It was with profound sadness and deep deep shock that we heard the news this morning of the passing of last year's Lady Captain Bernie McAndrew.

A quiet lady ,full of discretion and integrity Bernie served as Lady Captain in 2004 and again last year,2020.

She was a great Club representative, having served in many roles in the Ladies Club throughout the years.

She will be missed by so many people, particularly by her husband Ian, her own family, her in-laws and by her wide circle of work and golfing friends.

The whole community has been rocked by the news of her death.

Shown are a sample of 'happy occasions' in the Golf Club that she so enjoyed, whether accepting prizes or giving them out.

From today December 4th Winter Rules have been introduced,until further notice.

Play for the Men from now until the 2021 Captain's Drive-In at the earliest, will be from the Yellow tees.

All competitions under these rules (as set out below) are qualifying.

1) A ball lying on a closely-mown area through the green may be lifted without penalty and cleaned. Before lifting the ball,the player must mark its position. Having lifted the ball he/she must place it on a spot within six inches of where the ball originally lay.

A player may place his ball only once, and it is in play when it has come to rest on the spot on which it is placed.

If a player fails to mark the position of the ball before it is lifted,he/she incurs a penalty of one stroke . 

Please note that Preferred lies do not apply in the rough. 

There has been an unavoidable delay in the delivery of our Handicap System upgrade for the new WHS, so if playing tomorrow follow the instructions at the computer sign-in.

As the country exits Level 5 restrictions tonight at midnight, the Links at Carne will re-open tomorrow December 1st for golf.

All members must abide by the Covid 19 protocols and pre-book their tee times on the BRS system, with the full names of all golfers provided for each tee time.  This is essential for contact tracing purposes and is subject to inspection by the HSA at any time, so it is imperative that members abide by these procedures.

The  newly refurbished Men's changing room facilities will remain closed in line with the Government restrictions until further notice.

In addition, the Clubhouse facilities will re-open on Saturday 5th December, under the normal winter trading hours.

From Wednesday 16th December, the Clubhouse will revert to 7 days per week trading until the New Year, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day excepted.

Please note that the regulations state that a substantial meal must be served before alcohol can be sold to individuals. Maximum of 50 patrons indoors at any one time, social distancing to be observed at all times, and booking is advisable during busy periods.

For those of you who are eligible to attend , the AGM of the Men's Club will be held on Friday December 18th at 8pm.  As the Clubhouse restaurant will no doubt be busy ,a venue for the AGM has yet to be confirmed.

An update will be posted  here in good time.  

After thirty plus years on the Men's Golf Club committee I am taking a well deserved break from Club activities in 2021.

Best of luck to my successor as the P.R.O  ,  Noel McLoughlin who will keep you all informed of all things to do with the Club via this website , the Club Facebook page and the Club Whattsapp group.

And best of luck to the incoming President, Captains, Officers and Committees.

Signing off

Kevin D

The new world Handicap system comes into effect on November 2nd next.

To give you an idea of what this means to you and how your new initial handicap (index) may be computed, please listen to the following Podcast from the GUI and ILGU which describes quite well,some of the changes and how the system will work.

https://www.facebook.com/golfingunionofireland/videos/world-handicap-system-podcast/842587613167709/

The Men's Club Outing which was due to take place at Athlone Golf Club with accomodation in the adjoining Hodson Bay Hotel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the October Bank Holiday weekend has been cancelled due to the current Covid restrictions which prohibits people from travelling outside their county.

Negotiations are on-going with the Hotel to recover our deposits.

Hopefully next year will bring an opportunity to have a Club Outing once again.

There will be some changes to the Mens fixtures list over the Bank Holiday weekend, keep an eye here for news on that.

The Friends of Carne 36 hole competition takes place this Saturday and Sunday.

There are now a number of teetimes available due to the reduced number of teams from Dublin as they abide by the restrictions on the county.

Teams of four. Am Am format on Saturday over the Hackett course with best two scores to count on each hole. You then carry your score over to Sunday when its a four person scramble over the Wild Atlantic Dunes course. Entry €50 per person for the two days. There will be a daily prize both days so anyone/ any team who can only play on one day can play with entry fee of €30 per person.

To reserve a slot you must call the golf shop on 09782292 during office hours.

Vincent Keane and Bernie McAndrew will hold their Captains Prizes on Sunday next. Best of luck to both of them and all the competitors playing over the weekend in the Mens ,the Ladies and the Junior competitions.

