Waterford Golf Club

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Waterford Golf ClubThe gem in Waterford's Golfing circuit

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Welcome

Open Events & Special Offers

Open 10 Hole Fourball

Every Wednesday from 2.00pm

Entry Fee: €15 Per Person

Open 4 Person Team Event

Every Friday All Day

Entry Fee: €15 Per Person

Open Singles Competition

Every Thursday starting Thursday 14th April 2011

Entry Fee: €15 Per Person

Thursday 14th of July

Ladies 3 Person Rumble

Visitors €15 per person

Open Fortnight 2011.

July 23rd to August 7th.

Welcome to Waterford Golf Club

Waterford Golf Club is a delightful 18 hole parkland course 5 minutes from Waterford City. We provide club, buggy & trolly hire and have fantastic putting green and driving range which is also open to visitors.

We have a great restaurant which is open for casual lunches. Our bar and restaurant both have spectacular views of the city and surrounding countryside.

About Us A History of Waterford Golf ClubIt is a deliciously mischievious thought,that Cromwell's infamous soldiers might have been gifted with a glimpse into the future,when,according to tradition they named the hill which rises above the bridge and bay of Waterford in majestic beauty,Mount Misery. Only a perverse flash of inspiration could have been responsible for bestowing such a name on a stretch of land that was,many years later,to be transformed into a golf course.By 1912,the population of the city had grown to about 27,000 and the economic life of the community depended largely on the £5 million import and export trade through the port.The sporting interests of the people were catered for by a number of GAA,Rugby and Soccer clubs,five Cycling clubs,a Cricket club,a Lawn Tennis club and a Gun club. Those inhabitants,who favoured golf as a sporting outlet,had to travel to Tramore where the club,founded in 1894 on links terrain,had moved inland after the turn of the century.When a meeting was called at the Imperial Hotel on March the 8th,1912,with a view to establishing a golf club in Waterford,the strong ties which locals felt with Tramore were reflected in the views of the Chairman and chief instigator,H.J.Forde. At the outset,he made it known that he would have nothing to do with a golf club that would set up in opposition to Tramore. Both clubs should operate in harmony.In his address to the meeting,Forde highlighted the need for a club which,in his view,had been apparent for many years.His case was strengthened considerably by the fact that a suitable site had become available on Mount Misery at the reasonable rent of £35 per year. After some discussion,Waterford Golf Club was officially launched.The group set about immediately to implement their decision. A provisional committee was set up to arrange the lease of the land,seek members,draw up rules and regulations and arrange for the laying out of the course.They met again on each of the following weeks and by March 29th,were ina position to call a general meeting. Here,it was reported that they had accuired a site of about 47 acres,11 of which were rented from George Nolan at £25 per acre for 21 years while the rest was rented from Martin Walsh at £15 per acre for the initial 3 years and £20 for the remaining 18 years.Rules were read at the meeting and formally adopted and the first officially constituted club officers and committee wew elected.They were:Trustees:- Ed.Phelan, Newrath; H.J.Forde, Manor St.John; E.A.Gibbon, Lyndhurst;Honorary Secretary:- A.E.Walker, Bank Of Ireland; Honorary Treasurer:- J.J.Hayden, Lady Lane.Committee:- W.A.Dobbyn, A.J.Tooms, Jas.McCoy, R.J.Torrie, W.A.Murray, J.R.Downes, J.R.Hammond, G.F.Croker, Thos.Walsh.During the remaining months of 1912,this committee set about organising all the elements of the new club,the recruitment of members,the development of the course and clubhouse and the organisation of competitions and social activities.Meanwhile they took the enlightened decision of engaging Cecil Barcroft to examine the site and plan the course.Barcroft was paid £6.11 shillings for his work at Waterford and his report and plan were ready for submission by April the 20th 1912.Some of his recommendations greatly influenced the eventual design of the course though his work was to be revised within a relatively short time.He wrote:" The course planned is a left hand one because the entrance,the site for the clubhouse,the first tee and the ninth green are therby made adjacent to each other.A down-hill finish from a tee on the finest point of view on the course,is thus available,and the finish uphill,into the setting sun and against the prevailing wind,is avoided.A left-hand course also tends less to loss of balls,the indifferent player being usually addicted to slicing. The ground affords fair opportunities for lenght but the low-lying portion to the east is in very rough condition and cannot be made into goof golfing country for several years.For this reason,I have used chiefly the higher portions of the ground,aiming not at lenght,a quality desirable only when the lies are veryfine,but at holes which call for accuracy rather than hard hitting".This