Chan Gets Recognized at the Shannonn Airport

Thursday, Jul 31^th – The Journey Back

 

We walked across the parking lot to the airport and there were no problems with our travel. Chan and I checked bags for the commoners since we were in Business Class and could get their bags for free.

 

What was really interesting is that someone came up to Chan in the Shannon Airport and exclaimed, “Aren’t you the guy that finished second in the Irish Open?!?!?!  I am sure I recognized you!” the person went on a for a few minutes about how Chan played so well, but just got nipped at the end. OK … the person was Paul.

 

Chan and I also got into the US Airways Business Class Lounge and snuck out six one-person servings of red wine for Paul and Jack on the flight home … and all was good.

 

 

Who Won The Irish Open

Wednesday, Jul 30^th –  Ballybunion (#17 on the world ranking)

In the standings for the Irish Open, Chan has a 10 stroke lead over Paul and a 13 stroke lead over Steve. We are off to play the venerable Ballybunion which was founded over 130 years ago. The morning is crystal clear blue skies and moderate temperatures with a little puff of wind.

It’s a half hour drive over country roads – the ones that barely fit two cars side-by-side – but Marty delivers us safely as usual. We didn’t have time to hit balls so we just warmed up on the putting green.

By the time we get to the first tee, the wind has picked up considerably. On the first tee we met our caddies (Aiden and Morris, who is 60 years old and going to carry two bags). The first hole faces directly into town and a trailer park so it is not very scenic.


Chan hits a 70 putt for par (squelching any ideas for a comeback); Steve gets up-and-down from a green side pot bunker for par; Paul two putts for par; and Jack just misses a 15 foot putt and taps in for another ‘no stress 7.’ (Really it was a bogey.

The first 5 holes are all out in front of the property with views of the lesser side of town. It is a very nice links course with the usual tough stuff that goes with all the links courses. For example, the third hole is a 210 par 3. I pull a 5-wood a little left … it hits a mounds and kicks sharply right … rolls along the hard, dry ground … and almost goes out of bounds 50 yards left of the green. It was a full lob wedge back into the green against the wind.

By the 6^th hole, you go over a slight crest in the fairway and start to get a real view of the ocean. By the way, the 6^th hole has a plot of land that juts into the fairway along the right side as you approach the green. The stubborn guy won’t sell the land and some of the out-of-bounds stakes are only 20 yards off the green! From the 7^th hole onward the course is a playing challenge and a viewing delight with many high sand dunes covered with grasses (much like Tralee).

After some screw ups by Chan on the front nine, and some good play by Paul and Steve, there was suddenly an opening in the race for the Irish Open Championship.

 

One of the other par 3’s (#8) is 180 yards up a steep hill where you are either on the green or rolling back down the hillside. It might be the highest point on the course and the winds were whipping up there – so much so that Steve and Jack had short par putts that were blown sideways by the wind and out of the hole. Another par 3 on the back nine is 220 yards but slightly downhill, with a 20 mph winds blowing across the hole. The green looks like a small dot amongst mounds of rough and pot bunkers. No one came close to hitting the green. Paul was playing great; Chan was struggling and I had one birdie on #10 to start the back nine (a 55 foot putt).

The race was tightening with Paul playing very well and Steve playing steady but missing several other 10-15 foot birdie putts.

On the par 5 13^th hole, Paul was 50 yards short of the green in three (bad tee shot) with the pin another 20 yards back on the back of the green. Steve was pin-high 15 feet right with his approach in three and Chan was on in three. Paul elects to PUTT up a 25 foot hill from 70 yards away from the pin against his caddie’s advice (Paul’s caddie almost walked off the course as he argued with Paul not to putt). Paul slams the putt up the hill, through some mounds (there are always mounds) and the ball gets on the green rolling and breaking 12 feet left as it stops 4 feet from the hole !!! It was yet another example of Paul’s uncanny ability to hit 100-200 foot putts from the fairway up close to the pin. Chan missed the birdie and tapped in for par; Steve left his birdie putt dead online and 1 foot short, and Paul somehow incredibly, actually, in all honesty (I am really not kidding here) MISSED a putt inside 20 feet for the first time in two weeks!

By the 16^th hole, it seemed close, but we were not keeping our total score for the whole Irish Open Championship.


Steve birdied the par 5 16^th hole Paul parred with Chan double-bogeying with a double-hit on a chip shot out of the rough. On the 17^th, Steve nailed a drive and a 6-iron to 20 feet for birdie and Paul was on in three with a 40 foot par put. Chan was on in four after fighting through rough. Paul proceeds to hit the par putt (we were getting tired of this incredible display of putting). Steve leaves yet another birdie putt 6 inches short dead on line (as usual) and Chan takes double.

