafted by Tipperary Crystal… and the kudos of winning an award which I imagine will become both reputable and popular in the years ahead.
A Bit About the Publisher
Portside Publications is an Irish publishing company operating in the tourism sector for over 21 years. Its Golfers Guide to Ireland has enjoyed uninterrupted annual publication each year making it Ireland’s longest established golf guide. 50,000 copies have been printed this year and the Guide will be distributed and be available free of charge to every golf club in Ireland. An on line version will be distributed to golf clubs in Japan, Sweden, the UK and North America.
In addition Portside Publications provides tee time reservation services throughout Europe and North America through the Golfhub online facility.
Portside Publications Director, Paddy McCarthy, said the Guide had become an essential part of the travelling golfer’s kit when planning a trip to or within Ireland.
“We have had magnificent support from Ireland’s golf industry throughout the years and I am happy to report that the industry has expressed its confidence in the future and through the Golfers Guide to Ireland has joined with us to market their businesses through this coming year. This evening’s awards inaugurates our wish to recognise individual achievement on an annual basis by those involved in our industry”.
My thanks to Paddy and Marty from Portside Media for the invitation to attend last night’s launch, and congratulations to all the winners. It was great to see many of my favourite courses achieving the acclaim they deserve.
I met a great bunch of people from Ballyliffin, Dun Laoghaire, West Waterford, Dundrum, Killarney and Bunclody golf clubs, but still didn’t get to speak to nearly as many people as I would have liked. Everyone was in great spirits and feeling positive about the year ahead… and that was well before Michael Ring’s call to arms. The only challenge for award winners is deciding where to put the Graham Knuttle commissioned ceramic wall plaque. I doubt the personalised bottle of Tyrconnell whiskey given to each winner will present such a problem.
