Swinford Golf Club
Brabazon Park
Swinford
Co. Mayo

Phone: (094)9251378
Fax: (094)9251378
E-mail: swinfordgolfclub@eircom.net
Website: www.swinfordgolf.com

SWINFORD GOLF CLUB

Brabazon Park, Swinford, Co. Mayo

Founded 1910; Affiliated 1922; Number of Holes 9.

 

CAPTAIN ADDRESS

 

Year
2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

 

1997

 

JOHN KELLY - MENS CAPTAIN

Promoting Golf in Swinford

It is a great honour to be men's Captain in this, the 75 th anniversary year of the club. The unfortunate accident our esteemed President, Mary Mannion, had, has overshadowed events this year. We all wish Mary a speedy recovery.

Over the past number of years many fine improvements have been carried out to the course and clubhouse. However, much more needs to be done. To achieve our objectives in the future, harmony and respect for the club must exist. Committees elected by members have a duty to carry out their functions properly, to ensure that the affairs of the club are managed on behalf of all members in a professional and transparent way. Our club is about people and not individuals. It is about the promotion of the game of golf in Swinford, to be enjoyed by those who wish to play. In this context, junior golf is essential and it is good to note the many young people using the facility. They are indeed most welcome as they are the future of our club into the year 2000 and beyond.

We can be proud of our course and facilities. We all wish for the ultimate – an 18 holes course. However, with a limited budget, the club has done very well during its 75-year lifespan. It was fitting to have both an Anniversary Classic and function, and they were a huge success. It demonstrates how well the club is regarded, as many visitors played in our Classic. It was also gratifying to note how well the function in the clubhouse was supported by members.

The Connaught Junior Open was staged at the Club this year and many tributes were paid by the visitors to the quality of our course. Underage players from practically every club in Connaught enjoyed the occasion. The Golf Club is a tremendous asset to the town as it contributes to the local economy in many ways. It is highly regarded in golfing circles, and long may it enjoy that respect. We have a fine 9 hole parkland course, giving enjoyment to members and visitors alike. It deserves to be looked after and improved for the membership which we now enjoy.

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Margaret Killalea – Lady Captain

Swinford Golf Club - 75 years a-growing:

It is seventy-five years since Swinford Golf Club was established.  Great credit is due to the late Lord Brabazon for his generosity in providing the lands and to the very small number of enthusiastic ladies and gentlemen who, against all the odds, including, above all, a lack of money, started a golf club. Seventy-five years represents a long time in the life of a golf course, a relatively short time in the life of a nation.  Yet one cannot measure, in terms of time, the gulf that separates 1922 from 1997.  For men and women of 75 years ago could not even have visualised the changes that the last threequarters of the century have brought, changes and challenges more far-reaching than any the world has known since Christianity was established.  And, hovering over all, was the agrarian and discontent born of landlordism.

Old ways of life have died, some, no doubt, in the necessary march of progress, but the spirit that made them possible – and is needed still – that has vanished too.  Modern modes of travel that would have seemed fantastic dreams to the fathers of the present older generation, but we are not quite as sure as they were as to what we should do when we have been swept to our destination. We have been brought into contact with the great world in undreamt of ways, but what the world gives us is not always conducive to health of mind and body.  Every world force plays upon us.  The sturdy manliness that even landlordism could not fully extinguish seems hardly able to sustain itself against the Welfare State technique borrowed for Britain.  The power of self amusement within the parish and townland has perished in a craving for the exotic and tinned as provided in newspapers, magazines and especially television.

As lady captain for 1997, it is my very sincere hope that the great progress that has been made in the clubhouse and on the course during the past 75 years will be continued.

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DONAL BENSON - CLUB CHAIRMAN

This year, in which we celebrate our 75th anniversary, is a time for reflection, pride and hope. When reflecting on our first 75 years it is very easy to be complacent about our club. However, do we really know or understand how the various committees and members kept the golf club going through what must have been difficult times. The machinery available to us today would have been only a dream in those days and the financial situation a struggle at all times.

When they couldn't afford to cut the fairways they played four corners on the greens in order to keep the club going. Our pride is mixed with the sadness that has seen most of those members pass on to the big clubhouse in the skies.Our hopes for the future are that we progress Swinford Golf Club as much as our predecessors did and that when our 100 th anniversary is celebrated the members will reflect and be proud of what we, the members in our 75 th year, have achieved during the intervening years.

As chairman of the Management Committee I would like to thank everybody who helped in the production of this book, our sponsors and all the ladies and gentlemen who helped to make our 75 th classic and celebrations such a success. Here's to the next 25 years.

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MARY MANNION - PRESIDENT

Swinford Golf Club - A message from our President

As President of Swinford Golf Club 1997, I extend my good wishes to all our members - at home, in various parts of Ireland, and especially to our many overseas visitors.

I sincerely hope you all avail of our wonderful facilities this year, the 75th anniversary of our founding. It is gratifying to see our membership at an all-time high this year with many young new recruits to the game. I also want to thank you all for the many good wishes and ‘get well' messages I received following my recent unfortunate road accident.

I hope to get around to as many of you as possible in the near future to thank you personally. Meanwhile, go raibh míle maith agat go léir. Continued success and enjoyment to our club and all it's members.

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