Castleisland Pitch & Putt Club Looking Forward to Post Lock-Down Days

Barrack Street neighbours, James O’Connor (left) and Tony Broderick pictured at the Pitch and Putt course in preparation for their 2003 All-Ireland finals games. ©Photograph: John Reidy 3-7-2003

A huge weekend for Castleisland Pitch and Put Club as it co-hosted (with the Tralee club) the 2013 All-Ireland Three-Ball Scramble finals. Looking well pleased after their big hosting challenge were club captain, James Dignan (left) and president, Pat Mitchell. ©Photograph: John Reidy 25-8-2013

2010 Munster Pitch and Putt Champs: The Kerry Senior Pitch and Putt team which captured the Munster Senior County Strokeplay on the Castleisland course. Included are from left: James Blake, Tralee; Damien Fleming, Killarney; Darren Goodall, Tralee; Pat Mitchell, host course chairman who received a presentation on behalf of the Castleisland club for the manner in which the event was facilitated; Mike Browne, Castleisland who captained the team; Jason O’Regan and Jonathan Goodall, Tralee. ©Photograph: John Reidy 7-8-2010

Coach, Jane Thomas pictured with some of her Pitch and Putt protégés after another round at the local course. Front from left: Raymond Walsh, Padraig Foran and James McAuliffe. Back from left: James O’Connor, Micheál Mangan and Francis McAuliffe. ©Photograph: John Reidy 28-7-2004

Castleisland Pitch & Putt team captain, John Fitzgerald (left) accepting the Bob Casey Memorial Shield from Kevin McCarron Chairman of the Kerry Branch of the PPUI as a result of his team winning the Kerry Inter-Club Strokeplay Competition. Team members included are front from left: Pat Mitchell, John McCarthy and Shane Brennan. back row: Dan O’Callaghan, Aidan O’Connor, Mike Browne and Julieanne Broderick. ©Photograph: John Reidy 5-4-2009

Drama mounts as spectators and supporters gather to watch the action on the fifth green at the scenic Castleisland Pitch & Putt Course during the 2010 Munster PPUI U-16 Strokeplay play-off – from which Deerpark’s Kieran Looney emerged victorious. ©Photograph: John Reidy 7-8-2010

The coming Sunday, May 10th will mark, to the day, the opening of Castleisland Pitch and Putt and Sports Club in 1966.

The actual date of its opening was May 8th. but, like everything else at that time, Sundays were reserved for the really big events in communities and in the country as a whole.

Bord of Works Base

The course was built on land which belonged to the W.H. O’Connor family and which had been used as a base for the Board of Works during its huge dredging operation on the nearby River Maine and its tributaries from the source outside Castleisland to the sea in Castlemaine Bay in the late 1950s and into the early1960s.

The clubhouse was once the office for the dredging project and, as explosives were very much part of the tools of the trade, a watchman’s hut was also constructed – and it remains there today at the entrance to the course.

First P&P Course in Kerry

The club was reputed to be the first in Kerry and, as an 18 hole course, was also deemed the longest in Munster.

It has also drawn in many compliments on the landscaping, maintenance and scenic fronts.

The club has staged provincial and national championship matches over those years and has had a full calendar of prestigious and locally sponsored competitions – until now.

Now, striking while the irons are hot, the club, while lamenting the closing of the local golf club, has issued an invitation to locals to look again at pitch and putt and the opportunity it presents for an evening’s sport and recreation.

Attractive Membership Rates

That’s, of course, when the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted sufficiently to allow the game to return.

“We’re offering some very attractive membership rates from here until the end of the year,” said club spokesman, James Dignan.

“It’s a great game for young people and it’s no harm to remember that many of our golfing heroes started out playing pitch and putt on their local courses. Take Shane Lowry for example – and look at what he did last summer,” said James.

No Green Fees

The club will be run on a members only basis and green fees will not be taken. Club membership rates are as follows: Juveniles: €35; Student: €60; OAPs: €60; Adults: €75; Family of four – two adults and two U-16 children: €120.”

Quoted Rates to Year’s End

The May 18^th opening up date may be aspirational now but the above quoted rates will apply from a government approved resumption of play to the end of this calendar year.

Anyone wishing to contact the club can do so on: 086 82 61 395.