TheShortGame

compiled by Shay Keenan

and Kevin McKenna

Corballis now a GC

Corballis Golf Links, one of Ireland's most popular public links courses, have launched the Corballis Links Golf Club. The announcement comes at a welcome time for the golfing community in the Fingal area, following the closure of Coldwinters GC last November.

A limited membership priced at an affordable €€325 is available. The membership benefits include a GUI/ILGU affiliated handicap, discounted green fees (at selected times), club competition fees, members' competitions and dedicated tee-times.

Corballis is well established, having opened as a public course in 1971. The course at Corballis has already been home to Donabate GC, Corballis GC (now Forrest Little), and also Dublin & County (now Balcarrick), and brings to six the number of affiliated clubs on the Donabate/Portrane peninsula.

With the high cost of entry fees in the Dublin area, the new club has been established to provide an affordable membership for a limited number of golfers. It also represents Fingal County Council's second venture into this type of scheme, having already established the highly successful Elmgreen Golf Club in Castleknock, with the assistance of the Carr family company Euro Golf Services, which now has over 1,000 members.

"Cheaper membership fees doesn't mean you compromise quality and the popularity of Corballis is testament to that," says Euro Golf's Austin Levins, manager at Corballis.

Membership inquiries can be made to Austin or Andrew at 01-8436583. E-mail inquiries can be made to corballis@golfdublin.com.

Castletown pitches in

Liam Collins of CYMC/LC in Dublin's Fairview will defend his Leinster Strokeplay Pitch and Putt title at Castletown in Co Meath (between Navan and Kingscourt) in the first final of the 2004 Leinster season in May. Collins won the title at another Co Meath course (Bellewstown) in 2003.

It will be a busy season for Castletown. The relatively new layout will also host the National Mixed Team final in August.

Old County are the defending champions in June's Inter-Club final at Bellewstown, the scenic course in the racecourse infield.

The Matchplay championships will be contested in the capital in July.

CYMC/LC hosts the women's finals, while the men's early rounds are across the city at Old County in Crumlin.

The holders are William Buckley Jr (Erry) - the National Strokeplay champion, who has won the Leinster Matchplay crown for the past two years - and Chrissie Byrne.

The juvenile finals are also scheduled for Dublin in 2004 - at Guinness. The ever popular Tullamore venue is host to another Leinster event - the Inter-County in August. The links at Seapoint in Termonfeckin is the venue for the final Leinster event of the 2004 calendar.

Thompson on the move

Teresa Thompson has been appointed as the new tournament secretary of the Leinster Branch GUI, having just ended her four-year term as ILGU chief executive. Her move to the Leinster Branch of the GUI will be until September, while the ILGU are looking to fill the position she has just vacated.

All in the family

If it is family officers, and presidents in particular, you are looking for this year then head west. This coming season sees Bea O'Hara as Lady President of Enniscrone GC in Co Sligo, while in nearby Co Mayo, her son-in-law, Tommy Carney, is President of Castlebar GC for the next 12 months.

skeenan@irish-times.ie