Dear fellow Members,

It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to take up the mantle of Captain in this our 25th Anniversary Year.  To say I am excited about the year and the line-up of courses is an understatement. We are kicking off with a bang by playing the two finest Links on the East coast, then onto a run of four parkland courses in the Summer and then back to Royal Dublin for Captains before we go to Spain; finishing up with a turkey shoot in the Portmarnock links.   Most of these courses are in the top 25 in Ireland and San Roque is in the top 5 in Spain.  In March we will be competing in our inaugural Memorial Trophy to commemorate our deceased members in Old Portmarnock, which I hope will be a happy occasion giving us all time to remember and reflect on great times spent with our absent friends.

I am delighted to be able to report that our May trip to the Old Head of Kinsale is a resounding success and currently sold out.  We have commitments from 66 members.   Michael Brennan has confirmed rooms will be split between the Trident and Acton hotels. Our trip is 2 nights B&B Fri / Sat, one evening meal and two rounds of golf.   The Old Head is 300kms from Dublin, approx. three & half hours’ drive, we are offering an extra night Thursday costing €50 PPS B&B.  Assuming we get a reasonable take up we will be able to offer later tee times to Friday travellers.  Michael Brennan will be in touch to confirm details. Spain is also proving very popular with bookings from almost 40 members, we have a few spots still available and if you missed this last year I would highly recommend you come as the craic is mighty and San Roque is simply awesome.

In addition to the Old Head we have 3 more new venues on offer this year – Bunclody, Kinsale and Santa Clara. I have never played Bunclody but Paddy the Pro in my home club eulogises it. In his opinion, ‘better than Concra Wood’.  Kinsale is a challenging course and a pleasure to play with very welcoming members.  I got to know it during practice for the All Ireland Club finals last year.  Santa Clara is a newish course near Marbella Hospital. It has fabulous practice facilities with a very impressive Club house. The back nine is as good as any on the costa.

I think we all accept that we have a very unique Golf Society which has gone from strength to strength over the past 25 years. We have huge input from some individuals and modest from others but collectively our members, committee and sponsors make for simply the finest Golf Society in the land and I am immensely proud to become Captain. I appeal to all our members to do your bit for the society – help make the committees job a little easier! – starting with returning your completed membership form promptly, attending the sign on nights and playing your matchplays before the deadlines. We are always striving to improve and I would welcome any suggestions or comments throughout the year.

Thank you and looking forward to great craic, good company and fabulous golf during the coming season.

Captain; Tony Buckley