Castletown Pitch and Putt Club celebrates 10 years

CASTLETOWN Pitch and Putt Club celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and, in just 10 years, has become one of the finest courses in the country, with the awarding of championship status to the course being a testament to this.

Located in the centre of Castletown, the venue attracts clubs from all over the country. They flock to the picturesque village to play the fabulous course, which has hosted many prestigious competitions over the years.

The Castletown club is a wonderful amenity for the community; local people from young to old enjoy playing the beautiful course that rivals any course in the country. People from all over the area, including Kilmainhamwood, Nobber, Wilkinstown, and even as far away as Ardee, have also joined the club and non-members can also enjoy the facility by paying green fees of just €5 for adults and €2 for children.

It all started back in 1997, when a couple of local people who played pitch and putt in other clubs in the county thought it would be a great idea to have a course in the parish. With this in mind, they went to the local parish priest at the time, Very Rev Joe Clavin, who agreed to lease them five acres of land for a pitch and putt course. Local men Paddy Sheerin, Mattie Landy and Petie Price did a lot of work to get the club off the ground and, with the land in place, they enlisted the help of Brendan O'Brien from Navan to design the course.

Secretary Marie O'Neill, who has also been involved from the start, thanked Fr Clavin for his co-operation and said that only for him giving them the land, they wouldn't have been able to do anything.

A grant of €60,000 from Meath Leader was a great boost and, together with a bank loan and donations from the community, the funding was in place to get the project off the ground.

The construction of the course was a real community effort, she said. Everybody in the parish helped out in different ways and all the labour was sourced locally.

It took about six months to complete the 18-hole championship course that has become one of the most popular in the country. In 2005, Castletown was awarded the title of Pitch and Putt Course of the Year by the Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland (PPUI).

Ms O'Neill said they had played courses all over Ireland and that Castletown was "practically one of the best courses in the country". Being only 10 years old, the course was still maturing and was set to become even more beautiful as the trees and shrubs matured.

Castletown hosted the all-Ireland mixed team event in 2004 and next year will host the all-Ireland mixed foursome competition. Just last weekend, they hosted the Leinster Gents Strokeplay.

Not many courses would be good enough to host these events, she said, and it was a great honour for the club.

She paid tribute to the course manager and wonderful green-keeper, James Smyth, who had helped out from the very beginning and was at the course all day every day to make sure it was in tip-top condition.

"James is absolutely wonderful," she declared. "It's great to have him there. Most courses wouldn't have someone there every day. He really keeps it in top order."

Another local man, Eddie Young, comes to the club every Saturday to look after the flowers and the shrubs.

Much of the success of the club is down to the dedicated committee members past and present, and the support of the members and the local community.

The current committee members are: chairman, Peter Sheenan; secretary and competition secretary, Marie O'Neill; treasurer, Brendan Muldoon; registrar, Margaret Muldoon; gents' captain, Peter Clarke; ladies' captain, Mary Glennon.

Castletown Pitch and Putt Club is also open to juvenile members from the age of eight to 16, providing a great outlet for young people in the area. There are currently about 35 juvenile members who are enjoying playing lots of pitch and putt during their summer holidays.

Castletown has had great successes with its juvenile members, Shane Farrelly winning the All-Ireland Juvenile Strokeplay in 2004 and three of the six members of the Meath Pitch and Putt team being members of Castletown: Darren Finney, Paul Cribbin and Andrew Browne. The Meath team won the Leinster inter-county competition last week and will play in the All-Ireland final at Seapoint in August.

For beginners, coaching can be arranged at the club, for both juvenile and senior members.

The tenth anniversary of the founding of the club was celebrated with a barbeque and social night in a marquee at the Cross Guns Pub recently. Everyone who had helped over the years, members of the club and sponsors were all invited to the event, which was a great success.

Every year the club hosts a social night where awards are presented and they also arrange outings to other pitch and putt clubs.

Castletown Community Centre is right beside the course and the club has use of its facilities, something which is of great benefit. There is currently an exhibition at the community centre detailing the history of the club with lots of photographs from the past 10 years, put together by former chairperson Sean Young.

Looking back over the past 10 years, Ms O'Neill said the club was delighted with all they had achieved and were very proud of their beautiful course. "We get so much praise. People come in and they can't believe what they are seeing. We can't believe how beautiful the course turned out. We have been to courses all over the country and it is up their with the best."

Club membership runs from February to December and the cost is €80 for adults, €30 for juveniles, €35 for students, €30 for senior citizens. A family membership is available for €140, open to two adults and children under 16.

To find out more, contact secretary Marie O'Neill on 086-3264972, (046) 90 54575.