‘A lot is happening at the club’ – County Meath Golf Club going from strength to strength after €500,000 upgrade

When you’ve been part of the community for more than 125 years, people can start taking you for granted.

But County Meath Golf Club – affectionately known as Trim to every golfer worth their salt – is not sitting on its laurels, and a new generation of potential golfing talent is now using the first-class facilities and looking to take up the royal and ancient game.

Juniors now form a large cohort of the 750-strong membership at County Meath, which has invested more than €500,000 in its facilities in recent years and hopes to offer Toptracer technology in its floodlit driving range before the long winter nights set in again.

“A lot is happening at the club,” reports general manager John Ennis, who has overseen significant improvements since he arrived two-and-a-half years ago.

“We have a seven-bay, 300-yard driving range, and we are in the process of incorporating seven new bays. We are also looking at installing Toptracer in as many as ten of the bays. Toptracer is a state-of-the-art ball-tracking technology that uses cameras and sensors to provide instant feedback on your shots, allowing you to improve your game. This is generating quite a lot of interest among our members and potential new members.

“We have spent upwards of €500,000 in the past two or three years on the golf course, our drainage and machinery alone.”

The driving range is open to the public, meaning the club is a valuable asset for the local community as it helps introduce schoolchildren to the game and is a hub for the popular Get Into Golf Scheme run by the club’s PGA professional of 25 years, Robin Machin.

In short, County Meath is a vibrant, popular club that has experienced its share of ups and downs since its foundation in 1898 and has come through them all to become the vibrant club it is today.

As the club’s history, “The Road from Effernock”, colourfully explains, the story of County Meath is “a mosaic of fun, friendship, endeavour and, sometimes, hardship.”

The story began when a number of enthusiasts came together to establish a golf course in Effernock, just outside Trim, on the lands that now accommodate the Knightsbrook complex.

Sadly, the Effernock course design lasted until 1905, when the club moved to Oakstown and battled there until 1925, when club captain Barney Allen presided over its winding up.

He was determined that it would rise again, phoenix-like, from the ashes, and so it did, reopening in 1934 before moving to Dogstown in 1937.

Designed by Co. Louth professional Mick McGuirk, the new County Meath thrived until 1951, when the landowner terminated the lease agreement.

It was clearly a huge blow, and it was 1968 before County Meath’s ‘revivalists’ as they became known purchased a farm near the Dogstown site for IR£12,000.

Mick McGuirk stepped in to design a nine-hole course, which was eventually expanded to 18 holes by the prolific Eddie Hackett, opening for play in 1991.

A new clubhouse opened its doors in 1993, and fortified by its never-say-die spirit, the club has never looked back.

Tight and treelined, the lovely parkland course is far from a pushover, and the members are still immensely proud of its most famous son, the former East and West of Ireland champion Paul Rayfus, who was a member of Ireland’s Triple Crown-winning team of 1987.

To put the challenge in perspective, the par-track measures just under 6,700 yards from the back tees and has a slope rating of 136.

The 337-yard par-four 14th, which snakes gently from right to left through a tunnel of trees, is regarded as the feature hole. The last three – two stout par-fours measuring 424 and 440 yards, followed by the 539-yard 18th – are as good a test as you will find anywhere. Course management is the secret.

Of course, they do not sit on their laurels at County Meath, which means the driving range project has taken off.

The recent €500,000 investment in the club included a major drainage project over the winter, which has been a huge boost to course superintendent Diarmuid Dempsey, a local man who returned to the area from Forrest Little three years ago.

“He’s made fantastic changes and brought a lot of expertise,” said Mr Ennis.

Further grants have been sought for other capital projects, including roofing the additional seven outdoor bays at the driving range and providing disability facilities inside the clubhouse, including showers and toilets.

The PGA professional is critical to any club, and County Meath is fortunate to have Robin Machin, who has been nominated for several awards for the quality of his service.

Of course, no club would be complete without good food and drink and it speaks volumes about County Meath that chefs Jimmy Elsomany and Paula Gaffney have been providing catering services for over 25 years.

As it begins its 126th year this year, County Meath is constantly pushing to improve its facilities. But that’s no surprise.

The club’s motto, “Nullae Hic Insidiae Tales”, says it all — “May it ever be so.”

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