So we all have a sense that it could be close on #18, especially between Paul and Chan. Steve hits a drive onto a mountain of a sand dune and into the rough – so much for his chances.


Chan and Paul hit drives right down the middle, and ultimately, Paul misses an eight foot par putt and Chan lips out a 5 foot par putt after a great pot bunker shot aside the green.

Final Scores: Paul 81; Steve 83; Chan 91; Jack ??.

When we tally it all up in the clubhouse restaurant, WE CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHO WON because someone lost one of the score cards from Old Head! Chan and Paul are very close and it is clear that Steve is a little behind with Jack being out of the race. Accusations are flying at the lunch table: “Chan you kept score at Old Head.” “No, it was Jack.” “No. It was Steve.” “No, I was in charge of pictures not score cards.” We all take turns going out to our golf bags in the front of the clubhouse to scour them for the missing card. It all comes down to whether Paul shot an 84 (he wins) and 85 (it’s a scorecard play-off) or 86 (he loses). The scorecard play-off (the 4 top handicap holes) would go to Paul once again.
 

It is amazing that in the whole of golfing Scotland and Ireland, Chan and Paul are withing 1 stroke of each other and Steve is four strokes behind them.

We decide to split the winnings between Chan and Paul since we cannot figure it out, but all agree to keep their eyes out for the missing scorecard amongst their stuff. Now, who do you think really had the scorecard all the time? Any guesses? Your right … it was Jack. In fact, Paul did have an 85 and won in a scorecard play-off just like in Ireland. In fact, the scorecard play-off scores were identical in Ireland and Scotland. You just can’t make this stuff up.

We went to the Shannon airport to spend the night in a hotel there so we could have a short walk across the street to the airport. Marty took us to the Carrygerry Country House for dinner for what turned out to be a most unique and pleasing dining experience. First it is a bed and breakfast but they accept outsiders for dinner. You have to ring the doorbell and someone comes to unlock the front door. We were invited into the house (it is quite large and ~250 years old. Very stately. We were asked to sit in the living room and relax by the hostess/waitress. We weren’t sure exactly what was happening. Kate came back into the room to take drink orders which we gave and she brought a short time later. We sat around and chatted as if in our own living room. Kate came back later with menus and explanations for their specials etc. We had a delightful chat with her as she is a university student studying psychology and English. She came back later to take our orders and told us she would come to get us in a little while and we should just relax and enjoy the comfortable setting.

 

Fifteen minutes later (after we finished a bottle of wine amongst the 5 of us, Kate said she was ready to escort us to our table. An exquisite setting for five was in place in the small dining room (maybe four tables) with some relaxing classical music in the background. Shortly after we were seated and our drinks refreshed, our food started to arrive. Suffice to say it was a sumptuous meal with all the appointments. It was a beautiful, relaxing and very enjoyable way to finish our trip. Kate and I exchanged some poems that we liked (Emily Dickinson and such) before we departed.

 

The Course of The King

Tuesday, Jul 29^th – Tralee (#84 on the world golf ranking)

After another great breakfast at our B&B (Saundra is just delightful), we headed out early for our 9:18 tee-time. We were scheduled to play two rounds at Tralee that day. It was slightly overcast with more typical Irish temperatures (low 60’s) and some wind. The course was designed by Arnold Palmer, who did very little landscaping but used the natural contour of the dunes to make the course.

 

Tralee is a very friendly place – an amateur golfer’s links course. It is still extremely scenic (some of us debated whether Tralee or Old Head was the most beautiful course, but we gave it to Old Head simply because it is 300 feet above the ocean where Tralee is right at sea level). Enjoy the views at Tralle below.

It has all the difficulty of a links course – wind, bunkers, punishing rough, and undulating greens – but the fairways are a bit wider and the initial rough more ‘wispy’ as they say.
 

  #1 Fairway

 From the #2 green looking back up the coast to the #2 tee box.












 Where's the fairway? That's why you need a caddie.

 Looking down the fairway on #14.

 Looking back from #14 tee box over the course at Tralee.

WE had superb caddies – Owen (age 25 and a serious amateur golfer – one of the best in Ireland) and Jerry (age 35 and formerly a very good basketball player – he was invited to some prestigious basketball camps in the US when he was in high school). They were humorous (we learned yet new expressions for our putts and shots – like the Junior Prom, which will be explained later), knowledgeable and hustled as they double bagged for us. Jerry had a particularly quick wit and delightful Irish brogue. After Paul had another one of the long, long putts from 50 feet off the green that ended up two feet from the hole for a gimme up and down, we told our caddies that Paul had been doing that all week and thus we called him “Mr. Up-and-Down” to which Jerry quickly repliled, “I hear that’s what Owen’s girlfriend calls him as well.”

