Ireland Trip September 3-10, 2016
The Irish might be getting sick
of seeing me. Just realized that this is
my fifth trip into Ireland to play golf in the last 28 months. During the first four visits I played a total
of 12 different courses (10 for the first time, and two revisits). This trip is scheduled to hit five
tracks…four of which are revisits and one new.
So assuming this trip goes without a hitch, that will mean 17 rounds on 16
courses (Portmarnock twice) of which 11 were/are first time visits for me. And I need to come back to play
Ballybunion-Old, Tralee, and Waterville again…as well as visit for the first
time several others. Both the Republic
of Ireland and Northern Ireland are loaded with great tracks. Because of the Open Championship, the courses
of Scotland are certainly better known, but this Emerald Isle has more than its
share of great ones.
This trip was scheduled to go to
the wedding of our friend Fergal O’Leary to his wonderful and lovely bride, the
Karen Lynch. Both were born and raised
in Ireland and live in MA. Karen has no
faults and Fergal has just one…taking golf too casually.😀 He is the youngest person to ever complete a
Golf Magazine Top 100 list, having accomplished this at the tender age of 32 (I
was a spry 69 when I did it…at the time, I think the oldest, but that has been
surpassed since then). I just went back
and checked…and by the time I turned 32 (in late 1976), the most I had played
of any World Top 100 list ever published thru today (there were none published
by 1976) was Golf Magazine’s 1985 list…and I had 27 of those by my 32nd
birthday.
Anyhow, the schedule for this
trip is very simple:
Night of September 3---fly
Boston to Dublin
Sept 4—arrive Dublin, play The
European Club
Sept 5—play Portmarnock
Sept 6—Karen & Fergal’s
wedding
Sept 7—play Royal County Down
Sept 8—play Royal Portrush
Sept 9—play Portstewart (new for
me)
Sept 10—drive back to Dublin and
fly back to Boston
The European Club, September
4, 2016:
The European Club was a vision
in the eyes of Pat Ruddy, one of golf’s great entrepreneurs when he took a
helicopter ride in the early 1980’s along the east coast of Ireland in search
of land to satisfy his “golfing obsession”.
Pat had been a golf writer, then became a golf architect and wanted to
build a great links golf course, because to his mind, a great course
must be a true links course…built on land that links the sea to the land having been covered by glaciers in the Ice Age.
The course was built and nutured by Pat…and I mean those exact words. He and his
family constructed this course with oodles of sweat equity. It opened Christmas 1992, an entrepreneur’s
dream fulfilled. Pat and his family have
continued to manage the Club for almost 24 years since then, always tweaking
the course in efforts to improve its design.
European Club has been on Golf
Magazine’s World Top 100 since 2003 and currently is at #90 (it peaked at #85
in 2009). The 2013 Architect’s survey
pegged it at #75. Top100golfcourses.co.uk
has always included it on its World Top 100, peaking at #50 in 2011 and
currently #86. Golf World UK included it
in both of its listings, #43 in 2010 and #47 in 2011. It did not make the Top 100 on the other 5
sources (Golf Digest, Links, Rolex, GCA or Planet Golf).
My first visit to The European
Club took place on May 19, 2014. It was
my last stop during my 2014 round the world journey and where I completed
the 2013 Golf Magazine Top 100 listings. Pat Ruddy threw a party for me during the
round and made me an Honorary Member. My
Melbourne buddy John Cornish (who was getting married in Manchester the
following week) surprised me by meeting me at the Dublin airport on my arrival
that day. Real truth is that I was so
exhausted at that point I hardly remembered the course or my round. I do recall falling asleep in the car within
about 2 minutes when we left to go back to the airport. In any case, I absolutely wanted to get back
to the Club, and have Pat Rudovsky meet Pat Ruddy. As I expected, they got along fabulously.
