Blacklion Golf Club
Newsletter 3 June 2018
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K E E P I N G O U R M E M B E R S U P TO DAT E C A P TA I N S ’ WO R D S - C O U R S E C O R N E R - L A D I E S C O R N E R - R E S U LT S INTERCLUB COMPETITIONS - COMPETITIONS - HANDICAPS
Est. 1962  
Blacklion Golf Club Newsletter #3
Every year, golfers from all over Ireland have an opportunity to go and see the world’s best at work during the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. This year, the event will take place from July 4th till 9th on the Glashedy Links at Ballyliffin in Donegal. A mere 2 hours from Blacklion, this event is worthwhile considering going to. www.dubaidutyfreeirishopen.com
Captains’ Words.
MAY REVIEW: The weather has improved dramatically and the course is gradually coming into shape. The greens staff are focusing on regular cutting of the fairways and rough to make sure all playing surfaces are manicured. The greens are also recovering from the hollow-tining and the increase in ground temperature has improved growth allowing them to fill out. A focus is now to spray off the daisies before they become too dominant and this should improve the condition of the fairways and tee boxes not to mention making golf balls easier found! Anyone who, like me, was lucky enough to hit their tee shots on the par three sixth into the nutwood on the right would appreciate the great splashes of colour created by the carpet of bluebells, clusters of primroses and emerging hazel leaves. Nearly makes the ding worthwhile. On the competition front we have started our annual inter-club campaign with a successful 7-3 victory over Fintona in the Ulster four-balls. Good away performances from the pairings of Jude Morris/Gareth McGovern and Kevin McPartlan/Roly Curran set us up for a 5-0 home win. We also travelled to
Letterkenny on 13th May for the Foursomes Pierce Purcell qualifier competition where we finished a very credible second of thirteen teams. A week later we played Ballyliffin Club and beat them 3-2 to qualify for the Ulster quartet finals. Congratulations to Jimmy and his team, particularly Joe and Niall who had to play up the extra 19th hole to win through. The Glenfarne Cup is ongoing and the first round is finished. Results shown further in the newsletter. Last month we set up a Marketing subcommittee to identify what actions we should take to increase membership, visitor numbers and sponsor interest so that we can improve our long term financial position. Over the year this committee will make recommendations to Council and through this newsletter we will keep members informed and seek feedback. We also welcome the announcement of the ‘One Governing Body in Ireland where the GUI and ILGU will merge to form one association. Noel Melanaphy Club Captain 2018
Club News and information Marketing Our Club …
In order to meet these objectives, the marketing subcommittee has
‘The most important shot in golf is … the next one! Ben Hogan.
identified a number of areas where definitely improvement is needed and actions will be undertaken.
Following a request from the committee, a specific marketing sub-committee was set up to see how we as a club, can develop a marketing strategy and approach to improve both the standing of the club within the wider community and develop some initiatives to improve the financial situation of our club for the long run. The sub-committee already held their first two meetings and the following objectives were defined and agreed: SMART Marketing - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely 1) Marketing strategy must seek to increase membership: membership currently stands at around 170 while twenty years ago, we had 350 members. There are several areas we need to improve on. 2) Marketing strategy must seek to increase the number of visitors to our club: In 1994, 500 visitor rounds were played between Aug 7 and Oct 18. From 25 June 2016 and 6th July 2017, only 200 green fees were recorded. We realise that we miss a lot of green fee opportunities and we will seek to address that. 3) Marketing Strategy must seek to stimulate sponsorship from existing and new sponsors: currently sponsorship income is around 3K while 10 years ago we collected over 10K
Website: This is our calling card and should inform both members as visitors about the options to become a member and come and play through SEO, Mobile Friendly, Dynamic content. Newsletter: The newsletter will be used to inform members of what has happened and will happen in the club. It’s a means to engage with members. The newsletter will include club news but also general golf info, trivia, rules and green keeping info. Database: we are working on getting a definitive DB set up with members’ details so we can communicate effectively and follow up on financial commitments. Social Media: we have started working extensively on our facebook page, linking to various events, providing up to date news and information and trying to improve the general image of our golf club Once we get all these elements in line and according to brand standards, we will be prepared to move the club forward.
