Kilbeggan Pitch and Putt Club

Kilbeggan Pitch and Putt.

The inception of Kilbeggan Pitch and Putt Club came about in 1968 in the snug of the village pub when a small group of interested people came together. Proof of this is that Martin Moran (the publican) was elected as the first chairman. There was a lot going for this committee when they secured a rent agreement with the Marshall family for a piece of ground know as ‘The Lawn’. ‘The Lawn’ was noted as a place with tranquil surroundings, a mixture of Irish native trees, the mill river flows through the course and meets up with the River Brosna to form the western boundary of the course.

Progression was fast, the course was opened as a 9 hole but within 2 years due to a tremendous effort by all the members a further 9 holes were added. The clubhouse was built with 100% voluntary labour and was officially opened on the 25^th June 1972. The first open strokeplay was played on August 11^th-13^th 1972, 502 cards were played with players from 28 clubs taking part. We hosted our first Leinster competition in 1974 when the Ladies Strokeplay was played.

Fundraising was relatively easy due to a great effort by all members, necessary machinery was purchased and an automatic pop up water system was installed. Apart from the fundraising the club is greatly indebted to our hundreds of sponsors through the years who have donated money, prizes, materials and their time which is most appreciated.

The club has always been conscious of giving something back to others who are not associated in any way with the club. In 1995 over a bank holiday weekend we collected €11,000 from motorists on the busy N6. €5,500 was donated to GOAL and the other €5,500 was given to CONCERN. A few years ago we committed to sponsoring two pupils from the local post primary school to further their education at third level for 3 years.

We have made two trips to Catalonia in Spain. 29 players travelled in 2001, with 26 players making the journey in 2002. Every one really enjoyed the experience, the real eye opener was the quality of the courses and the facilities attached.

Over the years we have had good success on the playing front with many National and Provisional titles coming to the club at all levels in both adult and juvenile competition. Hopefully there is more to come if we can hold the interest of our current players, encourage more to play by whatever means and continue the encouraging juvenile program that is currently working well.

Membership numbers over the last few years has been good; this has been helped greatly by the number of non native Kilbeggan people who have joined the club. All these new members have helped greatly in every way in the club.

In 1997 circumstances changed and the situation arose where we had to make an offer to buy the course or risk loosing it. At a general meeting the overwhelming decision was that we must make an effort to purchase ‘The Lawn’. Again the great will of all the members came to the fore, we held auctions, sponsored cycles, social nights and we commenced a fortnightly ‘Spin & Win’. We projected to clear the debt in three years; we managed to clear it in two.

In early 2002 a decision was made to demolish our existing clubhouse and commence the planning and fundraising to build a new one, again the response from the committee and members was gratifying and the fruition of all effort came together on 20^th June 2004 when we had the official opening of our new clubhouse.

Since its inception in 1968 the club has been served very well by great officers in all positions who have given their all in promoting and driving the club forward, sadly some of these people have passed on to perhaps a greater pitch and putt club in the sky, but hopefully they can rest easy knowing that for the moment the club is flourishing.