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.