emphasis for accuracy off the tee was maintained through the various stages in the development of the course. Before the end of 1912,however,Barcroft's plan was to be revised.Confident that the club had become an "assured success" the committee decided to employ "first class advce" in the person of Willie Park of Musselburgh,to plan out a new course that would utilise all the land leased by the club.The choice of Park reflected the high ambitions of the club,even at that early stage of its development.His father,Wille Park Snr. had gained the distinction of becoming the first winner of the British Open Championship,at Prestwick,in 1860 and Wille Jnr.was to take the title,also at Prestwick in 1877and at Musselburgh,two years later.Acknowledged as one of the first professionals to take on course design,Park was responsible for Sunningdale,among other fine courses.He was also a a renowned designer and maker of golf clubs and sold 17,000 of his "lofter" at 7 shillings and 6 pence eace. Park was also the author of "The game of golf" the first book to be produced by a professional and he followed it with "The Art of Golf" in 1920.His verdict on Mount Misery was:"The ground is very suitable for the purpose, being very dry turf of good quality and ,in my opinion,providing all of my recommendations are carried out,you will have a first-class nine-hole inland course, extending over 3,000 yards, which will resemble in many characteristics,the well known Braid Hills course in Edinburgh".An extraordinary meeting was held on November 25th,1912 at which it was decided to proceed with the implementation of Park's plan. This meeting also adopted the club's first fun raising scheme to pay for the work. Debentures of £5,bearing interest at 5% and redeemable,were offered to the members.Twenty members immediately subscribed £250 worth and an attempt was then made to get each member to become a debenture holder.The Wille Park-designed course was completed and opend for play in July 1913. It realised the best hopes of the club and drew rich praise from experts who rated it as one of the finest nine hole courses in Ireland.The opening ceremony,on July 30th,took the form of a match with Tramore which resulted in a win for Waterford. This was followed by a three-day tournament which,though it showed a loss of £10,was still considered to be a success,insofar as it advertised the merits of the course,allowing the club to increase green fees.Meanwhile,at the end of 1912,the secreatry reported that membership had reached 181. Subscriptions were fixed not to exceed 30s for men and 21s for women. On the 25th of November 1912 it was decided to limit club membership to 300 and to raise the entrance fee for men to 40s when the membership had reached 200. Green fees on Thursdays,Saturdays,Sundays and holidays were increased to 2 shillings.In May of the same year,the committee accepted a tender from William McQuade to erect a temporary club pavilion at the cost of £45. The location of the pavilion was very close to the site of the present clubhouse,a location dictated by the fact that access to the course was,at the outset,by a path from Sallypark through the property of Edward Phelan. It should be noted at this stage that one of the first concerns of the club officers was to secure a right of way and lay out a suitable path.They also had to make arrangements for cycle accomodation as near as possible to the entrance to Mr.Phelan's Avenue. This was achieved by renting a disused stable from Ry Co. located nearby.In June 1912 it was decided to hold a monthly medal competition. This would be played alternatively on the first Saturday and first Thursday and the winner and second placed competitor in each competition would play for the total entrance money at the end of the year.The first record of a handicap query was in a letter from F.W.Tyler asking the committee to re-consider his handicap. The secretary was instructed to reply that the committee ,in fixing his handicap at 12,had acted fairly but would reconsider their action if he returned three cards marked by a member. A month later,his handicap was adjusted to 16.T.W.H.Davies - Tom to his friends - was captain of the club from 1917 to 1929 and then, after a gap of only two years, he was honoured with the presidency which he held from 1931 to 1939. A man of some wealth, he was an irrepressible golf enthusiast and took regular golfing holidays to Lahinch where he struck up a close friendship with the great John Burke. As an extent of this friendship Burke, at the behest of Davies made a number of visits to Waterford for matches against the outstanding local amateur, Joe Browne.It is concievable,of course,that Burke was onlt too delighted to avail of this opportunity of attempting to beat a player who stole much of the Lahinch's man thunder on the championship scene of the late twenties and early thirties.In fact after Burke had won the South of Ireland Champiohip four years in a row from 1928 to 1931, he was succeeded as title holder by Browne, who emerged triumphant in 1932 and retained the title the following year.Then in 1934, Browne,who was born and reared on the outskirts of Waterford City at the foot