117 holes for 117 years at Kenmare Golf Club
KENMARE Golf Club are staging a Golf Marathon on Friday next as a fundraiser, to help rebuild their iconic clubhouse, which was destroyed by fire in the early hours of June Bank Holiday weekend Sunday. The historic wooden structure resembling a cricket pavilion with its wonderful veranda, has been a famous landmark in the town since the 1920s and has hosted many famous golf and non-golf-related gatherings over the club’s 117-year history.
Being within short walking distance of the town, the clubhouse has been used for every type of family celebration from 21st birthdays to First Holy Communions and has been at the hub of the community since its foundation, with non-golfers regularly using it also to call in for a drink or a meal.
The people of Kenmare are a resilient lot and will rally around to support the club who on Friday next, are set to undertake a huge Golf Marathon organised by Vice-Captain Chris Dale where a team of fourteen players will each undertake to play 117 holes (representing the club’s age) in the one day.
This will total 1,638 holes, while Men’s Captain James Murphy, Lady Captain Cindy Freeman, President Eugene O’Sullivan, Rory O’Sullivan and a number of local Kerry GAA stars, will play another 265 holes between them, to make up a total of 1,903 to represent the year of the club’s foundation.
Captain James Murphy will begin proceedings by teeing off at 5.20am, with Lady Captain Cindy Freeman expected to hole the final putt somewhere around 10pm that night.
Chief organiser and Vice-Captain of the club Chris Dale, is originally from England and is married to local woman Sarah Crushell, whose family have a long history with the club and he understands the deep roots that the golf club has within the community.
For this reason, Chris has assembled a team of players and support crew selected from families that have a long standing history with the club including the Brosnans, Dalys, Duggans, O’Dwyers, O’Sheas, O’Sullivans, Murphys, MacGearailts and the McSwineys to mention just a few. There are many more names that could also be added but because of logistics, the size of the group must be limited.
Kenmare Golf Club is fortunately blessed with the supportive nature of the local community who along with their three hundred or so, members, will rebuild the clubhouse with the help of a variety of fundraising initiatives that will subsidise the insurance money they hope to eventually receive.
Like most other clubs around the country, Kenmare relies heavily on society and green fee revenue and will need to have clubhouse facilities up and running as soon as possible to give the club, a fighting chance of remaining part of the Kenmare landscape for at least another 117 years.
Playing 117 holes, which represents six and a half rounds of golf, is indeed a huge challenge for those involved and they must be admired and congratulated for their efforts on behalf of their beloved club so a Go Fund Me account has been set up for anybody who might like to donate and help towards the fundraising, while a link to this account can also available on Kenmare Golf Club’s Facebook page.
If you can support their cause in any way, I know that the folks at Kenmare would be very grateful, and further information/details is available by contacting Kenmare’s PR Officer, Charlie Vaughan, on 085-8766554.