Ireland Trip coming up soon

[bkuehn1952]

Thanks for the update and photos.  Brings back memories, although we were never in Ballyliffin.  Keep the good weather rolling in and your water proofs handy!

[DaveP043]

Checking in again, this time from Enniscrone.  on Tuesday we played the Glashedy Course at Ballyliffin, and it beat me up.  In hindsight, I was trying too hard, hit a bunch of hooks off the tee.  With a nice breeze blowing, and the fairways a bit narrower than the Old course, I struggled, but still loved the course.  

Yesterday was a travel day.  We too a small detour to drive through a part of Northern Ireland, just to say we had visited yet another country.  Then we took a longer detour, to Slieve League, with some of the  highest sea cliffs in Europe.  Then on to Enniscrone.

Today we drove about an hour west, to play at Carne.  This is not an old course, built in the 1990's, but is on some of the most dramatic dunes I've ever seen.  Its hard to capture the scale of the dunes, but I'll try with a couple of pictures.  First, the 8th green from behind.

and the second shot on the uphill 17th

Not only was the course tough, but we played in steady 20 mph winds, with gusts well over 30.  I hit a 9-iron from 100 yards (uphill) that was well short.  On the severely downhill 16th, playing just over 140 yards, I hit a nice smooth 6-iron (for me normally 160 yards on level ground).  I played a lot better, but still felt beat-up at the end.  Enough for now, tomorrow we get Enniscrone, and more rather intimidating looking dunes.  We can see them across the bay from out hotel, a rather pleasant spot called the Waterfront House.

Later, y'all  

[bkuehn1952]

Have you gotten used to the left side driving or do you need to think about it when you get in the car each morning?

What have you all been eating? (we know what you have been drinking!)

Keep the posts & photos rolling in so we all can vicariously enjoying Ireland.

[DaveP043]

The driving is easy enough, after maybe the first 10 minutes.  We've only been on a very few "narrow" roads, and those were up near Malin Head, the northernmost point in Ireland.  On those, if you see an oncoming car, you find a wide spot to pull over so the two cars can pass each other.  All of the rest of the roads have been good, and wide enough for 2 normal vehicles.  It feels a little tight when there's a big truck coming the other way, but its been OK.  

The food has been good, from seafood chowder to fish and chips to steaks grilled over a wood fire to baked cod dinner to steamed mussels in white wine and garlic sauce.  We even had pizza one evening here in Enniscrone, and got to hear a little trad music session.  Breakfast has been included everywhere, a good start to the day.  A traditional Irish breakfast will include eggs, bacon (kind of like Canadian bacon, not our American crispy bacon), sausages, black and white pudding, beans, mushrooms, grilled tomato, and toast.  Or you might get an omelet, or scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.  

Today we played at Enniscrone, another great test in the dunes.  We actually had 5 or 6 holes in relatively level land, but the last 4 holes ran right along the coast.  We also had the first rain of the trip, 2 showers of maybe 10 minutes each.  Tomorrow is a travel day, down to Killarney, and Sunday is another day off golf, maybe a driving tour of the Dingle peninsula.  I'll try to get some more photos up Sunday morning, if I get a chance.

[bkuehn1952]

We really enjoyed Killarney, a cool little vacation city.  I watched the 2006 PGA Championship in a local pub.

If you tour the lake and mountains, some photos would be cool.  I never got to either of those places.

[DaveP043]

I've fallen behind on my updates, but we've finished the last of our golf here with a fun day at Lahinch.  We've had a great two weeks, 8 incredible golf courses.  I'll go through my photos once I get home, and post some impressions of the remainder of the courses, and of the trip as a whole.  There's really nothing like links golf!

