Golf
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The layout of the course is designed in a very clever way. It is made up of three, nine hole courses - the Upper, Middle and Lower - which can be played in any combination
include Royal County Down; The Old Course, St. Andrews; Royal St. George’s; Muirfield and Royal Liverpool. The event was held from 10th-12th June - the same weekend that Euro 2016 began and, despite the clash of dates and the Republic of Ireland football team’s involvement in the tournament, fourteen thousand tickets were sold over the three days, beating the previous record set at Nairn in 2012. Great Britain & Ireland won the 2016 Curtis Cup by 11½ points to 8½ points. It was only their eighth victory since the competition first started at Wentworth in 1932 - although the match has been halved on three occasions. It was a sunny day back in May when I
called to see the Course Superintendent, Des McGann. He was busy preparing for the tournament along with his eighteen staff and, even though it was a Friday morning and just four weeks away to the start, he still managed to give me some of his time to
accompany me around the course. Our first port of call was in and around the
maintenance facility. It was amazing to see the amount of equipment on display and there were yet more machines out working out on the course. You only have to see the machinery listed at the end of this article to comprehend the amount of equipment that is at the club’s disposal. The mechanic, Brendan Sweeney, was busy in his workshop. He has a standalone building, a short distance from the maintenance facility, dedicated for machinery repairs and maintenance. Each member of staff has their own lock up cage unit where they keep their hand tools and personal protection equipment. Des then took me out onto the course
where I got a tour of the magnificent layout, with stunning panoramic views of the Wicklow countryside, including the Little and Great Sugarloaf mountains. It was heaven on earth. I looked at Des and suggested that “it must be wonderful working here.” He looked back with a satisfied grin on his face, which said it all. The layout of the course is designed in a
very clever way. It is made up of three, nine hole courses - the Upper, Middle and Lower - which can be played in any combination. None of the nine hole courses is less important than the other. Members and visitors check each day which of the two nine hole courses are in play. This makes it very accommodating for Des and his team to carry out special maintenance operations such as coring, verti-draining and sanding where he can work on one of the nine hole courses whilst play continues on the other two nine. Des began his greenkeeping training at
3rd tee on the Upper course 30 I PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016
Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork. He was placed on work experience at Fota Island Golf Club. He got employment at Castle Golf Club serving under both Chris Nolan and Paul Fitzgerald. Whilst with Chris, he was sent to
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