The course was in very very good
condition, playing fast and firm. It is
a very tough track. Plays a total of
7355 yards (par 71) for 18 holes (note…a few years after its opening, Pat added
two additional holes, both par 3’s, to be used in case other holes were
temporarily closed for maintenance…and many players not involved with a
tournament or event play all 20 holes).
The bunkers are deep and treacherous, usually braced by “sleepers”
(wooded planks or railway ties similar to those often used by Pete Dye and on
older Scottish tracks such as Prestwick), and the course is reasonably hilly
and protected very well by Pat’s use of camouflage and other optical illusion
techniques. Best stretch of holes is
probably #12 through #17, with #12-15 running along the beach and #12 featuring
perhaps the world’s deepest green (127 yards).
This stretch is both long and fun.
The wind was moving at almost 15
mph…just strong enough to make playing interesting. My play was a little sloppy and I ended up
with a 44 – 44 = 88 for 18 at 6207 yards (I did par both of the par three extra
holes). Both of us were tired after the round and had
a 60-70 minute drive back north to Portmarnock.
I highly recommend a stop at The
European Club for golfers headed to Ireland’s east coast. The course is a proven World Top 100, is an
excellent test, and given the general lack of availability of true links land
in the world, will probably end up being one of the last links courses
built. But most of all, a visit with Pat
Ruddy is both informative and entertaining.
The man is smart, opinionated (but also listens), and entertaining.
Portmarnock Golf Club
September 5, 2016: With Karen and
Fergal’s wedding scheduled for September 6, Fergal, who is a member of
Portmarnock and was raised in the town, scheduled an outling for the afternoon
of September 5 for about 24 members of the wedding party and wedding guests. Many of these were a few years younger than I
am (like 30-40 years younger) and as such, one or two of them could
occasionally outdrive me. But not in my
group…and don’t listen to some BS claims/excuses about them playing from 6966
yards and my tees totaling 5851 (the back tees are 7466)…par 72.
From any tees this can be a
tough intimidating course…but I had it going this day, at least for 14
holes. I was 1 over thru 8 and 3 over
thru 14, but then things came crashing down very quickly and the round ended
double, double, bogey and double for a 38 – 44=82. What are the words to Frank’s song? “Riding high in April, shot down in
May.” This can be a funny game…when the
wheels fall off they really can do so quickly.
In this case, even the spare tire disappeared. But it sure was fun while it lasted.
Portmarnock is a great
championship test of golf. Big and long,
and very well bunkered. Located on the
southern end of a peninsula, it is surrounded on three sides by water. This is a true links course, but “tamer” than
many of Ireland’s links courses. Best
hole is #15 (204 yard par 3 with green sitting about 8’ above a “valley of sin” to its left (and where my
troubles began) and very well bunkered front left and right.
It currently sits at #55 on the
2015 GM World 100…which is its lowest rating ever (it has appeared on all 19 of
GM’s listing, and was included in the World’s Top Dozen in GM’s inaugural 1979
list), and Planet Golf has excluded Portmarnock from its WorldTop100’s. On the other hand, Golf Digest places it #25
on its 2016 list (a startling improvement from #83 in 2014), the Golf
Architect’s Survey place it at #36, top100golfcourses.co.uk at #44 currently
and Rolex within the World’s Top 15 in both of its editions. Certainly a wide variety of opinions, perhaps
due to Portmarnock’s brilliance as a championship test, yet, in the eyes of
some, shortcomings in terms of “fun”.
The next day was Karen and
Fergal’s beautiful wedding. The
reception was at Bellingham Castle in County Louth, a very special venue for a
wedding. We took the day off from golf
(but a bunch of the “kids” got in a quick 18 early in the morning). We needed the rest, especially since this was
to be a typical Irish wedding. The band
didn’t get going until around 10:15pm, but we were in bed by 11:00pm. Still have no idea when the party ended, but
we were told that there were buses going back to one hotel at 1am and 3am!!