[Benjamin]

Thank you for showing us some pictures! Ireland seems to be amazing! I'm always telling my wife that I want to go there but she is concerned because of the weather maybe I'll go without her.. haha

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[DaveP043]

2 hours ago, Benjamin said:

Thank you for showing us some pictures! Ireland seems to be amazing! I'm always telling my wife that I want to go there but she is concerned because of the weather maybe I'll go without her.. haha

Ireland really was amazing.  I'll have a few more pictures up over the weekend sometime, and maybe more tales of woe.  The weather was really pretty good, we only had rain for maybe 6 or 7 holes in a total of 8 rounds of golf  Wind was another matter, though, we had very significant wind pretty much every day.  Still, its a real treat to play these links courses, we have so very few of them in the States.

[DaveP043]

OK, finally I'm going to finish this.

Enniscrone was fun, much less severe than Carne. The first hole is deceptive, it looks really flat, til you turn the dogleg and see it climbing up into the dunes. The next 4 holes are in the dunes, then back in the flatlands for 5 holes. At 10, you climb back into the dunes, and stay there, with the last 4 holes being parallel to the coast. This is a photo from behind the 16^th green, coming along the ocean and turning inland.

Then next day, Saturday, we drove south to Killarney, and checked into the Killeen House. I've been here before, its a great small hotel, with a self-service bar and an outstanding restaurant. Sunday was a touring day, we drove around Dingle in the rain, a great day not to be playing golf.

Monday was golf at Tralee. This is an Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay design. The first 9 is solid, the second nine is spectacular. Those dunes can be pretty tough in a stiff breeze. The 13^th is a short par 3, but you definitely can't leave it short. Long isn't so bad, the ball can bounce off that hillside onto the green.

And this is the 15^th green, taken from the side.

Tuesday we went to Waterville. We drove through light rain, and it was still drizzling when we started out. After about 3 holes, however, the rain stopped, and we had great sunny, but breezy, weather for the remainder. I probably enjoyed this course the best so far, the fairways are wide and inviting, but things get tougher as you get closer to the greens. The 18^th is a great par-5 along the water.

Wednesday was Ballybunion, the big daddy for Ireland golf. Six holes to start out are semi-level along the road, and we had very light breezes starting out. At 11, however, the wind picked up to near gale, and the rain came sideways for about 10 minutes. Then it cleared up, and was windy but sunny for the remainder. You can see by the time we reach the 15^th, this longer par-3 headed towards the beach, it was a lovely day. Breezy enough that for this 193 yard hole I was between 3-wood and driver.

The greens here were a bit disappointing. They've recently replaced the bent grass with a more native fescue, and the greens were probably the slowest that we played.

Yesterday (Friday) we played at Lahinch. After a reasonably benign first two holes, you face an uphill blind drive into the wind, followed by a downhill second towards the ocean. The par-5 4^th requires another blind shot, this time the second over a big dune. There's a “traffic cop” on top of the dune, essential since this hole crosses the first part of the 18^th fairway. The par-3 5^th is yet another blind shot. This time you aim over the white rock, hoping to hit it over the first dune, and short of the second one. This is a look from the left side of the green, your shot has to carry the dune on the right side of the photo.

For some strange reason, I really enjoy these holes, and the entire golf course. From the high point on the course here, you can see 10 green in the foreground, 12 running along the river to the left side, and 12 coming back toward me from the direction of that castle.

We had nice winds, 2 to 3 clubs, and not a drop of rain. A great final day of golf.  And the day was finished off in fine Irish style, we got to see a local fair in Ennistymon, where we were staying.  Live music in the street, a bartender race, a few pints, how could it end any better?

This trip has been a blast. Golf among the dunes is a real challenge for a number of reasons. Blind shots, deep grass, heavy and gusting winds, uneven lies, extremely firm greens (no way to spin balls to a stop) are just the start. I didn't play real well, not a round in the 70s, but none in the 90s either. And I loved every minute. Every course we played was on the ocean, the views are incredible.

[RandallT]

Maybe I'm nuts, but I can see a bit or Ireland in your home course at Stoneleigh. Particularly as you get away from the clubhouse out onto the hillside on #2 through #5. Has a bit of the same diabolical feel with the lurking trouble, thick grass, winds, blind shots, etc.

But anyway, great pics, Dave! Wow, what a trip. Just added to the bucket list.