of Mount Misery clinched the Irish Amateur Close Championship at Rosslare when he beat R.M.McConnell of Royal Portrush by 6 and 5 in the final. In 1936, at Portmarnock, he added the Irish Amateur Open title to his list of honours, beating Dr.Billy O Sullivan at the 39th hole of the final.Browne represented Munster at interprovincial level in 1938 and 1939 and representated Ireland at International level from 1933 to 1938 and again in 1952 and 1953. He played a total of 52 matches,winning 19,halving 3 and losing the remaining 30.Perhaps it was the influence of the fine championship stretch at Lahinch, but whatever the reason,Davies set his heart on extending the Waterford course to 18 holes at the early stage of his presidency.In keeping with the decision taken in 1912 to employ Park to design the original course,the club gained tyhe services of the best architect of that time for the extension to 18 holes. Indeed when the great James Braid came to Waterford, he also re-designed several of the old holes with the result that the present lay-out is largely the product of his expertise.Braid who was one of the greatest players in the history of the game was also a fine course architect,particularly where parkland stretches were concerned. He was responsible for many fine courses in these islands.From 1905 until his death in 1950,Braid was the resident professional at Walton heath where he recorded a round of 74 on his 78th birthday.Beating his age,though a remarkable feat,was something that Braid did regularly,particularly on his birthday.His were achievements that are worth mentioning when the question arises as to whether the golfers of bygone days are as good as their successors. In the Britich Open Braid finished in the top five on 15 occasions. He was third twice, runner up four times and the champion on 5 occasions a feat equalled by J.H.Taylor, Peter Thomson and Tom Watson and excelled only by Harry Vardon's six triumphs.As a consequence of Braid's work, Waterford became one of the best inland courses in Ireland and comparable with any similar lay-out in these islands.The official opening of the extended course in 1934 was followed by an exhibition match involving one of the great characters of the game, Wee Bobby Cruickshank who was born in Scotland in 1894 and later emigrated to the United States.Though he never won a major title he took part in one of the most remarkable matches ever witnessed in the USPGA. On the 6th hole of the second round of a 36 hole match,Al Watrous conceded him a 6 foot putt out of the kindness of his heart,being 9 up with 13 to play.On the next hole Wee Bobby holes from 20 feet and Watrous missed from 8. Wee Boby then took the next two holes and Watrous's lead was becoming vulernable. By the time they reached the 18th Watrous was only one up and Cruickshank was 6 under for the back nine. He then holed a long birdie putt to bring the match to extra holes. Cruickshank eventually won the match on the 6th extra tie hole.Cruickshank,who stood only 5 foot 5 was paid a fee of £45 for the exhibition match whhich turned out to be a financial disaster as incessant rain kept the attendance down to a handful. The important point, however was that Braid had given the members a course of which they could be justifiably proud. Indeed Braid himself must have marvelled at the view from the 18th tee as he looked down on the picturesque Knockane Castle,turreted on the shore below. Lower down in the valley,there was a splendid view of the broad and sinuous river,beyond which all the prominent buildings of the city were visible.The irregular city, with its towers and steeples, spread before the eye along the valley and, in the west, Slievenamon and the Comeraghs, made a background of enduring splendour. The full potential of the Mount Misery site had, at last, been realised.The layout of the first 7 holes,correspond roughly with the present design.The eight,as designed by Braid,was a straight par 4, played up the hill to the present 9th green. The 9th was a par 3 played to the present 10th green.The 10th and 11th were par fives, corresponding to the present 11th and 12th. The 12th was a par 3 as is the present 13th. In the Braid design the 13th was a par 4 and the 14th was a long par 3. The remainder of the holes in the 1934 layout are unchanged to this day.During 1944,the club decided to utilize land that had been accuired a few years previously.They built a new 8th green,so making the hole a dog leg par 5 measuring 458 yards. A new 9th tee was also constructedto make the hole a 197 yards par 3.The extension of the course to 18 holes was made possible by the acquisition in 1934 of the snipe bog from Mrs Annie Nolan, whose husband, George, had died at this stage. In fact new leases on the original site were negotiated in 1927, both with George Nolan and Michael Walsh, for a period of 43 1/2 years.By the late 1960's the land leased from Walsh had passed into the ownership of Purcell Bros,cattle exporters.This was eventually purchased by the club after protracted negotiations. Meanwhile the land leased from Nolan was trabsferred into a sporting lease by Waterford Corporation in 1972.
Scratch Trophy Clubhouse3Lge

