David Lloyd

I hope you’re enjoying playing on the new indoor courts on bay 1 and the 3 new outdoor courts laid in 2011. We continue our investment into our tennis facilities with the refurbishment of the other 6 indoor courts later this year as well as re-laying court 2 to match all the other courts on Bay 1. Once we have confirmation that these investments are going ahead we will communicate this in our monthly e:newsletter – Club Chat and on the notice boards around the club.

In line with facility improvements we are also introducing some other measures aimed at improving court availability. We held a member forum on Wednesday 21st March and the consensus of opinion from this forum supported our views. It has come to our attention recently that Health & Fitness members are playing tennis with full members on court bookings made by the racquet member. This is against club rules and unfair to other racquet members, and so from 1st June 2012 when you ring reception to book a court we will ask for the names of the other members who will be joining you on court for your game so that we can make sure they have the right category of membership or pay the applicable fee for the usage of facilities outside of their membership category. Due to feedback received at the forum we will also be auditing this with the manager on duty completing court checks randomly through the day.

Also from 1st June 2012 we will be introducing a court booking cancellation charge of €10, which will also be applied for no shows. This will be charged to the member who has booked the court and will apply to all cancellations received within 24 hours of the booking slot and to members who fail to show for their booked court. Whilst this is a new charge at the club, we are introducing it with the aim of improving court availability. I have had dozens of conversations with many of you relating to this subject and I know lots of members will welcome this deterrent to ensure court availability improves. Members with outstanding charges on their account will not be able to book courts until the charge is paid.

Following feedback and a review of court availability we will be changing court 5 to a bookable court just like our other 14 courts at the club. The walk on court has been the cause of several disagreements between members over the last year and we believe by making this court bookable we will eliminate these instances and help all racquet members have a more enjoyable experience at the club. This court will be bookable from 1st June 2012.

Finally, I would like to re-iterate my sincere thanks for your support of the club and continued feedback which has helped us improve our tennis service throughout the last 12-18 months. This has been shown in greatly improved member survey scores in this area and these improvements wouldn't have been possible if our members hadn't worked with us to improve our tennis provision.

Healthy regards,

Sean Singleton

General Manager

Included in the falconry display:

A static display with a variety of approx 12 birds of prey. They include falcons, hawks and owls.

Informational talk followed by holding some birds for photos. (This can also happen after the flying display).

Flying display:

Using 2 or 3 birds for a flying display. These displays are very interactive with the spectators participating in the display e.g. the birds fly over spectator's heads and between two lines of spectators and they fly onto spectators gloved fists, preferably from trees or a post or a wall etc.

The show is extremely interactive with the spectators involved and they will just love it.

All bookings need to be made at reception prior to the event as space is limited and filling quickly.

The results:

1st Moises Cruz 40pts off 19 (On count back)

2nd Steven Manley 40pts off 24

3rd Ronan Cullen 34pts off 9

4th Peteris Elferts 33pts off 27

5th Manus MacCrosain 32pts off 10

6th Graham Hughes 32pts of 22

7th Bill Walshe 32pts off 12

CONGRATULATIONS TO MOISES ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT OUTING LESS THAN 20 DAYS AWAY DRUIDS GLEN 11TH MAY (PART OF THE DRUIDS CHALLENGE) Booking now open.

Reminder: confirmation of attendance can be taken but only payment will hold your space on a 'first in' basis.

This outing is linked to our Druids Heath outing on the 8th June. Pay €90 before May 7th for both outings and compete in the Druids challenge combined stableford scores competition. Pay after the 7th May or individually at Glen = €60, Heath = €40 (not eligible for Druids Challenge even if you end up competing in both outings) Some of you have verbally confirmed with me already but could you all send me a Yes or No email asap.

Thanks again to all, Stuart