The course runs along the coast and there are many great views of the ocean along side the holes we were playing. There were enormous (maybe 200 yards wide) sandy beaches as there was a low tide in the morning. For the first time playing golf in Ireland we experienced a light drizzle for one hole, then it all went away and we had a mixture of sun and clouds throughout the day.

 the fairway is way out there in the distance amongst the dunes and the natural grasses, which never get cut.

 

Paul and Chan played great with a lot of steady shots in the increasing wind as the day went on. Of course the caddies were betting on us. Jerry took Jack and Paul while Owen took me and Chan. It was fun to listen to their banter back and forth. For example, if one of us missed a putt, the other caddie would make some comment about it being a bad read. They were extremely engaged and helpful, rooting for us when we needed to make recovery shots etc.




 

Final Scores: Paul 80; Chan 81; Steve 86; Jack 93.

We had lunch in the clubhouse (no matter where we go the Irish seafood chowder is exceptionally good) overlooking the course and the ocean. For the afternoon rounds our caddies joined us again. It was great to play the course again (as with Old Head) as we were all more familiar with it. The winds picked up to what Owen and Jerry estimated to be 30 mph, they said the hardest winds they have had there in over a month. Nonetheless, Paul and Chan continued there lights out playing with Paul carding a 39 on the front and a 37 on the back (8 pars and one bogey) and Chan going 40 / 38.

The best part of the day was the last six holes. We had been playing Scotch matches (6 hole matches with rotating partners) with the following scoring for the match: low ball wins a point; high ball loses a point (so you have to keep playing even if you are fighting for a bogey or double bogey); birdies are worth 2 points and eagles are worth 3 points. So, basically there are two points per hole with the chance of a third point if you or your teammate birdies a hole.

For the last 6 holes it was Jack and Paul versus Steve and Chan and our caddies were fully engaged in the battle as well. It was an incredibly close match going back and forth with Chan and Steve holding a 1-point advantage going into the last hole – a short par 5 that was definitely a birdie opportunity especially with the wind coming behind us from the ocean back to the clubhouse. Paul hits an excellent drive; Jack bombs a drive down the middle; Chan hits one very long but slight off the fairway into the first cut. As Jack and Paul and their caddie, Jerry, are all hootin’ and hollerin’ about the pressure being on me, I nailed a long, straight drive that made the rest of them look like ladies – 25 yards beyond Jack.

We were all up near the green in two – Steve and Paul in a pot bunker; Jack was long left and Chan was on the back left of the green … with the pin being in the front center. They both had very long, treacherous downhill putts on quick greens. Steve blasts out of the pot bunker but goes 40 feet past the pin. Paul tries to blast out but hits it a bit sideways and is 10 feet off the green in the fairway (usually an easy putt for him). Jack lags 5 feet short for eagle. Chan runs 4 feet past for eagle. Steve has a long downhill putt for birdie and runs it just over the edge, one inch past the hole for a gimme par. Paul comes up 6 feet short for his birdie putt from the fairway (I think his sphincter was a bit tight). Paul recovers and makes a clutch 6 foot par putt. Now it is up to Jack and Chan. If Jack makes the birdie he gets 2 points and his team is in the lead, putting pressure on Chan to make his 5 foot birdie putt. Jack lips out; Chan makes his birdie and thus ends the day on the golf course.

Final Scores: Paul 77; Chan 78; Steve 82; Jack 90.

We all retired to the clubhouse for drinks including our caddies (Jerry had to buy Owen a pint) and settled up our bets. After cleaning up at the B&B we went to dinner at an inconspicuous roadside restaurant called Spa Seafood (Spa is the name of the town with population of about 100). It was spectacular food (ask Jack and Chan about the 48 mussels and two loaves of bread they ate … FOR AN APPETIZER).

We were all tired and retired to the B&B for a good night’s sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Road Less Travelled

Monday, Jul 28^th – Old Head - Day 2

It is rare to get to play Old Head in fair weather. It is even more rare for this to happen on consecutive days. Yes, we had the exact same weather for Day #2 at Old Head as well as the exact same caddies.

Did I mention that we were having an Irish Open Championship for the 5 Ireland courses? Royal – don’t forget the Royal – Portrush, County Down (I am tired of typing Royal), Old Head, Tralee, and Ballybunion. The deal was that we would take the best score from our two days at Old Head – kind of like a mulligan off the first tee where you get to choose you best drive.

