Clontarf Friday Friends

A new initiative started in the club between St. Michael’s House and Clontarf Golf and Bowling Club in May of this year. The main organisers were Raymond Maguire and Alan Smith.  It was proposed that volunteers from the club teach those attending St. Michael’s House some golfing skills.  Ray and Alan put out an alert to all club members and were grateful to receive a considerable amount of interest.  Eamonn Brady provided golf equipment and helped the members set up the various activities, and in the early stages helped with the teaching.

Each week approximately 24 people from St. Michael’s House came to Clontarf to take part.  There were five different areas of activities, three set out in the practice area, one on the chipping green and one on the putting green.  Each group from St. Michael’s House attended for six weeks, after which a new group would attend.  This continued throughout the summer until the end of September.

The volunteers from the club put in a lot of effort and thought into teaching the students the skills of golf.  Each week the best players received a trophy which was returned the following week.  The competition for the trophy was hard fought and was a great incentive for improvement.

The volunteers thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and hope it is something that can be repeated.  A huge thank you to Ray and Alan for taking the time to organise such an important event for the club.