Matty’s Irish Golfing Sojourn: Golf trip to Ireland with Matt Adams
Matty’s Ireland Agenda:
Thursday, September 9: Depart United States for Dublin, Ireland (arrive early Friday morning; must have an active passport).
Friday, September 10: Board the luxury coach for transport to the Adare Manor for our first round of golf.
Matt’s take: We start our march through Irish royalty and history with a journey to the west, to the lovely village of Adare.
Adare
Approaching the course, one is greeted by the ruins of both the Desmond Castle (circa 1,100) and the abbey and the lovely thatched roof houses in the village, Adare is as charming a place as one can find in Ireland. One of my favorite experiences playing courses in Ireland is not only for the joy and experience of playing brilliant golf courses, but for the history the land embraces. To think that we will play golf in the shadow of so much that once was and to think that we will be there to express a passion for a game, gazing at ruins whereby the original inhabitants had to have embraced a passion merely to survive during far more brutal times.
The Adare Golf Club (www.AdareGolfClub.com), opened in 1995 and is credited as being the last major golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. is situated on the 840 acre estate of the Adare Manor. The course stretches out to 7,453 yards, par 72, and is defined by a 14 acre lake, ancient trees and the meandering River Maigue, that one must cross to reach the par 5, 18th hole.
Adare Manor
Having been on the grounds of the Adare Manor for the 2008 Irish Open, my anticipation was high to play the course I had watched the pros compete on when I returned to play it one year later. The experience did not disappoint, for the Adare Manor Golf Course is as good a golf course as I have played anywhere in the world. It is always satisfying when expectation is exceeded by reality.
Friday evening: Enjoy a dinner reception with your fellow golfing companions (cash bar). Stay at the Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare, Co. Limerick (www.dunravenhotel.com)
Saturday, September 11: Play Dooks, group tee times scheduled to start at 11:30 am
It is with great enthusiasm that I scheduled Dooks, for the golfing adventure that is to come. It would not be the least bit surprising for one to reflect back upon their Irish golfing tour and declare the Dooks Golf Club (www.Dooks.com) as their favorite.
Traditional Links at Dooks
Every trip to Ireland is a journey of discovery, no matter how many times you may have visited. Dooks is a discovery of a traditional links golfing experience that dates back to 1889, making it one of the oldest courses in Ireland. Martin Hawtree was engaged to extensively update the course in 2002 and the results of his efforts are fabulous. Walking from the first green to the second tee box reveals the views of Dingle and the McGillycuddy Reeks, the highest mountains in Ireland, from every hole the rest of the way. It makes for a fantastic variety of sights and alignments, augmented by persistent, yet not (generally) encumbering winds. Dooks’ clubhouse is equally as enjoyable, making one feel as well looked after and welcomed as if we were members (and the food is fantastic).
Saturday evening: Stay at the Grand Hotel in Tralee
Sunday, September 12: Play the Killarney Golf and Fish Club (Killeen Course), Killarney
Embraced by beauty at Killeen...
Matt's take: The Killeen Course is set in a magnificent lakeside (it looks distinctively like a Scottish loch) and mountain setting. Behind a genteel veneer lies a 7,123 yard, par 72, parkland style golf course that called for demanding shot values. So complete is this golfing challenge that the European Tour has picked the Killeen Course to host the Irish Open for at least the next three years (the tournament will have taken place less than four weeks before our visit).
Sunday evening: Stay at Malton Hotel, Killarney, Co. Kerry (www.themalton.com )
Monday, September 13: Drive along Ring of Kerry and Play Waterville Golf Links (www.watervillegolfclub.ie )
Beautiful and mystical Waterville
Matt’s take: This day is sure to bring with it as deep a golfing experience as any one has experienced before.
One is greeted, quite literally, at the doorway of Waterville by Noel Cronin, the club's Secretary/Manager. He easily represents the warm, humble hospitality so common in Ireland. .
Waterville is not only beautiful but it is as pure a test of golf as any I have ever seen. Strong coastal winds only serve to heighten the natural splendor. Waterville has undergone extensive renovations in recent years and from my perspective it made a great course even better. The landing areas are for the most part wide and the greens were accessible and very fair. Waterville is, however, a true championship links course and would rank in my book next to Muirfield in that category. David Duval, Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara are among those Open Champions that have prepared their game in the weeks before the Open Championship by playing rounds at Waterville. The memory of Payne Stewart is beloved here for his special bond to Waterville and a statue stands in his honor behind the 18th green.