Once again it was a remarkable day, and playing the course with the knowledge of the holes made it even better. 75% of us improved our scores from the previous day. Guess who didn't !!

 Jack pulled his tee shot a bit on the par 3 #7 and had a delicate chip from the hillside down to the green, the far side of which fell 300 feet into the Irish Sea. He held it on the green !!!

 Jack barely stays on the island and has a 70 foot uphill shot to the green. He managed to get the ball up the hill and onto the very back edge of the green - only 10 feet away from another cliff.

On the back nine, Chan had 8 pars and one double bogey that came on a topped tee shot that went 10 yards and was lost forever in the rough. He went 42 / 38.

Final scores: Chan 80; Paul 85; Steve 86; Jack “other”.

When we got to the veranda, the waiter confessed to seeing us come off the 18^th green below. Based on our body language, he had drinks waiting for us at ‘our’ table. He read the body language correctly  AND remembered our drinks correctly, but noted to us that he gave Jack “the member’s pour” on the Kettel One. We had dinner on the veranda, once again overlooking a spectacular scene.

Now begins the real adventure as we had to drive about 90 minutes after dinner at Old Head to Tralee and the Brooke Manor B&B.

I must say that Marty has an undying trust in Ms. Garmin. He types in an address and follows that seductive female voice wherever it takes him. It’s like she has a spell over him. It is hard to describe how far off the beaten path we got as we went down ever-smaller roads through seemingly less and less civilization. To say we took the road less travelled is an understatement in its most extreme definition. We sat on pins and needles as Marty courageously navigated winding, bumpy roads while also avoiding locals who apparently have a death wish as they walk along the roadside (wait … maybe we were actually on a sidewalk that was masquerading as a road and that’s why they gave us odd look as they buried themselves in the bush and we crept by at 4 mph). Just when we thought we had pinched and squeezed our way down some of these ridiculously narrow cow paths, that lyrical, sweet voice of Ms. Garmin said, “Turn left and proceed down Norcress Road.” When we got to the intersection where we had to turn left, Marty inched the van forward and he and I looked down the road (keep in mind that I am in the passenger seat on the LEFT side of the car and Marty is driving on the RIGHT – so I got a better look down the road than he). It was narrower still with all sorts of branches and bushes and limbs hanging into the roadway !! I was nervous. Marty inched forward, but what do you do ?!?!?!  Ms. Garmin has led us this far, we have no idea where we are other than we are on the island of Ireland, and we got no place to go but retrace our steps. I was thinking, “What if it gets worse? What if this is someone’s driveway? What if we are never heard from again?”

Marty inched forward, made the left hand turn and proceeded down the road cautiously. Then Ms. Garmin says, “Go 7.9 miles to …” I couldn’t get past the 7.9 miles. I was thinking it but Paul could not help blurting it out “Oh my God!!” We were going down what was supposed to be 2-lane roads and the bushes and trees along both sides of the road were scraping our van. The center line was going under the car right between Marty and I. It had to be a bike path – like the Monon trail – but it was not nearly that wide or smooth. Our tires were never on the “road” as Marty steadily straddled the narrow pavement. The first street sign we came to was a speed limit sign that read 80 kilometers per hour (that’s 50 miles perhour !!!!!). “Are you kidding,” I shouted. Once again, there was a couple walking down this “road” and they about freaked out when they saw our van coming. I am sure they never saw any vehicle on this road let alone a large van like ours. They got so far into the bushes we lost sight of them as we past. I suspect they went right home and put their underwear in wash.

Now this was all happening while our windshield was full of bugs and dirt. Marty had tried to clean it but the wipers were not very good so we got the smear effect across the whole windshield. So, we are driving west, directly into the glaring sun and in and out of trees so that the contrast between light and dark is constantly creating a strobe-like effect. My pupils were dilating and closing until my eyes hurt. I do not know how Marty kept us on the road and in one piece.

It gets worse. I thought we had travelled the least travelled road - I mean path - in all of Ireland when we got to a point where we were off the Garmin grid. Literally !!! The little image of our car was in the middle of gray space on the Garmin screen with no roads around in the image. I am thinking – did we just pass into a parallel universe? We stayed the course on the paths that looked like they were heading west towards Tralee and about 5 minutes later the Garmin image showed us back on paths that were in their system.

By the time we got to decent roads near Tralee, Jack had passed out, Paul had sweat through his t-shirt and his top shirt; Chan’s eyes were sealed shut and I had left his fingerprints embedded in the dashboard and door handle. Marty just smiled and enjoyed the ride through the Irish country-side.

