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.