As we are now in “full swing” in the golfing season, I wanted to update you on a few important and exciting initiatives and events that are happening in Carrick on Shannon Golf Club. *Clubhouse Revamp* As you will have seen extensive works have now been completed in the clubhouse so that our premises are compliant with all fire safety regulations. This was important as the fire safety officer of Roscommon County Council mandated it before he would recommend the renewal of our license. I’m pleased to say that he has done so now, and the court has approved our license renewal. Huge credit and thanks go to Jim King for project managing all of these works to completion. I think you will agree that the clubhouse is looking well now. *Driving Range* You will have seen extensive damage to the poles and netting in our driving range after a recent storm. I’m pleased to advise that we have placed an order with a contractor to complete new poles and netting around much of the driving range. This work is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. There may be a period where we will have to close the driving range to complete these works. This will prove to be a great and worthwhile investment. *Course Drainage Works* The club has applied for a Sports Capital Grant to complete some drainage works on the course. There is no update on the approval of these grants as yet. However, we are hopeful that some initial works may commence soon. The extent of this work will be linked to grant funding obviously. *Murphy Cup.* Last weekend was one of our highest participation rates in a long time in one of our competitions. It was a great weekend with a great buzz around the club and it really kicked off the golfing calendar for real. Well done to Dympna Butler and Colm (Meath) Griffin who won the ladies and gents competitions. *OBN Series.* You will have seen communications about an exciting series of competitions coming up, the “OBN Series”. We are grateful to OBN Financial Services for their kind sponsorship of this. This will be aligned with five of our weekly competitions and is an open golf series with a grand final taking place on 7th September. There are great prizes to be won for this series, so please take part. *50/50 Draw* A reminder that a new and exciting 50/50 draw commences this coming Friday 8th May and will continue on a fortnightly basis. This is an opportunity to win some good cash prizes. You can sign up to this by setting up a fortnightly standing order, of €5.00 to the club’s bank account. You will then be entered into each draw. The club bank details are; Carrick on Shannon Golf Club * A.I.B. Bank Carrick-on-Shannon BIC: AIBLIE2D IBAN: IE81 AIBK 93706104034624. *You can alternatively enter each of the 26 draws for the full year by paying a cash total of €130.00 in one of the envelopes in the club house with your details on it. We obviously are encouraging all members to join this and indeed your family, friends and work colleagues. *Annual Club Classic 2024* The annual club classic is a key fundraiser for the club to help us to continually invest in the course and to showcase our golf club to non members. This will take place over the June Bank Holiday weekend. I’m pleased to say that the Landmark Hotel have kindly agreed to be the main sponsor for this year’s classic once again. We urge all members to arrange to put in a team with non members in this year’s event. Please arrange to book early on the timesheet with your planned team and time. *The Lynch Cup* This weekend one of our key competition qualifiers takes place, the Lynch Cup. Again, we encourage everyone to take part in this and to book your slot on the timesheet. Let’s get another great weekend of participation going again. *Club Annual Membership 2024.* It is great to be able to advise that once again, we have experienced a year on year increase in our total membership. We are “bucking the trend” of many golf clubs. Thanks to most members who have paid their annual fees or have signed up to a payment plan. We have a cut off date of May 14th 2024 whereby all outstanding fees must be paid. At that point we will have to disable non paid members, as we are obliged to pay the required Golf Ireland Affiliation Fees. These can be easily paid online. There will also be a presence in the office again, this coming weekend to facilitate payments. *Closing Comments* I hope that you find this information helpful. I know that after a long winter we are all looking forward to a wonderful year of golf ahead. I wish you all the best for 2024.