Royal County Down Golf Club,
September 7, 2016: In August, 2015 I participated in an informal match
between four members of RCD (three of whom were past Captains) and three
members of Brookline and its head professional, Brendan Walsh. It was a most enjoyable round followed by an
equally good dinner. Upon learning of
Karen and Fergal’s wedding, I contacted one of the RCD participants and was
able to secure a game for Pat and me on this trip at RCD, and as an added
bonus, Royal Portrush. These two clubs,
located in Northern Ireland have been considered among the world’s premier
clubs and courses by almost all keen observers for decades and decades. Need statistical proof? Try the following:
--RCD
is one of only 18 courses that have been included on all 39 Top 100 listing
published by the nine sources I have mentioned in previous posts;
--Royal
Portrush is included on 37 of the 39…having been excluded from Golf Magazine’s
initial Top 50’s in 1979 and 1981 (there are two that have been on 38 of 39,
and two others that have been on 37 of 39);
--RCD
is currently ranked #5 on GM, #1 on GD, #3 on Planet Golf and #4 on
top100golfcourses.co.uk; its worst current ranking among my nine sources
(excluding Rolex where it is among an undifferentiated Top15) is #9 on Golf
World 2011; outside of GM in 1979 and 1981 and Rolex’s 1st Edition,
it has never been outside of any Top 10;
--RP
is currently #15 on GM and top100golfcourses.co.uk, and #11 on Planet Golf; its
worst rating from these three publications over the past 25 years is #18, and
it has been as high as #11.
Pat and I left for Newcastle,
County Down around 6:45am and arrived in time for breakfast with Patrick J., a
former RCD Captain and a participant in last years match at TCC. After breakfast, we went over to RCD and were
joined by David N., another former Captain and match participant. Our luck with weather continued to hold as we
played in mostly overcast skies with a 15-20mph wind.
RCD opened for play in 1889 on a
course built by Old Tom Morris. That
course was remodeled by George Combe starting in 1900, other modifications were
added by Harry Vardon in 1911, and then Harry Colt from 1925-27. For the next 70 years the course was
essentially unchanged until Donald Steele made changes to hole #18 in 1997 and
#16 in 2003 (plus adding some length with new back tees throughout the course). I had played the course three times prior to
this trip, twice in 1980 and once in 1981, and I was anxious to see the changes
to #16 and #18. Many have called the front
nine of RCD the finest nine holes in the world, but I remember the last three
holes being somewhat of a let-down back 35 years ago…still one of the world’s
great tracks, but a relatively disappointing finish.
Today the course plays 7186
yards (par 72) from the tips. We played
from the Stableford tees which totaled 6675 yards while Pat played from the
Ladies tees which are 6249 yards…pretty damn long for both of us. The wind was from the south (if you have
played it…that is quartering from the right and behind you on #1 and quartering
against and from the left on #9). As I
walked on #1-3, I looked at the distant dunes to the northeast and remembered
seeing them for the first time 36 years earlier…and had the exact same
thought: “It looks like I am on the
moon”. Those dunes (and all the dunes on
the course) are simply overpowering.
The course was as good as I
recalled but there seems to have been a subtle change that was confirmed by our
hosts. I remembered RCD to be more “wild
and wooly” 35 years ago…today it seems to be much more manicured. Our hosts pointed out that in the 1980’s very
few visitors were coming to play RCD, because of the violence (commonly
referred to as “the Troubles”) that was occurring in Northern Ireland. I would guess that in those days, the
financial situation at RCD was much tighter due to shrinking guest fees. Since the signing of the Good Friday
Agreement in 1998, tourism to Northern Ireland has increased dramatically, and
for sure guest play at RCD (and Royal Portrush as well) has increased commensurately,
providing funds to support a manicuring of the course. Frankly, I preferred the “wild/wooly” look
but this is still a brilliantly fun and challenging track.
