Course News - Ballinascorney Golf Club

Ballinascorney Golf Club, Kilmashogue Lane, Dublin 16 | Phone: (0)1 493 7755

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Bulletins Schedule

Bulletin No	Topic	Date Issued	Date Deleted from Web
1	Meet our New Superintendent	February 2010	May 2010
2	What’s Happening on the Course	March 2010	April 2010
3	Maintenance Work to Golf Course	March 2010	April 2010
4	3Rs	April 2010
5	Course Developments	April 2010	May 2010
6	New Course Layout	May 2010
7	Hazards/Abnormal Ground Conditions Health & Safety – 1^st & 6^th Holes Practising on the Course	May 2010
8	Course Development	June 2010	July 2010
9	Temporary Local Rules	June 2010	August 2010
10	Water Hazards (Rule 26)	July 2010	August 2010
11	Cutting of Trees – Temporary Relief	July 2010	August 2010
12	Practising on the Course	August 2010

Bulletin No 12

Practising on the Course

Players are advised that the rules pertaining to Practising on the Course as set out in Bulletin No 7, issued on 27^th May 2010, still apply. This further bulletin is issued for clarification purposes and has been reaffirmed by recent meetings of the relevant committees. For the purposes of further clarification, the relevant section of Bulletin 7 is reiterated below.

Players should not play more than 2 balls at any one time in a round of golf and then only provided they do not cause any inconvenience on the course.

Players should be conscious of impact on the course while practicing and follow simple rules:

· Leave the greens as you found them

· Repair all plug marks

· Replace divots

· Rake sand bunkers properly

· Players found leaving damage on course or interfering with play will be asked to leave course and may be precluded from further practice

For further clarification, players should not practice putting on any of the greens and are not permitted to practice their golf shots (Driving, Fairway Shots, Pitching or playing out of Sand Bunkers) on any part of the course at any time other than within the two ball rule.

To facilitate members, we are hoping to have the Putting Practice Area available for use in the very near future and when the new course is fully in play, we hope to provide short game practice facilities into the current 7^th Green. Please bear with us in the interim.

It has been agreed however that, as a result of the Men’s Bloom Cup Team reaching the finals of that competition, members of that Bloom Cup Team Squad will not be bound by the practising on the course rules as outlined above. This dispensation will apply to members of that Bloom Cup team squad only and is in effect until 29^th August 2010 – the date of the return match against Newlands Golf Club. This dispensation does not over-rule any of the Rules of Golf.

Course Committee

6^th August 2010

Bulletin No 7

Course update

It was agreed at our EGM that we would proceed with the development of the new course layout once planning permission had been obtained. We have had discussions with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council planning department and it has been indicated that permission will be granted as soon as we are in a position to apply for it.

However, under planning regulations we require the express written permission of the landowner in order to make the application. Verford is not in a position to give such authority as the land is now effectively controlled by NAMA. We have been informed by both Verford and Bank of Ireland that they have indicated to NAMA that they are in agreement that we should seek planning permission.

This left us in the position of having to await NAMA’s deliberations on the matter, should the agency ever get around to it.

At the same time we were informed by Carr Golf of developments in their organisation which would give us a window of opportunity to develop the course at a significantly reduced cost.

In light of this the Management Committee decided it was prudent to move ahead with the development of the new layout in order to avail of the opportunity of having the new course operational by July.

Works are therefore scheduled to commence on Monday, May 31^st next and will be funded from existing club funds. These funds will be reimbursed from the levy monies as soon as planning permission is granted.

Hazards/Abnormal Ground Conditions

· Players are reminded that the Rules of Golf state “The ball must be played as it lies, except as otherwise provided in the Rules”.

· If an area is not clearly marked and defined as GUR, it cannot under any circumstances be assumed to be GUR because of the condition of the ground or because it had previously been marked and defined as GUR.

· It is a Local Rule of Ballinascorney Golf Club that a ball should not be played out of GUR.

· Any area of the course intended to be a Hazard is clearly marked and defined as a hazard.

· Occasionally new underground springs appear on the course or rainfall does not immediately dissipate. The Rules of Golf governing Abnormal Ground Conditions – Casual Water, apply in any such instance.

· If Members consider that any part of the course requires redefining, they should bring it to the attention of the Course Committee.

Health & Safety – 1^st and 6^th Holes

· Players on the 6^th/15^th Holes have Right of Way at all times over those teeing off on the 1^st/10^th Holes.

· Players on 1^st/10^th Tee Boxes should not play until those playing the 6^th/15^th Holes have cleared the ditch/water hazard to the right of the first fairway.