Waterford Crystal Scratch Trophy

This years Scratch trophy 2012 will take place on

Sat 30th June & Sun 1st July

The Waterford Crystal Scratch Trophy is played for every year by the top amateurs from home and abroad. The winners can be seen on our past winners page but notable winners have been:Philip Walton,who sank the winning putt for Europe in the 1995 Ryder Cup; the great JB Carr who won it twice and later went on to become Captain of the R&A;Peter Townsend,who went on to record multiple victories on the European Tour; Richie Coughlan and Keith Nolan, who both went on to play on The USPGA tour and John McHenry who won it three years in a row.

The list of winners also include local players, Noel Cassidy,George Walsh, Colm Carew and Gavin McNeill who won it twice and is at present in the early stages of carving out a career for himself on the Professional tours. Other players from local clubs who have won this trophy are: Martin O Brien(New Ross) (3 times) and the Tramore trio of Michael Burns, and brothers Peter and Eddie Power. Eddie won it twice in addition to his 3 Irish Close titles and numerous other scratch cups throughout Ireland. Amongst the list of players who have tried but never quite succeeded in getting their hands on the trophy were: Ronan Rafferty,No.1 on the European Tour in 1991;Des Smyth,multiple winner on both the European Tour and American Seniors Tour and currently vice captain of the 2006 European Ryder Cup Team;Paul McGinley,who sank the winning putt for Europe in the 2002 Ryder Cup;John O Leary,the last Irishman to win the Irish Open(1982) and presently Chairman of the European Tour;Garth McGimpsey,British Amateur Champion,Walker Cup Player on many occasions and Captain of the Walker Cup team in 2003

Page 5 About Our CoursePar: 71.SSS: 70.Length: 5,722 yards.Visitors: Visitors are welcome (tee times should be booked in advance to avoid disappointment).Opening hours: 8am - Sunset. Avoid: Tuesday / Wednesday afternoons; all day Sunday.Ladies: Welcome.Ladies Day: Tuesday.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Green fees:Mon - Fri: €35.Weekends & Bank Holidays: €45.Caddy service available during the summer months; Handicap certificate required for open competitions.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Clubhouse Hours: 8.00am to 12.00 midnight.Clubhouse Dress: Casual.Clubhouse Facilities: Bar & full catering from 11am-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Course Facilities: Putting Green, Driving Range, Buggy & Trolley Hire, Club Hire-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------General Manager: Damien Maguire, Tel: (051) 876748.Hon Secretary: Paddy BolgerArchitects: James Braid / Willie Park.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Course Description: A parkland course with good views of the countryside. The original nine holes were officially opened in June 1913. The architect of this layout was Willie Park Jnr of Musselburgh. This was extended to 18 holes by the much celebrated architect, James Braid. Together they successfully created one of the finest inland courses in Ireland. This is exemplified by the spectacular closing stretch, in particular the magnificent downhill 18th. The elevated tee for this classic closing hole couldn't have been better positioned. The 360 degree views over the surrounding countryside of three counties are quite awe-inspiring and the narrow gorse lined fairway demands the most accurate of tee shots. Our course is particularly renowned for the quality of its putting surfaces and for its friendly atmosphere. The course will appeal to low and middle handicappers.
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WE ARE OPEN FOR MEMBERSHIP

To join Waterford Golf Club, all you have to do is fill out an application form and return it, it’s that simple!! If you have any questions, please phone Damien on 051 876748 for more details.

SPECIAL OFFER 01/10/2011 - 31/01/2012

ENTRANCE FEE €1000 PAYABLE ON JOINING

DUE 01.01.2012 €180

WHY JOIN WATERFORD GOLF CLUB?

If you are an avid golfer and you have not yet become a member of a golf club, you might want to consider Waterford Golf Club. We offer very competitive rates and have fantastic payment plans available Here are some of the many benefits of membership of Waterford Golf Club:

Unlimited play and members rates for golf buggies.

Obtain a handicap to play in competitions.

"Member Only” tee times.

Discounts on guest green fees.

Use of club facilities like the clubhouse, locker room and practice facilities.

Discounts on bar purchases with your GUI card.

Free use of facilities for events like weddings etc.

“Member Only” tournaments and events.

Membership Form.pdf

Member Booking
Visitor Booking
Competition BookingGreenfee RatesWe are currently open to greenfees, our rates are as follows.Weekdays: €30Weekends & Bank Holidays: €40Societies & Groups: We offer special discounts and rates to societies and groups, please contact Damien on 051 876748 for details.Design by Sheila Fennelly(c) Waterford Golf Club, Newrath, WaterfordPhone: 051: 876748 | Fax: 051 853405 | email: info_waterfordgolfclub.comHomeCENTENARYMembersResultsContact UsPhotosFACILITIES