The draw for the Mens competition has just been completed and is as follows

It can also be accessed by clicking on the following link

Captains Draw 2020

The 2020 Mens Grainne Uaile is the latest sporting event to be cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hopefully it will be held in it's usual three day format in 2021.

As a result the Swanick Family Practice sponsored Men's competition will now be held on Sunday 20th September.

The Carne Golf Links IPGA Pro-Am kindly sponsored by Vermilion Energy takes place this weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

Below is the draw for the event.

Please note also that the timesheet for Sheila Tallott's President's Prize is now open and a draw for playing partners will be held  c 21st August.

Simon Thornton won the Pro-Am on Sunday with a two day 36 hole total of 10 under par.The team of Sean Gaughan Michael Gaughan and James McGuire

were the winers of the team event with a score of 185 narrowly defeating the team of Patrick and Sean Lavelle and Adam Walsh with 184. 

For a full report click below 

https://irishgolfer.ie/latest-golf-news/2020/08/17/thornton-cruises-to-victory-at-vermillion-energy-carne-pro-am/

Firstly,just to advise that in line with Government Covid regulations, the wearing of face masks in retail settings is mandatory from tomorrow 10th August  until further notice.  Having checked with the HSA, they have confirmed that the Golf Shop is considered a retail outlet and therefore anyone entering is required to wear a face mask.  Face masks will be available to purchase in the golf shop from Wednesday onwards, as we are currently awaiting further supplies.

Thanks to all those who showed up for the Guard of Honour earlier today,the turnout was a very impressive one to bid farewell to our Past Captain Michael.

If you can help out tomorrow evening for fairway redivotting, please gather at 630 hopefully we can complete the work on the Hackett course on the day.

The mixed scramble scheduled for Wednesday next will be rescheduled as many members will be helping out on the course tomorrow, the Ladies have a competition on Tuesday kindly sponsored  by The Western Strands Hotel and the men have one on Thursday kindly sponsored by Teach John Joe ahead of the Pro-Am next weekend.

It is with deep sadness that we report the death of former long time member, Past Captain ,Past President  and Honorary  Life member of the Club Michael Kavanagh.

Michael was Captain of the Club in 1968 and represented the Club in countless Inter Club and Gráinne Uaile competitions.

The Club would like to extend sympathy to Michael's family , to his wife Gemma, sons Seán,Brendan and Tom and his daughters  Mary, Michelle, Aisling and Gemma and to his sister Mary.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis.

As a result of Michael's interment tomorrow Sunday, the Marty Gaughan Memorial Men's  Competition scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed until a later date.

The course will remain closed to members tomorrow until after Michael's burial in Emlybeg cemetery.

A Guard of Honour of Golf Club members should gather at the bottom of the road up to Emlybeg  graveyard from 1130.

Please wear a  Club Jacket or Club Jumper if you have one.

Michael is pictured holding the Ryder Cup on it's visit to Carne in 2014  and below on the old Hackett First tee with his  Met Éireann colleagues Kevin Donnelly, Donal Shine and John Hanley back in 1992.

Congrats go to John Ginnelly who recorded an ace on the Hackett 7th  (old 16th) in yesterday's strokeplay competition kindly sponsored by PJ McHale.

This is the 43rd ace recorded in competition at Carne.

Pictured are Ciarán Rabbett, John Ginnelly and David Barrett......and Brendan Reilly for Ciarán in the latter.

The status of the course(s) at Carne continue to rise according to the latest rankings in Links magazine which has us at No 8 in the Republic of Ireland and No 1 in Connacht.

Congratulations to all involved particularly the greenkeeping staff of Fergus and Gary who have the course in great shape.

That said, the fairways on the links do need some attention in the next week due to the increased traffic on it over the last number of weeks and to that end the Club are asking all who are fit and able and in the locality to help out with a redivotting evening on Monday next at 6:30 pm.

If you can help out please do, 'many hands make light work'

It is so important to present the course in the best possible way particularly over the next few months when there is so much golf, competitive and otherwise taking place.

Unfortunately we don't have the luxury (at present) of tens of staff, as in the picture, to undertake routine maintenance of this nature on a regular basis so it's imperative that Club members give a hand on the one or two occasions annually that it is required

All help is greatly appreciated.

Congratulations go to Ronnie McDonnell on his ace at the Hackett 5th hole on Sunday last.

This was the first ace at this hole since the two nines on the Hackett course were reversed.

He is pictured alongside his playing partners on the day, Michael Gaughan, Seán Gaughan and David S Gaughan.

Thanks to Ronnie for opening a tab in the Clubhouse for a few hours so that anyone that wanted a drink could have one with their meal