The course has a large number of
bling tees shots and approach shots. I,
for one, am a believer in the old Scottish phrase “a shot is only blind
once”. In other words, all great courses
need to be played multiple times to be understood, so blind shots are simply
another variable to be dealt with…so deal with it!!
My guess is that most Millenniums do not like blind shots.
There are so many great holes
here…and I was too absorbed to take any pictures. Best are as follows IMHO:
--#3,
475 yard par 4 heading into northeast corner of course; teeing off from
elevated tee, player must chose whether to play it down the right side (shorter
route but blind second), left side (open approach but longer route), or middle
(compromise but not ideal in either regard).
And all you see in the background behind the green is “moonscape”.
--#4,
229 yard par 3, downhill (running parallel but in opposite direction of #3)
over about 160 yards of gorse and some six bunkers guarding the front, simply a
spectacular view (one of world’s most photographed holes) toward a deep narrow
green with steep fall offs right, left and in rear. Hole created by Harry Colt and is also one of
the world’s great par 3’s.
--#5,
440 yard par 4, blind tee shot over large dune turning right with the inside
of the turn protected by 6 bunkers, and a green sitting in a wonderful
natural setting surrounded by large dunes (nothing new with that!). Tough hole to feel comfortable over the ball
and align properly. Great holes do
that…they put doubt into the players head.
--#7,
144 yard par 3…no elevation change here on this hole that is very exposed to
the wind…much tougher than it looks (was most over par in 2015 Irish Open…due
in part to very strong winds); I was smart enough to listen to my caddy and
played it off the mound to the right of the green to about 2’ and got my
birdie.
--#9,
483 yard par 4, the other “most photographed hole”…drive requires a carry of
almost 240 yards to reach a fairway that sits at the bottom of a 60’ sharply
downhill slope that starts about 200 yards from the back tee (note…the rough on
the hill can keep a tee shot form bounding down to the bottom despite the steep
slope). Tee shot reminds me a little of
the tee shot on the par 5 5th hole at Sydney’s New South Wales
GC. Also, it felt different than I
recalled…I remembered mostly rough leading to the top of the hill, and now
there is fairway…but then again we are dealing with my memory…who knows? In any case, the view from the top of the
hill is amazing with the RCD clubhouse, the Slieve Donard Hotel, and the Mourne
Mountains creating a wonderful backdrop.
--#11,
442 yard par 4, tee off over a large dune about 40’ high and perhaps 40 yards
from the back tee (very similar feel to that of the lower tee on the 4th
hole at Brookline) to a hole that turns left to right…again through the dunes;
--#13,
446 yard par 4, dog legs right and presents a choice off the tee similar to
that on #3…shorter route to the right with blind second, and longer route to
left with open approach to a beautiful green setting;
--#15,
468 yard par 4, uphill off tee to crest (carry of 240-250) and turning right
and down at crest, and very easy for longer player to run through the fairway’s
left side. At about 310 yards off the
tee the fairway narrows to a single file walk then widens and goes back uphill
to a difficult to hit green (the wifey holed a running hybrid from about 50
yards here…so it is her favorite hole).
#16,
337 yard par 4 drivable but difficult to hold (green slopes front to back)…a worthy
replacement for the previous 16th.
Laying up is not a picnic either as one must negotiate three well placed
fairway bunkers.
I ended up with a 40 – 42 =82
including 3 double bogies, not bad for an old man from 6675 yards. Played the four par 3’s par/bird/bird/par and
was just 2 over through 7. Happy with my
game.
Overall, this is a fabulous
track. The front nine is simply great and the back is very very good. The land
here is just perfect for a golf course…very rumpled and flat lies do not exist
off the 18 tees. Certainly the best
course on the moon, and one of the very best on Earth as well. And of of the great clubs anywhere.
The next two days were at Royal
Portrush GC and Portstewart GC along Northern Ireland’s northern coastline. Always a debate as to which is better here…RCD
or RP. I finished RCD anxious to return
to Portrush!
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