TRALEE Golf Club is proudly basking in the glow of being voted
winners of the Golf Course of The Year Award by the Irish Golf Tour Operators
Association (IGTOA).
The award was presented at the I0th Annual IGTOA Black Tie Awards Dinner in
the Sheraton Fota Island Golf Resort and Spa, Cork, on Monday night and is yet
another tremendous endorsement for a course which is steadily progressing up
the world rankings and recorded over 12,500 visitors in 2006.
Declan Crowley, Chairman of the Management Committee at Tralee Golf Club, said that this is an award to be shared by the entire membership given the huge sacrifices they have made over a ten year period. “The club has spent almost €5m over the last ten years in upgrading and improving the course. Parts of the course was out of play for considerable periods of time while this work was being undertaken and the co-operation and support of our membership has been fantastic. We are very honoured to be granted this prestigious award and all the sacrifice and effort has been worthwhile”
Tralee Club Captain, Michael Barrett, said that everyone in the Tralee club was thrilled at receiving the IGTOA award. “Tralee is a club that just keeps moving ahead and we are all very proud to be part of it. We have a wonderful team in place at Barrow. The General Manager, Anthony Byrne, and his staff are the people at the coal face, the people who look after all those who come to play our course, and this award reflects tremendously well on the welcome they extend and on the service they provide to our members and visitors alike. In winning this award, we are joining a very select group of Irish golf courses and it’s a further stepping stone to where this club wants to be on the world stage.”
Anthony Byrne, General Manager of Tralee Golf Club, said that everyone in the club felt a sense of deep satisfaction at winning the IGTOA award. “It’s a wonderful recognition for the role played by all those involved in the club, its officers, management committee, members, management and staff. An award like this is a tribute to team effort. Tralee has improved its standing in the world rankings every year and that is something which gives us enormous pride and satisfaction. This latest award is most satisfying as it is based on the feed-back which the IGTOA is getting from its customers and when your customer rates you so highly it is particularly satisfying.”
Meanwhile, Tralee Golf Club continues to improve its facilities. Plans are in place to make further improvements to the course and its facilities. Work on upgrading the car park and clubhouse surrounds is scheduled to be completed at the end of April at a cost of €0.5m.
The course, which was built in the early 1980’s, was the first golf course
outside the US designed by the legendary Arnold Palmer. The club continues to
maintain a close relationship with this golfing legend and plans are in place
to erect a statue in his honour on the course.