East Clare Golf Club in Bodyke, Co. Clare is different, and you sense that difference as soon as you step into the clubhouse. It’s a club that has weathered many storms over the years to keep its doors open, but now, thanks to the fortitude of its members, a €1million+ bank debt has been repaid and the members have entered a new future for the club.
Having started life as a nine-hole course, driven by local community efforts and funding from 230 members via a trust, it became a full eighteen-hole course in 1998, with bank borrowing, which enabled this transition, but soon became the club’s greatest liability.
Burdened by the recession, the club found itself unable to repay the bank until, once again, the resilience of club members, led by five in particular, culminated in the bank debt being settled last year. Now financially sound, members are focused on repositioning the club as one of the finest in Co. Clare and are pulling out all the stops to make this happen.
This determination is evident in the fact that all members are involved in the club’s functioning. A group of volunteers work tirelessly on the course, maintaining very high standards. The office and shop are run by members on a voluntary basis, via weekly rosters of four to six hours per member per week, and the welcome for visitors projects the friendly ethos of the club.
Nick Ryan, chair of a new marketing committee established this year explains: “There is a renewed pride in what East Clare has to offer. It has breathtaking panoramic views, which, when paired with the numerous on-course water features, combine to make it one of the most talked about courses in the region. It has especially challenging greens, which golfers relish.”
Welcoming the completion of the new Killaloe Bypass, Ryan says this will make the Bodyke course more accessible for visitors to the Mid-West.
“We have already seen the benefits this accessibility will offer to the Club, which has prompted us to join forces with local hotels to put a ‘stay and play’ offer in place and we look forward to welcoming new members and visitor categories, particularly societies. We have already initiated contact with the corporate sector putting some new fresh ideas forward, which we hope will convert into membership or increased usage of the course for corporate outings.
“While our location may have heretofore been considered off the beaten track, this is now being heralded as a major attraction. Golfers love the serenity of the course setting, which is less than thirty minutes from Ennis and Limerick, and close to Co. Tipperary.
“We are so proud of our huge junior section, and we hope they will continue to be great ambassadors for our club. They are our future and the future looks bright. We have a junior golf camp at Easter and look forward to seeing their young fearless enthusiasm on the fairways,” added Ryan.
From a position of turmoil, and the threat of going out of existence, there is no doubt that the members of East Clare Golf Club now have their sights set on making this Bodyke golfing gem a force to be reckoned with and a magnet for increasing visitor numbers to the Mid-West region.
The Club is in a great place, in terms of location and the dedication of its members. It is a fine example of all hands on deck to turn adversity into prosperity.
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