Cavanman's Diary: The eagle has landed for golf clubs

All has changed utterly for local courses of late

With the football season having been on hold for so long, lads from their late teens right up to mid-30s were left with time on their hands. Many turned to golf.

Golf clubs get a bad rap. The image of the game in non-golfing quarters is often of a stuffy, elitist pursuit.

And in truth, golf probably doesn’t help itself in some ways, with its dress codes, fancy titles and reserved parking spaces and, of course, the myriad of rules and etiquette that goes with it.

I have been playing the game, badly, for five or six years now myself and I have found that the reality is a lot different from the perception. I have detected no snobbery or anything of the sort.

On the contrary, experienced golfers I have played with are full of encouragement (Lord knows, I need it) and advice and are genuinely happy to see new members join their club or take up the game for the first time.

And there have been no shortage of those in recent months, which I will get to. First of all, though, the context.

The Covid-19 restrictions seemed to spell absolute disaster for golf clubs and, indeed, more than a handful did close their gates permanently during the lockdown. Given that most collect their membership at the end of March annually, it couldn’t have fallen at a worse time and, of course, cash flow was in peril once green fees – the charge on non-members playing the course – disappeared.

Yet courses still needed to be maintained and that’s a costly business at any time of the year.

Midway through the lockdown, golf clubs were given the green light to return to action, albeit with some alterations such as a ban on formal competitions, the use of rakes in bunkers and handling of flags, as well as the closure of clubhouses.

Those were small quibbles, however. A steak is still a steak, even without the trimmings, and golf nuts were just glad to be able to get back out and enjoy 18 holes. For many, especially older people, it was their main social outlet as well as providing welcome exercise.

The main proviso, however, was that those playing had to be members of a club. It was a perfect storm for the embattled golf clubs, many of whom had seen membership levels drop consistently over the past decade or were treading water at best.

Suddenly, there was an influx of members. Most clubs reported increases in the region of 20-30% and the largest cohort was from club footballers, at home during lockdown and suddenly no longer tied up with meetings, matches and meetings to go to.

Crucially, golf gave them a competitive outlet. Many, I am told, had played as juveniles but packed it in as they grew older and football took over. Now, all of sudden, they were back and it became hard to book a tee time in many venues, with the schedule full up on certain days.

A friend of mine, a club footballer from Cavan living in Dublin, joined a club up there. He was one of, get this, 400 new members in that particular club who enlisted during lockdown. To play, he needs to book a slot over a week in advance – hardly ideal but, again, a sign of the rude health of the club at present in terms of participation.

In Cavan, it is the same. One county footballer told me he had joined Nuremore, across the boundary in Monaghan. He sent me a picture of his card. A kind way of putting it would be that he is better with the big ball but this man is a serious athlete and I could easily imagine him getting down to single figures in a relatively short space of time.

Of course, that’s much better than I did when I started. My first goal was to break into double figures… I have written about my travails on the track (that’s what we golfers call a course, don’t you know) before.

As time has gone on, I have come to appreciate it for what it is, a chance to play a competitive sport and have fun, to turn off the phone for three or four hours and just relax. Once I figured out that part, I have my found my scores coming down. Not that I am good at it, you understand, but once you feel you are getting slightly better at anything, you will keep returning to it.

And I did get one great tip, which helped. "You are standing too close to the ball," someone told me... "After you hit it!"

Soon, clubs across the country will be fully open for business again. I am looking forward to that, to trying out new courses.

In Cavan, we are spoiled for choice. While Cabra Castle closed last year, there are still seven courses – Blacklion, Slieve Russell, Belturbet, Farnham Estate, Co Cavan, Virginia and Crover House. That is an extraordinary number for a small county.

In comparison, next door in Monaghan there are five – Clones, Rossmore, Nuremore, Concra Wood and Mannan Castle. In Longford and Leitrim combined, there are just three: Longford, Ballinamore and Carrick-On-Shannon.

I have been playing in the friendly environs of Virginia, which is a tricky, tree-lined par-64 course with narrow fairways and a couple of fiendishly-difficult par 3s. There are a lot of new faces around; what seemed like a catastrrophic situation for the game has suddenly, and unexpectedly, turned into something of a boom. It’s great to see it.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of playing with one of those new arrivals, a Tipperary man who is working around these parts for a while. Recently – more than likely because of the knowledge he picked up from playing with me, I presume – I have heard he registered a gross 58.

To put that in perspective, the course record in Virginia is 61, although it must be set in competition to claim that title. Still, while it may mean nothing to you Philistines out there, I can assure you that a 58 is simply sensational.

Anyway, I sense I may be boring you now. I am in danger of becoming one of those golfing blowhards I used to mock, who jabbers on about club head speed and the latest gear so I must sign off.

I have a tee time this evening anyway and those trees won’t hit themselves…