Progress being made on new Maine Valley Members Golf Club

LAST week I brought you the news that a new golf club being formed between the former members of Castleisland and Killorglin golf clubs, both of which recently closed down due to financial problems resulting from lack of membership renewals and the Covid-19 lockdown, which prevented further generation of cash flow.

I also stated that following the deadline for expression of interest in becoming a member of the new club on April 19 that the response was very favourable, and I can now confirm that a total of 290 people have indicated that they would be willing to join the new Maine Valley Members Golf Club.

Following this strong level of interest in the proposal to establish a new club, the organising committee, which consists of six members each from Castleisland and Killorglin, it has been decided to move the project on further. Discussions have taken place with Billy Dodd, who owns the land on which Killorglin Golf Club is built, and he has agreed a ten-year lease on very favourable terms.

This will put the proposed new club on a very firm footing from the beginning and provide stability going forward, while the course at Killorglin, where the new club will be based, has been maintained for the past number of weeks on a voluntary basis to ensure it will be in top class condition when play begins.

The next job for the organising committee is to covert the 290 expressions of interest into actual memberships, and they are asking for a €100 deposit from each of those individuals to be paid before

Friday next, May 1, and the deposit is guaranteed to be fully refunded in the unlikely event that the new golf club does not go ahead.

The €100 will be an initial payment on the annual subscription which will be for 12 months from the opening date of the new club, which is dependent on how soon golf courses can open because of Covid-19 and, more importantly, the length of time it will take to set up the new club.

Proposed annual subscription rates are €540 for full membership and €380 for distance membership (greater than 120 km from the course).

Other types of proposed membership include Dual (€250), Married Couples (€1,000) and Seniors (€200) who must be 60 years plus and a member of another club

– Monday to Friday only.

Student membership for those in the 18-23 age bracket in full-time education costs €90, Junior members will be charged €70, while the green fee rate for the new club is a very reasonable €35 or €20 for a guest playing with a member.

Moving the project on to the next phase is very much dependent on those who expressed interest in membership actually coming up with the cash, but the prospect of becoming a member of a new and exciting club right from its inception is something that would be very appealing to many, so I would expect that most, if not all, of those originally interested will take up the membership option.

At this stage it would be fair to say that the club is about to become a reality and I wish them well.