Club with rich past looks to the future

On the way through Limerick towards my final destination of Newcastle West GC, there was an obligatory call to Noel Cassidy, now that he had moved to new surroundings. Rathbane Municipal Course opened in April 1998 and after 28 years as professional at Castletroy, Cassidy took over the running of the facility with his wife Jackie.

He reported splendid progress. As many as 19,000 rounds will be played there by the end of the year, yielding a green-fee income in the region of £200,000. On the walls of his office were a number of eyecatching photographs of Cassidy taken with such celebrities as Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Bob Hope and Gary Player.

But the one that appealed most to him was one taken during a practice round for the 1976 British Open at Royal Birkdale. It's not often an Irish club professional gets the chance of playing with Arnold Palmer and Cassidy's colleague, Owen Mulhall, was on hand to capture the moment.

Originally from Waterford, the Cassidy family boasted as many as seven professionals at one stage - a sort of Irish version of the Turnesas. And though he is widely regarded as a very fine teacher of the game, Noel admitted that, at 51, he is itching to get back into the competitive scene. "I may have a go at the seniors' qualifying school in Turkey in December," he said. "It's a realistic target, now that I have more time to practise and play."

Before leaving, I couldn't resist telling him of a pet theory of mine. It is that professionals have a major difficulty in communicating properly with their less gifted pupils, simply because they themselves have never known what it was like to play golf badly.

Cassidy gave a typical, hearty laugh before admitting that it was true: he started the game as a five-year-old and was playing off scratch by the time he was 15. "I'll remember that," he said, with another laugh.

Among other things, sharply contrasting figures in the GUI Yearbook, drew me to Newcastle West GC. The 1994 edition informed me that the club had nine holes and 167 members; in the current issue, we are told that the course is now 18 holes and that the membership has grown dramatically to 750.

Even for a metropolitan club, this would be a remarkable achievement, so it is all the more commendable for a modest establishment in west Limerick. As it happened, Newcastle West GC took the major decision at a special general meeting in November 1991 to move from their original location at Killeline, close to the town, to a new home at Rathgoonan, near Ardagh.

Now, with a membership increased more than four-fold they are still settling in - and planning further development. The course, set in almost 170 acres of beautifully rolling countryside, was designed by Arthur Spring and officially opened on July 31st, 1994.

There is certainly no way the members could dispute its playability with the designer, given that on one of his many return visits, Spring set the four-under-par course record of 67, in competition in June 1996. Playing off two handicap at the time, he carded a particularly impressive homeward journey of 31 - four under par - with birdies at the 11th, 13th, 14th and 18th.

Interestingly, Spring's only bogey was at the 338-yard fourth, a dog-leg left which demands a drive down the right if the player is to have a full view of the green. And he is justifiably proud of the 187-yard sixth, where the green is guarded to the front by a lake, while on the right, a lone ash-tree stands sentinel.

The weather was horrific leading up to my visit, so the course was closed, in common with virtually every other layout in the area. But there was the opportunity of a gentle stroll around the venue and a close look at the Dower House, otherwise known as Rathgoonan House, which has the potential to become a hugely attractive, cut limestone clubhouse.

One of the recent owners was racehorse breeder, Col Dick Cripps, which explained the stables, which have since been converted into locker rooms downstairs and a bar and restaurant upstairs. The intention is to link the stables with the main house by building a first-floor bar, which would overlook the ninth and 18th greens.

In a vacant, upstairs room of the main house, a photograph rested on the mantlepiece, no doubt awaiting a place of honour in the new clubhouse. It was of Anne Moore, Mary Roche, Jean Bouchier Hayes, Nora Raleigh and Nuala Vereker, the Munster Cup winners of 1978. On a windowsill opposite, were samples of carpet.

Downstairs in the office, Patricia Guiney, assistant to secretary/manager Paddy Lyons, was taking care of incidentals on what had become an unexpectedly quiet Saturday. She had a deep knowledge of the rich history of the area, including the fact that the lands were once the property of William Smith O'Brien, the Young Irelander who was deported to Van Diemen's Land.

Then, of course, there was the Ardagh Chalice, which was found nearby in 1868 by a Mrs Quinn and her son, who were digging potatoes. They also found a large brooch. A note on the stables wall informs us that Mrs Quinn sold the objects on June 21st, 1871 to Dr Butler, Bishop of Limerick for the sum of £50.

Particularly interesting in a golfing context, is that a replica of the Ardagh Chalice was commissioned by Aughinish Alumina, who presented it to the golf club where it has since become one of the more coveted trophies.

The Cussen family from Newcastle West have been strongly associated with the club since its foundation in 1938. So it was hardly surprising to discover that a fascinating history of the townland of Rathgoonan was written by John Cussen, who was captain of the club in 1987. His father Robert (Bertie) and uncle Michael, were both founder-members of the club and fellow past captains and his wife Deirdre, is the current lady captain.

Though west Limerick is noted for its heavy land and high rainfall, Rathgoonan is blessed with light, free draining soil. It also has an abundance of mature, broadleaf trees which prompted locals to recall the words of Bobby Jones about his beloved Augusta National: "It seemed that this land had been lying there for years, just waiting for someone to lay a golf course upon it."

With the sale of the old course being completed on September 1st 1993, the members of Newcastle West GC were without a course until their new layout was opened six months later. Five years on, it is clear that they made a wise decision in trusting to the design skills of Spring, who has given them a delightfully challenging course in a beautiful setting.

An appropriately optimistic mood is set by the opening hole, a shortish par five where the drive is hit from an elevated tee to a broad sweep of fairway, defined on the right by three bunkers, before it follows the line of trees on the left. After that, a strong variety is maintained through the 6,444 yards, off the back tees.

In this, their 62nd year, Newcastle West GC have clearly come a long way since the great John Burke laid out their first course at Killeline. Now, with admirable, good husbandry, they are looking beyond the millennium to when the final touches will be applied to their new home.