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Saturday, March 24, 2018

GOLFING THE GREENS OF IRELAND

Vacation ..oh vacation!  For myself, a vacation is actually staying home and not going anywahere.  But for my family it means a chance to get away to someplace beautiful surrounded by golf courses.
Ireland is one of those special places where you can play golf to your hearts content.
Of course no one prepares you for the winds of this lovely island in the North Atlantic, nor for the terribly long rough that these folks cherish.

A weekend at Trump International at Doonbeg was enough to teach me that low and straight is the way to go.  Not allowing golf carts, you get a pull cart for all 18 holes of this long course alongside the sea.  9 holes out with the wind and 9 holes back into the wind.  If you hit the ball too high....you are in trouble. You think you see where you ball lands?  Well forget that.  I knew exactly where my ball dropped into the tall grass, but when I went to look for it, my poor ball was nowhere to be seen.  Here you can also ride horseback along the windswept beach, go kayaking and fishing or visit some of the tourist spots like The Cliffs of Moeher.
At Waterville Golf Links at the tip of the Ring of Kerry, the rough is more forgiving but you still have all the holes alongside the sea with gale force winds.  This is one of the 50 best courses in the world.  At least here I had a golf cart, which they call a buggy, which made play easier.

Next we played Mount Juliet Course.  This lovely resort and course designed by Jack Nicklaus, also allowed carts and was beautifully groomed.  This spectacular spot near Cork has specatuculr views and is a challenge.  After few Guinnesses in the club house, we could go skeet shooting, do some falconry, ride horses and more.  Dinner her was in their Micheline Start restaurant, so this was a happy ending for a perfect vacation.

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