Course Corner … By Francis O’Reilly, Course Convenor. Greens Cutting Height … Players in every golf course demand firm, fast and true greens. However, in creating this on natural turf surfaces and with the limited means we have at our disposal, we have to work with the main contributor to the greens which is the grass plant. The plant is dependent on the environment around it and there are several factors effecting cutting heights: the grass species, the health of the soil and root zone under the surface, weather and general climate, wear and tear pressure, types of mowers and how aggressively they are set to cut, top dressing resources, growth regulators and more. At the most basic level we have to remember that the grass has to survive. When selecting cutting height it is our responsibility that the grass has at least enough leaf to survive. The leaf photosyntheses new sugars and therefore proteins which prevents it from drawing on nutrients stored in the roots, which are not inexhaustible. The main grass species found in Irish golf greens is annual meadow grass (Poa Annua).
This variety is the dominant type with a tendency to fine leaf, creeping growth and high density and it also tends to flower during the day. Unfortunately it also carries poor disease resistance to ‘fusarium’ and ‘anthracnose’ and has late spring growth, propensity to seed and die when under stress and has drought intolerance. In its favour is the ability to grow and survive at very low cutting heights and produces good putting surfaces from May to September. As our greens have this type of grass and exclusively this type, there is a need for heavy sand top-dressing which, given our circumstances we are not always able to do. We also have very hard sandy greens on relatively short holes which means severe bruising from pitch marking. So, the issue of cutting heights is a complex one that all greenkeepers need to think about carefully before jumping on the triple mower. Speed of greens extends beyond cutting height and I hope I have illustrated some of the background to what goes on, on very heavily top-dressed greens that can be cut at apparently low heights.
Blacklion GC Club house Summer Opening Hours Mon/Tue: Closed Wed: From 1 pm Thu: From 4 pm Fri: From 6 pm Sat/Sun: From 1 pm Bank Holiday Mondays: From 3 pm Can we urge you all to support our club house which is a crucial part of our social golf experience. What would we be without it?
June Ladies Fixtures 31, 2nd, 3rd: Stableford 7th, 9th, 10th: V Par 14th, 17th: Medal 5 16th St Columbans Primary Classic 21st Captains invite to ladies 24th: Sweep 28th, 30th, 1st: Club Trophy SF
Upcoming Men’s Fixtures June 1 - 30: Open Fourball Q June 1 - 20: Prior Brothers rumble Q 30 May - 2 - 3 - 4 June: Bush Cup 6 - 9 - 10 June: Monthly Medal 13 - 16 - 17: Single SF #6 16 June - St Columbans Classic 20 June - Open Singles SF 22 june - Blacklion Juniors Cup 23 June - Captain’s Day 24 June - Sweep 27 June - 1 - 2 July: Michael Poinard
Rules Quiz ‌
Test your golfing knowledge Question 1 of 9 Snow and natural ice are either loose impediments or casual water at the option of the player.
Question 5 of 9 The flagstick may be non-circular in crosssection. A-TRUE | B-FALSE Question 6 of 9
A-TRUE | B-FALSE
The line of putt does not extend beyond the hole.
Question 2 of 9
A-TRUE | B-FALSE
Leaves, twigs and branches which are not fixed or growing are loose impediments.
Question 7 of 9
A-TRUE | B-FALSE
A caddie is one who assists the player in accordance with the Rules.
Question 3 of 9
A-TRUE | B-FALSE
The side that has the honour on the first teeing ground is determined by the order of the draw.
Question 8 of 9
A-TRUE | B-FALSE Question 4 of 9 With Committee permission, competitors can determine their own groupings and starting times. A-TRUE | B-FALSE
A competitor is a player in a match play competition. A-TRUE | B-FALSE Question 9 of 9 A competitor may use a golf cart during a competition. A-TRUE | B-FALSE Answers next month.
Competition Corner ‌
Handicapping Corner ‌
By Peter Cumisky, Hon. Competition Secretary
By Kevin McPartland, Handicap Secretary
With the competitions in full swing now and the course playing to its full potential, good scoring is bound to happen. There is a bit of pressure on participation with all the teams playing home and away. All in all, we are looking at some big events coming up and your support as always, greatly appreciated.
There is more and more tendency to play 9 hole competitions so we are looking at adding a 9 hole medal SSS to our competition structure to allow members to go out for 9 and post these for handicap purposes. We will also be starting the first handicap adjustments now the competitions are fully qualifying.
Some Results Neven Maguire Classic 1. Ronan McCabe- 43 pts 2. Paul Ferguson - 40 pts 3. Gaby Fee - 39 pts Stableford 5 1. Gaby Fee- 38 pts. 2. Jimmy Donovan - 38pts. 3. Eamon Flynn- 37 pts. May Monthly Medal 1. James McGrath - 67 2. Gareth McGovern - 68 3. Darren Boyle- 70 Gross Kevin McPartland 74