The Head PGA Professional at Dundrum House Hotel, Golf & Leisure Resort, Marian Riordan, is eagerly awaiting the completion of a new state of the art driving range in the club.
Significant investment in facilities is set to see a new driving range facility at Dundrum House Hotel including 12 bays, a new floodlit training facility with a coffee area, couches and of course, Trackman.
Riordan, who moved to Dundrum from Ballykisteen two years ago, has longed for a place to call her own where she could grow the game, and in the coming months she will have her wish.
“That’s going to be massive in terms of having a facility to train and practice in,” said Riordan. “The new driving range will be key in terms of having a facility to seriously grow the game in terms of members, new players, women in golf and juniors.”
Originally from Limerick Junction in Tipperary, she grew up a stone's throw away from Ballykisteen Golf Club where she served as the Director of Golf for a decade. In her two years as Head Professional in Dundrum, Riordan has built a strong team around her and has been a driving force behind a host of course developments as she constantly strives for improvement.
Currently, Dundrum boasts a solid membership of 600 golfers and Riordan credits her team for helping maintain a high standard around the club.
“We have a really good golf course which has a couple of changes going on with tee boxes to make it more playable, bunkers are being redeveloped and a lot of drainage work over the last couple of years,” she explained. “It will be another two years before all the hard work is completed but I am looking forward to that day because it is hard to manage it all.
“The course is looking good and I have a great team around me. We all link up quite closely which is key for the relationship in any golf club to minimise the disruption to the golf course. Nobody wants to come and play a Scratch Cup or an open singles with the greens being hollow thinned three weeks before.
“I have a great team in the shop, Mary and Colin who joined the team recently and he is really keen having been in Beech Park. Mary does all the day to day stuff so without them behind me it would make my job impossible. They are a great team.
“Members expect a standard when they pay their membership and they expect that standard.”
There are lots of imminent changes and exciting developments in store for Dundrum, but the apple of Riordan’s eye will be the new top of the range practice facility, which she hopes will encourage families to take up golf.
“The new driving range is going to be incredible. It’s going to be a massive attraction to families who might decide to give golf a go. That’s all you want is for people to try things and we want to give them an opportunity.
“To me it’s about building a community. If you can break down the barriers people perceive about golf even though we have stepped over that line in recent years. You can get families in.
“The amount of juniors who golf at the weekend who have parents who are deciding to give golf a try because their children are at an age where they can go on the course. I had that conversation with a parent recently who is a camogie player.
“I had one lady who just started who also plays camogie – we have a lot of GAA mad people around here. She started in January and is playing golf three times a year and she will be very, very good.
“The driving range is about creating a safe space for people to train. You can’t just do get into golf and do the six week programme without a follow up. In Dundrum I have that with a roll up class for the ladies who want to keep progressing.”
Golf has experienced a boom in participation since Covid, with Riordan running several Get into Golf initiatives, which she feels will only benefit from the new practice facility.
“The ladies club and men’s club have been fantastic in trying to bring them on but you can’t depend on them, you need a coaching programme and that’s what the range will bring.
“It’s going to be floodlit, state of the art training facility, with a sit down coffee or chill out zone.
“What we had before was a field, in terms of me having long term coaching facilities I needed that, especially for when things go quiet.
“I would have been happy with six bays and something like a stable with a roof and mats, then I was being sent pictures of these top tracer facilities that you see in the US! It’s going to be out of this world and one of the best facilities in the country.”
Riordan was a talented golfer growing up. A former Irish international and a course record holder at Lahinch, the Tipperary native also tried her hand on the Ladies European Tour so she is certainly no stranger to some cold, lonely winter nights grinding away on the driving range.
Riordan’s goal is to make the driving range at Dundrum a hub that encourages players to practice throughout the year so practicing doesn’t feel like a chore as it did for her.
“When I was golfing as a kid, the driving range was a chore to me. It was wet, windy, dark, lonely, poor golf balls and not great mats. I had to go because I was on Irish panels. So if we are building a driving range in Dundrum I want it to be warm and welcoming.
“Parents can come and sit down and read a book while their children hit balls, it’s family orientated and that’s what we will end up with.
“We want a facility that is also attractive to our membership so they can practice during the winter and the summer.”
