| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
"WE ARE HONOURED AND DELIGHTED TO BE CAPTAINS OF NEWTOWNSTEWART
GOLF CLUB FOR 2010 AND WILL ENDEAVOUR TO PROMOTE THE BEST
INTERESTS OF THE CLUB AND ITS'MEMBERS.
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO AN ENJOYABLE AND SUCCESSFUL YEAR AHEAD. "
 Captain - Mr Luke Donnelly |
|
|
|
"“WE ARE HONOURED AND DELIGHTED TO BE CAPTAINS OF NEWTOWNSTEWART
GOLF CLUB FOR 2010 AND WILL ENDEAVOUR TO PROMOTE THE BEST
INTERESTS OF THE CLUB AND ITS'MEMBERS. WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD
TO AN ENJOYABLE AND SUCCESSFUL YEAR AHEAD. ”"
 Lady Captain - Mrs Hazel Faithfull |
| |
|
|
|
|
HISTORY
The Old Wooden Club House (1937) |
Newtownstewart Golf Club was first opened as a 9 hole course
on the 23th of October 1914 and continued with a small
membership (mainly car owners) until the war years (1939-45)
when it practically closed down. Some play did continue
however, particularly by members of the US army who were
stationed nearby in Newtownstewart. They actually put in the
first drainage system. It consisted of empty petrol drums
joined together along a narrow trench.
In the sixties membership began to increase significantly (In
1957 it was 88; today it is 476.) so an approach was made to
the Baronscourt Estate about the possibility of acquiring
extra land. Their first offer was of approximately 15 acres
on the other side of the entrance road. When it was pointed
out that this was somewhat small for what the club had in
mind the estate agreed to allow the club to have about 40
acres across the ravine to the South. A bridge was built
across this ravine by voluntary labour in 1967, a well-known
course architect, J.J.F. Pennink from the firm of Cotton,
Harris and Pennink, was commissioned and the course extended
to 18 holes. In concluding his recommendation for the
extension Pennink added, "I very much enjoyed my visit and
was enchanted by the beautiful terrain." Not a bad
commendation from someone who had seen it all. Finally the
first offer of 15 acres was also acquired and opened as a
practice area in 1974.
Lady members from the clubs early days |
Almost as an encore to this the new clubhouse which had been
built 6 weeks earlier was blown up on October 4th 1972. It
was however rebuilt fairly quickly and the present clubhouse
was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn in
1974. Since then extensions and improvements have been
carried out over the years. These have included the provision
of a shop, new showers, changing rooms and locker rooms, a
new front facade and several changes of seats and seating
arrangements.
Because of the nature of the underlying soil, many parts of
the course had always suffered from poor drainage. Over
recent years however an extensive drainage scheme has been
undertaken, mainly under the guidance of the then Greens
Convener, Jimmy Kelly and a new Head Greenkeeper, David
Irvine. The necessary equipment to maintain the system was
also purchased and the whole scheme has really revitalised
the course. A new Greens Convener, James McCrory, has
continued with these improvements and the course is now
looking better than ever.
Newtownstewart course now consists of 18 holes, made up of 5
par 3's, 3 par 5's with the rest being par 4's. With a par of
70 and Standard Scratch of 69 it measures 5320 yards and has
a convenient practice putting green and an extensive
practice.
|
|
