I'm going to Ireland!!

[jetsknicks1]

Going there in September. Lahinch, Ballybunion, Tralee and Doonbeg. Taking a day to go to the Cliffs of Moher as well.

Nice. Don't forget to come back here and give your reviews of all of them.

[phan52]

At this time next week I will be playing Ballybunion. First trip to the old sod and can't wait.

[jetsknicks1]

At this time next week I will be playing Ballybunion. First trip to the old sod and can't wait.

Nice! Photos buddy, photos.

[phan52]

At this time next week I will be playing Ballybunion. First trip to the old sod and can't wait.

Tralee, Ballybunion, Doonbeg and Lahinch. Awesome trip.

11th at Lahinch. Many more to come when I find the time.

[shortstop20]

Nice pic! I remember that hole, and not because I played it well!! :(

[jetsknicks1]

Tralee, Ballybunion, Doonbeg and Lahinch. Awesome trip. 11th at Lahinch. Many more to come when I find the time. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/106568/] [/URL]

Very nice! How was Ballybunion?

[phan52]

Tralee - Didn't get a lot of pictures at Tralee. That was the day we traveled and my phone ran out of power by the 6th hole. The back nine was far more dramatic, as it winds through the dunes. The front nine is fun and fair and a nice introduction to Irish golf. Weather was perfect. A little wind, but sunny and dry.

Unbeknownst to us, County Kerry won the Irish Football championship just the day before, their Super Bowl. Even after seeing it on TV, I still have no idea what it is, kind of a hybrid between soccer, rugby and who knows what else. But Tralee had a parade to honor the Champions that evening, and it happened to be on the same street where our hotel was that night. We had to park about 5 blocks away to get to the hotel and this is the scene right outside the front door of our hotel. Very fun and festive evening, to say the least.

[phan52]

Ballybunion

Got a light rain for a few holes and the wind was up all day. But generally, nothing to complain about.

Ballybunion First tee. Don't hit it in the graveyard. Most people take a Mulligan if they hit it in the graveyard. If you hit it in there and it bounces out onto the fairway and you make a par, it's called a Lazarus.

Searching for a ball.

Good look at the green from there. Can't see it from the fairway.

Narrow fairway. This is your target on your second shot at the par 5 16th hole.

This is pretty much the picture that they have on the front of the scorecard. 15 green.

Eight green, looking back toward the tee. Quite an elevation change.

[jetsknicks1]

Very nice thanks for the pics, I can't wait to get there. You didn't use a caddie?

[TheKaizer]

played 36 holes in one day in Tralee this may. the back 9 are just stunning. definitely a must play! also can recommend Dooks, loved it. if you are looking into something else than just links try Adare Manor. its a great one as well... not really sure about a caddie at Tralee. our flight partners on the second round had one (was my first experience with a caddie ever) and I think if you are not min single digit, your game is not good enough for a caddie...just my thought

[jetsknicks1]

played 36 holes in one day in Tralee this may. the back 9 are just stunning. definitely a must play! also can recommend Dooks, loved it. if you are looking into something else than just links try Adare Manor. its a great one as well... not really sure about a caddie at Tralee. our flight partners on the second round had one (was my first experience with a caddie ever) and I think if you are not min single digit, your game is not good enough for a caddie...just my thought

I would think the higher the HC, the more helpful a caddie would be. I'll be at Ballybunion in July and I'm defly going to hire one.

[TheKaizer]

I would think the higher the HC, the more helpful a caddie would be.

Well I guess it depends what you use the caddie for. if its to find the ball and carry the bag than I'm on your side. but if its for distances and line, than you better hit the shot the caddie tells you. we got pretty annoyed with our flight partners and would have loved to play faster but that's topic of another thread. But back to the topic, Ireland is definitely an awesome place for a golf trip. great people and excellent golf

[phan52]

Very nice thanks for the pics, I can't wait to get there. You didn't use a caddie?

We used caddies everywhere. You definitely need one, IMO, because of all the blind shots. There aren't as many at Tralee, but at Ballybunion, Doonbeg and Lahinch you might not even know where to go for the next tee. We had a group in front of us at Lahinch without caddies and they held up the whole course. I asked my caddie if there was a Ranger and he told me, "Yeah, we got one but he's about as useful as a chocolate teapot."

All of our caddies were great. They all carried one bag on their shoulder and one on a pull cart, except the guy at Tralee who put both bags on a pull carts. He was on the green staff and was also a member. The caddies made the experience that much better. Plus, they had a better idea where the errant shots would end up and they would always find your ball. You might not be able to play it, but you found it.

[phan52]

Doonbeg

Trumps' new play toy. He bought the resort in January and who knows what he will do to the track. It is a little different from the others due to the greens, which run like courses I play here in the states as opposed to links courses, but I liked the layout and there are some beautiful holes.

First hole, Early tee time at Doonbeg..

Looking back at the Castle (hotel) from the second tee.

The young lads looping for us at Doonbeg. Most of our caddies on the trip were seasoned adults, but these kids were earnest and knew the course very well. I think they had as much fun as we did.

195 yard par 3, played 225.

#13 reachable par 5 with the green up beyond the bunkers on the right. Danger zones all over up there. Thankfully, caddie found my ball and I made a nice par.

#14, nice little par 3.

[phan52]

Lahinch

Lahinch was my favorite. Links course with the resulting funny bounces, but fair.

It looked like we were in for the full Irish golf experience when we got there, but the rain let up. The wind stayed.

Green Staff at Lahinch

play is sideways

That's a fairway. I had to layup short of that large dune and a member popped out up top to give me my line to the green.

I've got nothing to add to the rest.

Sláinte

[jetsknicks1]

Just friggin beautiful. I really wish I could spend the whole time golfing but that's not going to happen lol. I'll at least get to play Ballybunion.

[shortstop20]

Beautiful pics, makes me want to go back and play like 8 courses.

I have been thinking about it already and these threads really make me wanna do it! :)

[Archie Bunker]

When we played in Ireland, it was at the end of May, and you could golf to around 10pm or so. I would guess it gets dark pretty early in October - 4pm or so? Can't get in more than 1 round!