1978
From the early days great emphasis was placed on the Social element along with communication with the Members through the format of Newsletter “Fore” of which both the first and last issues along with many of the intervening years are archived within the Club. A Press Release stated that the first Annual Ball was to take place in February 1978, in the Hotel. This again proved to be a success with the Who’s Who in the area attending, including Captain’s and Lady Captains of 6 neighbouring Clubs, along with G.U.I. Officers. The Social scene was also used as a means of fundraising, and from what we can see, all Social Events were well supported and generated a profit.
A Council meeting on 29th March 1978 approved the club crest and motto “Pax et Comitas”
Captain Reg Keating held the first Captain’s Dinner on 15th April 1978 in the hotel.
In May 1978, the club received drawings from architects to build a club house for the Golf Club but the Club could not proceed without the control of the lands.
The first Hole in One was recorded on the 3rd Hole by Ken Gleeson on 13th May 1978 with his marker on the day being John Mooney.
On the 30th May 1978 the first Annual General Meeting takes place in the Carrick Room of the Hotel, attendance 67, with accounts produced for the period of 26th July 1977 to 31st March 1978 showing an excess of Income over expenditure of £2001. The undated Secretaries report and 1st A.G.M. Minutes are held on file along with Application Forms for Membership and some receipts for Subscriptions.
Following the A.G.M., John L Byrne as Captain writes to the Members with an update along with the Officers and Council for 1978 as follows,
President, Patrick Cosgrave, Captain John L Byrne, Vice Captain, Bill Magill, Hon. Secretary David Balfe, Treasurer and Registrar Brian O Kelly, Council Members, Andrew Austin, Ray Byrne, James Cluskey, Michael Cluskey, Dermot Hitchcock, John Mooney, Michael Stafford and Reg Keating.
A further meeting was held in July 1978 with the hotel to discuss a separate Club House for the club, a watering system for the greens, increasing the length of the 16th hole, locker rooms with showers, etc.
The Social Committee held a meeting on 6th Sept 1978 and decided that Club Nights would be held on first Friday of every month.
The Captain’s Drive In was held on 21st October 1978 and attendances included the Captains and Lady Captains from 8 neighbouring clubs.
An EGM was held on 22nd November 1978 to agree the annual subscriptions for 1979. Attendance 65.
The Ladies Committee at this stage were paying their out of pocket expenses for postage, phone, and sundry items themselves and Geraldine Barrett as Hon. Secretary and Margaret Barrett as Treasurer applied to Council for £100.00 expenses to cover their costs.
The first Newsletter “Fore” was produced by David Duke and Jackie Hayden and a note regarding a vote of appreciation appears in the Minutes of the Council Meeting of 1st March. ”Fore” continued as the Club Newsletter for many years under various Editors.
The possibility of employing Bill Brampton as Club Professional was discussed
The first mention of the Batchelor Cup appears in the Minutes of 22nd March, which states that the Cup is to be insured for a value of £350.00 and which was provided by the Vice Captain, Bill Magill who worked for Batchelors Ltd. Another Cup, The Gibbons Cup, was presented by Jim Gibbons who worked for a subsidiary company of Batchelors (Green Isle Frozen Foods Ltd) for a Junior Section competition in 1978. This cup was afterwards re-engraved for use in a Ladies Competition.
The Hotel presented the club with the Dublin Sport Cup in 1978 for a competition to start in 1979.
Con and Marie Gallagher started the Gallagher Cup Competition in 1978. The Gallagher Cup continued to be played for and sponsored by Con and Marie up to the playing in May 2017. Con and Marie were Captain and Lady Captain in 1985.
In September 1978 Jim Cluskey resigns from Council and the following January from the Club stating that he was not happy with the condition of the Course and did not see any potential for improvement.
Also in September, The Captain again writes to Patrick Cosgrave setting out summary of agreement reached at a recent meeting.
On 14th December 1978 the Men’s handicap analysis was:
Handicap 1 to 9 13
Handicap 10 to 14 10
Handicap 15 to 18 56
Handicap 19 and up 53 Total male membership = 132
Subscriptions for 1979.
Total Due To Hotel Entrance Fees
Full £68.00 £50.00 £75.00
Lady £40.00 £25.00 £40.00
Junior £20.00 £10.00 £20.00
Juvenile £15.00 £7.00 £15.00
Again in December a Christmas Dinner Dance was held by the Club in the Hotel and for the period 1st April to 31st December the excess of Income over expenditure was £449.78.