 We arrived at the lovely Brook Manor B&B about 10PM where we unloaded and went right to bed to prepare for the early tee-time at Tralee the next morning.

The Golf Shot

Sunday, Jul 27^th – Old Head (#1 in the Ruberg Golf Ranking)

 

It was another beautiful, sunny, mild day with light breezes – just about perfect.
 The harbor at Kinsale.


After Mass at the friary, which has been there since 1334 (now think of this … St. Francis lived in Assisi, Italy in the late 1200’s and founded the Franciscan Brothers and less than 40 years later there was already a Franciscan friary in Kinsale, Ireland!),

  The Friary

we had a spectacular breakfast at Blindgate House (we highly recommend the ham and cheese omelet), we were off to the most spectacular setting for a golf course anywhere in the world – Old Head. It was a short 20 minute drive to this enormous peninsula of rock that juts out into the Irish Sea.

The first thing one notices upon arriving at Old Head and driving back the 1 mile entry drive is that it is lined with literally a million Irish rose bushes of every shade of rose, pink and white as well as a million hydrangeas of every shade of white, blue, rose and purple. It is stunningly gorgeous.
 Stone walls and large gardens line the entire 1 mile drive from the entrance to Old Head to the Clubhouse.

There are flowers and ornamental grasses everywhere (none of which are native to Ireland) as well as some palm trees. The putting green is surrounded with red and purple flowers that grow 3-4 feet high. 

Some fairways are lined with hundreds of the large pampas grasses (the ones that are 10 feet high). The fairways are more Americanized in that they are lush and cut and manicured. There are even ancient ruins of building going back many hundreds of years and even some large rock monoliths from ancient Druid cultures.

The course is a photo op every minutes and almost every hole. Tee boxes and fairways line the edge of the peninsula with 300 foot drops straight down rocky cliffs to crashing surf below.

It was interesting to watch sea gulls soaring above the ocean, BUT BELOW US as we looked out over the cliffs. OK – an important note here. Paul is terrified of heights when there is no protection/railing. He was having some trouble getting near the edge and there are tee boxes that are literally within a few feet of cliffs. Some of the paths from one hole to the next are worn paths along steep hillsides that run into the cliffs.

Just enjoy some of the pictures and the views.

















 Steve didn't get over the cliff and on to the fairway, so he had to stand on the edge of the cliff and hack it out of the deep rough.

Our caddies were good and enjoyable – Micky B and Paul. They hustled to keep pace with carrying two bags. (Side note: while they were good, we were coming to the realization that it is much better to have 4 caddies so that each player has the undivided attention of their caddie. This is strongly recommended for any future travelers, though it may not always be possible due to availability.) After struggling much of the day, on the 18^th fairway, Jack hit a great approach shot onto the 18^th green and exclaimed, “Now that’s a golfer!” to which his caddie replied, “One shot all day and now you’re a golfer ?!?!?!”
 

Chan played lights out even for what might be considered mild playing conditions (winds were probably between 15-20 mph). The rest of us had our moments, but we all enjoyed the day enormously. It was an amazing display of Mother Nature with some additional sculpting by Her greatest creation, Man.

Final scores: Chan 82; Paul 88; Steve 90; Jack 95.

We had drinks on the veranda overlooking the course, the lighthouse and the Irish Sea as we basked in the sun and took in the breeze (yes, a 20 mph wind is a breeze). Jack gave up on beer and took to the Kettel One and cranberry juice with a lime. Chan is a Guinness man and Paul Coors Light. Marty has his Bushmills or Midleton (one ice cube please). I always goes for the REAL MAN’S drink - pineapple orange juice.

  Veranda on the back of the clubhouse.

 View from the veranda with the 18th green in the foreground and the light house in the background (which is 300+ feet above sea level).
 

Note: In the clubhouse, there are pictures on the wall from November, 2004 when the Irish Sea was being whipped into a frenzy by a ferocious winds. There is a picture of a wave crashing into the 300 foot cliff where the light house is and a large part of the crashing wave is hitting half-way up the lighthouse! I suspect you will never see anything like it … it is hard to imagine witnessing a storm so powerful that the waves were over-running the 300 foot rock walls/cliffs of Old Head. I would not have imagined it or believed it if I didn’t see the picture.

We were already looking forward to playing Old Head for a second day on Monday.

That night we went looking for the next best restaurant in Kinsale – Fishy Fishy.




Apparently, it had moved, so we settled for The Crackpot. The food was good, but having had dinner at Man Friday the evening before, there was no comparison. Once again the commoners went out for some local culture while sanity prevailed for others.