GRANGEVINE June 2010

Message from the Captains

We are now half way through our Centenary Year and how time has flown by! We have had a great time and hope you have had too. We want to give you a short review of the Year so far and let you know what is happening in the next few months.

The Year so far.....

The Drive In was great; it’s been a while since nearly 400 people attended any event in Grange. Thanks to all who came along and we know you all enjoyed it. We have had three Centenary celebrity lunches with Miriam O’Callaghan, Mick Galway and Michael O’Muirheartaigh as guest speakers. All three lunches were a sell out and went really well. The last Celebrity Lunch this year is on the 12^th November and Maureen Madill, former Ladies European Tour player and well known TV commentator, will be our guest. Please note this is a change from the diary, with the new date being the day before rugby international at the new Aviva Stadium.

After this year, St Patrick’s Day will never be the same at Grange! International pianist John O’Connor, jazz legend Louis Stewart and Senator David Norris have all been to the Club on different occasions and each event has been a huge success. The Centenary Family Day was so good we intend to do it every year. It’s a great way to introduce kids to the Club and to give John Taylor a job for life!!

Looking forward......

The Centenary Ball is on the 26^th June and sold out in three days! This promises to be a special event. The Centenary Golf week precedes it and runs to Sunday 27^th June. Be warned, the events are different to the normal golf week in Grange and are designed to ensure the best social week the club can have! There will be live music and a BBQ on Wednesday the 23rd June so put that date in your diary now. This is a great opportunity to bring guest to Grange and show it off, it has never looked so good so take the chance to bring a guest. With this in mind the competitions entry fees are being kept to a minimum.

On the golf front, the course is in great condition. It’s so good that the numbers of rounds being played has rocketed. In the week to the 23^rd May, Dave & Shane estimate 1300 rounds were played on the course!! This is great for the Club. 

We still haven’t won anything but are working hard on it. The Centenary year has given the team effort a boost and while we may not win a pennant this year the foundation for the future is better now than it has been for some time. 

The final day of Sheena’s Captain’s Prize will take place on the 12^th June and on that date the men will have an outing to an unknown destination! 

The Irish Girls Close will be in Grange in July and we need volunteers to steward that event so please sign up to that if you can. This will be a chance to see the Maguire twins just after they have played the Curtis Cup. Paul McGinley & Hazel Kavanagh will host a clinic on the 25^th July and we hope as many as possible will come along. Finally, we are making good progress on the appointment of a new club professional.

The Centenary Clock and the Rolex clock have been installed, the old fountain has been taken out and the seat and wedding cake tree are a great addition to the clubhouse area. We have rightly honoured our founders and RK & Philip Love with two monuments on the course, which we shall mark officially on the 25^th July.

We don’t propose here to thank individually all who have helped out so far this year, but would like to express our sincere appreciation to everyone who has contributed to creating a great ‘centenary experience’ so far.

We look forward to seeing you at the forthcoming events and if there is anything special you think we could do to enhance Centenary Year please let us know.

Hugh & Sheena

GOLF MATTERS ........................

Ø      Congratulations to Caroline Murphy who was beaten on the 19^th in the Semi-Finals of the Plate of the Irish Championships in Portstewart by the eventual winner Jessica Carty.

Ø      Men’s Team News:

o       Barton Cup: Beat Trinity & South County before losing to Elm Park

o       Metropolitan Cup: Beat City West & Naas – play Killeen on 11^th June

o       Leinster 4 Ball: Beat Kilmashogue & Woodbrook – see Notice-board in Club for next match

o       Bloom Cup: Beat Carrickmines; 4 – 1 down on first leg against Milltown

o       J.B.Carr Trophy: Beat Elm Park; lost to Newlands

o       Straffan Cup: Beat Dun Laoghaire; lost to Bodenstown

o       Mixed Foursomes: Lost to Dun Laoghaire

o       Pierce Purcell Shield: Missed qualifying for match-play by 1 shot.       

CENTENARY CHAT

o       Centenary Art & Photographic Exhibition

A reminder to all our Artists, Photographers, Sculptors etc. to get into action to be ready to exhibit during our Centenary Art Exhibition week which opens on Sat. 23^rd October.

o       Centenary Golf Week (Sunday 20^th to Sunday 27^th, June 2010)

We are running our Centenary semi open week in the spirit of a social week with an emphasis on fun and activity on the course and clubhouse. With this in mind we will have a BBQ / carvery available on all evenings. We would encourage members to bring as many guests as possible and stay on for the evenings; in particular on Wednesday 23^rd we will be running a mixed fourball with entertainment in the evening. We have also looked to keep costs down with an entry fee of €20 per team of four, which includes 3 visitors for the events stated. The timesheets will be open on Sunday 6^th at 6pm and full details are now on the BRS system.

NEWS FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER

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§        If you need a Member’s telephone number please log into the Members Directory section under Members – User Name: GRANGE, Password: 1910 – access the full list of e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

AROUND THE COMMITTEES

v    Pavilion Members - to date two semi-open competitions have been held for the pavilion members. The attendance so far has been poor but we are keen to have as many pavilion members involved in the competitions throughout the rest of the year. Most importantly there is a pavilion member’s competition during the Centenary week on Thursday 24^th June with the time slots available between 3pm and 4pm. All pavilion members are encouraged to participate and enjoy the evening afterwards. They are invited to join the club table for dinner.

JUNIORS & JUVENILES CORNER

Ø      The Juvenile Summer Competitions Programme starts on Wednesday 9^th June and will run on Mondays and Wednesdays for the summer months unless otherwise stated in the Juveniles’ Handbook. Timesheet runs from 8.00am to 9.30am. Book online.

Ø      Red Robins :

o       2009 Red Robins at 9.00 on Outer Six

o       2010 Red Robins at 10.00 on Outer Six

o       Information will be posted in Juvenile Room. Please put your name on the list if you want to play in June.

UPCOMING EVENTS  

Social:

ü      Monday 14^th June – Musical evening with the Bohemians – No Charge.

Men’s Inter-Club Teams

ü    Friday 11^th June – Metropolitan Cup v. Killeen – home & away

ü    Saturday 26^th June – Barton Shield - Qualifying round at Stackstown.

ü    Friday 19^th June – Bloom Cup – second leg v. Milltown - home

ü    Monday 28^th June – Jimmy Carroll – Qualifying round at Castle

ü    Saturday 17^th July – Senior Cup versus Stackstown at Druid’s Glen.