tour pics....

I’ve posted a batch of tour photographs in a facebook album. Just in case you’re not on facebook, you can view them by clicking here. They’re not particularly elegant, but they do give a flavour of what we were up to!

Photo: early morning at the Castleross Hotel, Killarney.

homeward bound....

SteveE and I (plus “the Beast” and five sets of golf clubs!) meandered our way from Lahinch to Waterford on Saturday – via Limerick and Tipperary. Stayed overnight at the same Travelodge we’d started at a week earlier (complete with a gang of noisy youths outside our bedroom window until the early hours – tooting horns, revving engines etc). Up early yesterday and drove to Rosslare in plenty of time to catch the 8.45am ferry and managed to have breakfast on board before the ferry had even left port! Back in Bristol by mid-afternoon – with SteveE having another couple of hours before he could get back to his home comforts in Chinnor.
Photo: SteveE catching up with news on the ferry – with Wales just coming into view on the horizon.

friday: lahinch

It was a depressingly early start to the day. We could hear rain falling and had an early tee time booked (Simon needed to fly home this afternoon). We arranged to have breakfast in the hotel at 7.15am before driving the very short distance to Lahinch Golf Club – arriving in the car park before anyone else and in utter darkness. It proved to be a VERY wet round of golf - we all agreed that we’d never got quite as wet before on a golf course! The one positive note was that the wind had subsided a little (which probably meant that the rain wasn’t blown away!). Overall some of us were a little disappointed by the course (but perhaps it was the fact that we played under leaden skies, heavy rain and no sunshine?). Much to my surprise, I ended up winning the day again, with Ken coming second, Barry third and Simon fourth.
We all went straight back to the hotel to have baths and warm up. Simon had to depart soon after lunch (big hugs all round!). The rest of us played pool in a local bar before enjoying another great meal at the hotel before getting an early night – Ken, Christian+Barry departing very early the following morning to catch a flight home.
Photo: SteveE in Lahinch GC car park at “dawn” (in the pouring rain!).

thursday: old ballybunion

Woke up to pouring rain and high winds. One weather forecast we saw talked of two inches of rain and winds gusting at 60mph. It was all very depressing as, for most of us, Ballybunion was the key day of the tour. Amazingly, the rain had stopped by the time we teed off – then resumed after four holes but only lasted for 45 minutes or so and we were able to complete our rounds in the dry! Fantastic golf course – everything that we’d anticipated (and more!).
Ken won the day, with me coming second, Simon third and SteveE fourth – leaving Ken just two points ahead of SteveE as far as the overall leadership was concerned.
We drove north, caught the ferry across the River Shannon and ended up at Lahinch by nightfall – staying at the Atlantic Hotel. The rooms were far more basic than Castle Ross but we enjoyed a really beautiful meal in the hotel (and the odd glass of Guinness) before bedtime.

Photo: Barry on the 18th tee.

wednesday: tralee

Despite another day of very miserable weather forecasts, we were incredibly fortunate with the conditions at Tralee. We arrived in brilliant sunshine which showed the beautiful green course off to perfection. Although we did have our fair share of lashing rain, it was far better than we’d anticipated. It was another simply stunning golf course - everyone was really impressed and it now seems to becoming increasingly difficult for people to name their “best course ever played”!
Simon had a great day and won by three points, with me coming second, Ken third and Barry fourth.
We spent the evening revisiting our local bar and the “Smoke House” in Killarney. Guinness and red wine seem to go together very well indeed!
Photo: Christian hitting a tee shot at Tralee GC.

tuesday: waterville

Drove to Waterville under threatening skies. The empty clubhouse was in sharp contrast to the opulence of Old Head – but we were given a very warm welcome. It was very good to have a full complement - with Simon having flown into Cork first thing. The links course was impressively set between the sea and the estuary. Incredibly windy(!) and, somewhat predictably, we played half the round in driving rain. I actually won the day (in sharp contrast to the previous day) with Barry second (again) and SteveE+Ken coming in joint third (I think).
One of the highlights of the day was Ken trying to put up his brand new umbrella and watching it disintegrate within two seconds (literally) in the high winds.
We again finished off the day in Killarney. Enjoyed a good meal at the Smoke House restaurant (and even managed to find a bar with rather better musical accompaniment) before returning for a nightcap in the hotel bar.

Photo: Christian, Ken+Steve in the clubhouse before the round (the ocean's beyond the green stuff!).

monday: old head

We were all really looking forward to playing this course – and we weren’t disappointed. A stunning location, laid out on a narrow headland with many of the holes teetering beside vertical cliff faces, dropping down to wild seas (very scary for me!). We were incredibly lucky because, despite a poor weather forecast, we actually managed to complete our rounds in dry (but very windy) conditions – and it started raining immediately we got back to the clubhouse!
We all decided it was the best golf course we’d ever played (and SteveE, Barry+Ken have played quite a few in their time!). SteveE played really well and won the day, Barry came second, Ken third and Christian fourth (sadly, I played very poorly and brought up the rear).
We finished off the day at an Italian restaurant in Killarney before ending up in a bar – where we’d been told we’d be able to enjoy some traditional Irish music. The bar and the Guinness were good but, in truth, the music was pretty dire!
Photo: SteveE on the 2nd tee.

sunday: castleross hotel, killarney

We arrived at the impressive Castleross Hotel in Killarney at about 11.30am and immediately felt the need to enjoy our first pint of Irish Guinness (which we did) before drinking our second and third (by which time Ken, Christian and Barry had joined in the drinking).
Great to meet up with the others in such beautiful surroundings (views over a lake and with the Purple, Tomies and Torc mountains as a backdrop) - and in sunshine too!
Played nine holes of the hotel’s own golf course in the afternoon (very nice too!) before seeking more solace in the bar. A little rest followed by supper in the hotel (which seemed to be absolutely full of young children running wild – apparently thanks to a special promotional deal for the Irish Bank Holiday weekend/half-term… brilliant!) before a ridiculous putting competition under a virtual full moon just before 11pm (which SteveE won).
Photo: me, SteveE, Ken, Christian and Barry before our afternoon golf.

sunday: breakfast and moving on

SteveE and I got up pretty early (actually much earlier than we’d anticipated!) and ended up being the first customers of the day at Eddie Rockets’s Diner for breakfast. The food was excellent but the most impressive thing is the retro American 1950s diner style – complete with mini jukeboxes on each table. This seemed in sharp contrast to our experience when Ken+SteveE+I were on a golf tour of New York State in 2001 when Ken had been really keen for us to experience the ultimate breakfast diner – I seem to remember us driving for about an hour before we found anything remotely suitable!
We were keen to get to Killarney to meet up with the others and it proved to be a lovely drive – with stunning scenery and beautiful sunshine (and areas of low mist).
Photo: SteveE (billy-no-mates) – the only customer in the diner!

the cunning plan....

SteveE (who thinks about such things, thank goodness) realised that those generous people at RyanAir and the like would be charging far more to carry golf clubs than passengers. So he came up with a cunning plan: he’s booked a car ferry from Pembroke to Rosslare and back (I’m going to ride shotgun to accompany him) and to take all the clubs with us. The rest of the “team” will fly over in the usual fashion. This way, Mr Eyre calculates they’ll save £80 each!
It’s so good that SOMEONE is on the ball.
PS: I notice that the Rosslare Harbour website describes itself as “the Gateway to the Sunny South East” (I’ll try to remember that in the lashing rain and howling gales!).