Founded in 1993, Woodstock is situated on the outskirts of Ennis.
Factbox
Length of course: 5,912m(while metres); 5,051m(ladies)
Captain: Liam O’Connor and Fiona Landy
President: Matt Power
Unique features of course: Holes 6, 7 and 8 (Amen corner)
Most difficult hole: 7th hole, index 1
Major club honours: National Pierce Purcell title win in 2011
Lowest handicap of a member: Tony Cleary +1, Aine Donegan +3
Course Structure: 5 par 3’s; 8 par 4’s; 5 par 5’s
Designed by Arthur Spring it features a tough opening hole, a loop of holes (6-8) around a lake that can spoil a card early, and it provides six excellent finishing holes. The course is protected by natural lakes, a river, and mature wooded areas.
The par-4 seventh features a tee-shot from an elevated position across a lake to an island fairway. The second shot requires a fairway-wood or long iron across the same lake to a large two-tiered green also protected by bunkers. The next hole is a Par-3 that requires a full carry across water to a green protected on both sides.
Holes six, seven and eight are known as Woodstock’s ‘Amen Corner’. “I knew on my first visit to Woodstock that we had an outstanding site on our hands. Woodstock will quickly become a magnificent test of skill and shot making for players of all handicaps”, the designer previously stated.
“The exciting features of the site including the gentle rolling landscape, the river, the lakes and the splendid scenery will give pleasure to golfers throughout the twelve months of the year. I have no doubt that Woodstock will be capable of housing championships, both amateur and professional in the not too distant future”, Dr Spring predicted.
The club has close on six hundred members and benefited hugely this year with an influx of 257 new members.
“We have a very busy junior section with almost 150 members. Junior conveyor Ross Dermody and his team do an excellent job with coaching and competitions for the juniors who meet on Monday and Thursday mornings. There are lessons for beginners on Tuesday evenings organised by Aidan Mulcahy, Ray Hallahan, Mike Conroy and Kevin Hayes and their team. The junior girls are coached by Irish internationals Aideen Walsh and Aine Donegan on Wednesdays”, explained club manager Anne Marie Russell.
There are weekly competitions for men and ladies while the senior men hold an outing every Tuesday. The club competes in the various inter club competitions and currently are still in the race for Bruen and Purcell shield competitions. Woodstock previously won the National Pierce Purcell title
Since golf resumed following the Covid 19 lockdown, there have been full timesheets each day.