Practising on the Course

· Players should not play more than 2 balls at any one time in a round of golf and then only provided they do not cause any inconvenience on the course.

· Players should be conscious of impact on course while practicing and follow simple rules

· Leave the greens as you found them. Repair all plug marks

· Replace divots

· Rake sand bunkers properly

· Players found leaving damage on course or interfering with play will be asked to leave course and may be precluded from further practice

31st May 2010

Bulletin No 6

New Course Layout

Works will commence on the new course layout on next Monday, 31^st May 2010. This will involve the creation of three greens in the new field.

It is anticipated that the initial works will take approximately one week and will involve the lifting of the existing sod in the field, levelling the base and sanding. Sod from the existing course will be lifted during the following week and laid in the new green positions. In conjunction with the work to the greens, new tee boxes – where required – will also be installed.

We are hoping that the new course will be playable by the end of July but much will depend on the vagaries of the weather. There will be disruption to the existing course in the forming of a temporary green to the 8^th Hole as we wish to use the sod from that hole on one of the new greens, and the Men’s 2^nd Tee Box will be removed obliging the Men to play off the Ladies’ Tee Box for 6-8 weeks.

LAYOUT B, as previously proposed, has had to undergo some alteration because of Health and Safety concerns.

Set out below is the new course card and we will be posting a layout drawing shortly.

Existing Hole	New Hole	Par Men	Par Ladies	Comments
8^th	1^st	5	5	There will be a new green in the new field.
New	2^nd	4	4	The Green will be at the top of the new field using a Tee Box beside the existing 9^th Tee Box
New	3^rd	3	3	New Tee Box in the new field hitting into the existing 2^nd green
3^rd	4^th	4	4	As existing
4^th	5^th	4	4	As existing
5^th	6^th	3	3	New Ladies Tee Box will be located further down the hill.
6^th	7^th	4	4	As existing
1^st	8^th	4	5	New Green will be located in new field just beyond exposed wall
9^th	9^th	4	4	As existing
	TOTAL	35	36
	TOTAL 18 HOLES	70	72

Note: While eliminating the existing 7^th Hole from the new course layout, the existing 7^th Tee Box will be used as the 10^th Tee Box for Men. Depending on how some of the holes play, the case for moving some of the Ladies’ Tee Boxes forward will be reviewed after a period of play.

When playing golf over the next couple of week please be aware of workmen and machinery for both your safety and theirs.

Course Committee

26^th May 2010

Bulletin 4

3Rs

We hope everybody is enjoying the wonderful condition of our greens and a special thanks to Finbarr D’Arcy for all his hard work in bringing them to this standard, given the harsh winter conditions we have suffered.

Finbarr now needs everybody’s help in maintaining this standard. YOU can help by observing the following:

1. Repair all your pitchmarks (see the Club website on the correct way of repairing pitchmarks).

2. Repair any other pitchmarks you see.

3. If your ball lands on the green, even if it doesn’t hold on the green, always assume you have left a pitchmark, seek it out and repair it.

4. Don’t be shy about drawing other players’ attention to their unrepaired pitchmarks – practice makes perfect.

5. No putting, pitching or bunker practice to the greens with more than 2 balls at a time.

The Management Committee, in discussing the general issue of members practicing on the course, recognises that we do not have, as yet, the practice facilities offered by other clubs. However, we must protect what we have and recognise also that out Tee Boxes and Greens are on the small size and we do not have the luxury of being able to move Tee positions and Pin positions as often as we would like.

The Management Committee has therefore decided to introduce this 2-Ball Practice Rule. If you are practicing on the course you should not use more than 2 balls.

Having mentioned Tee Boxes, we draw players’ attention to the buckets of seeded sand on each Tee Box. If you create a divot on the Tee Box, the sand should be used to fill the divot.

The 3Rs Rule applies to all golf courses to enhance the playing pleasure for everybody –

3Rs

- Repair/replace Divots – (Tee Boxes and Fairway)

- Rake Bunkers

- Repair Pitchmarks

Course Committee

14^th April 2010

Roster Details for 2010

APRIL	MAY	JUNE
Patricia Guard 087-2837905	Liam Redmond 087-6883011	Peter Murphy 087 9438412
JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER
Dermot Murray 086-2348886	Patricia Guard 087-2837905	Liam Redmond 087-6883011
OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
Peter Murphy 087 9438412	Dermot Murray 086-2348886	Patricia Guard 087-2837905

In the case of any query please contact the rostered Committee Member

Ballinascorney Golf Club