As we’re busy custom fitting and building golf clubs, all the other people here at Killeen Castle go about their day. Mark Collins who is the Course Superintendent called by to let us know about some work scheduled at the long game academy. He told us the Golf & Estate Maintenance team are busy finishing off the bunker drainage work, making sure there aren’t inconsistencies in sand texture.
Mark obviously feels the same about the course as we do about clubs, the pride he takes in his job speaks volumes. He told us when he gets the chance he goes out and plays but to be fair, it sounds like he’s still working. “It’s amazing what you don’t see as a green keeper but notice as a golfer. It could be anything from a lot of divots in a landing area so we would have to change the tee position so the landing area changes. Areas of native grass that are to long close to landing areas or greens that require mowing more regularly. Depth of sand in bunkers “
This all goes down in a notebook and then into a plan of action for him and his team to work on. We asked what the schedule has in store in the coming weeks. Mark says “we’ve identified holes 5 to 9 as the area on the course that slows play a lot. This year we will mow more native grass on these holes and on busy days we will set these holes up as easy as possible.”
So who better to ask for an insider tip to play Killeen Castle, although, he did admit to learning one of these the hard way.
Mark reckons “the course plays longer than it looks or reads through a laser. Hole 10 looks straight forward but for some reason plays very difficult all the time. This is due to players not releasing that the second shot is up hill and the green is slightly elevated, so nearly every comes up short”.
We took a trip around with Mark and he pointed out all the areas they were going to be working on. You have to admit its a stunning course, when you next play a round its with thanks to the hard work of Mark, Robert, David, Paul, Francis, Karl, Tommy and Brian of the Golf & Estate Maintenance Team
If you’re thinking of playing soon and want to do some research ahead of your game, go to the Killeen Castle website where you can see a 3d fly-by of each hole. You can play the videos online or download the Killeen Castle iPhone app
To book a tee time
Killeen Castle Reservations 01 6893000
Tags: Killeen Castle