Matt’s tee shot at the 12th
As golf often allows for the convergence of the here-and-now with more mystical realms, the 12th hole at Waterville deserves note (see photo above). The hole is a monster par three, playing from a tee box atop a dune to an equally perched green dotted some 200 years away. Originally, the green was designed to be built in the valley between these two mountains, but the Irish laborers that shaped these links simply refused to allow the green to be placed there. The reason why is that during this land’s long history, the protected area between the dunes was once used as a place to celebrate Mass and conduct weddings during a part of this countries’ tortured history when the same was prohibited by foreign occupiers. It is truly a sacred place and you cannot help but feel reverent.
Waterville is simply breathtaking…
Upon completion of our round we are likely to be greeted by a pipe smoking Noel who sit with us supplying us with equal measure of Guinness and wonderful stories of Henry Cotton, Harry Bradshaw and the many champions and characters who have helped shape the club's storied history.
Monday evening: Stay at Malton Hotel, Killarney, Co. Kerry
Tuesday, September 14: Play the Old Head Golf Links (www.oldhead.com ), Kinsale
Matt’s take: Kinsale is a wonderful harbour town not far from the Old Head Golf. Kinsale is known as the gourmet capital of Ireland and of all the incredible hospitality experiences I’ve had in Ireland, none outshine those of Kinsale.
The Old Head Golf Links
The Old Head golf course was built in 1997. I originally visited this course only a couple of years after it opened. The course sits on a kind of octagon shaped peninsula of land that is only accessible by driving down a narrow land-bridge that features massive caves that the sea has bore through the solid rock over the millennium. The entire area sits hundreds of feet above the violent Atlantic serf and the land is littered with ancient castle ruins, stone monk huts, the foundation of a medieval lighthouse and an archeologically significant ancient Druid burial ground. In what the land would surely view as more contemporary times, this was also the site where the Spanish Armada came ashore and staged their attack on Kinsale/Ireland in 1601 (the Irish were soundly beaten, once again crushing Irish hopes for freedom). In different parts of the course one can still view the steps carved into the rocks where the Spanish sailors unloaded their ships. This also was the closest point to where the Lusitania sank in 1915 and where much of the debris and bodies washed ashore. The town's graveyards are scattered with the sad graves of those lost souls. Simply put, of all the golf courses I have seen in the world, I have never seen a more impressive, dramatic or beautiful location for a golf course.
The views are so scintillating that at times it is almost overwhelming. The owners of Old Head have engaged in an aggressive program of changes, modifications and refinements since my earliest visits. The golf course is now, in my estimation, a first-class, modern addition to the Irish golfing landscape and a golf course befitting its impressive setting. For anyone traveling to Ireland to play golf, the Old Head Golf Links should be paramount on their agenda. I am confident that if this course existed in the U.S. It would be ranked in the top five in the nation.
We would be remiss if we did not schedule enough time in our agenda to enjoy a pint in Kinsale before we depart back to Killarney.
Tuesday evening: Stay at the Cashen Course House (www.playballybunion.com ), Ballybunion, Co. Kerry.
Wednesday, September 15: Play Ballybunion Old
Let your soul take flight at Ballybunion Old
Matt’s take: The pinnacle of our golfing experience might well be Ballybunion Old Course (www.BallybunionGolfClub.ie), as this classic masterpiece is certain to not disappoint. Ballybunion Old is a course that rises and falls, twists and turns and ultimately, gives and takes, in a wondrous union of vision and nature. Gazing over the Old Course’s peaked and rolling dunes, one cannot help but wonder if this land has always been a golf course; that it was not “built,” but simply discovered. Never before in the world have I seen a better marriage between what was and what is, as the line appears to be seamless.
The magic of Ballybunion Old
Ballybunion Old is the ultimate “thinking-man’s” golf course as subtle (and ingenious) challenges that await a golfer that fails to employ forethought. Regardless, our day will surely be a pleasure and while it may be a cliché, if I had but one course to play for the rest of my days, the Old Course at Ballybunion would be the one. Tom Watson calls the par 4, 11th Hole the finest par 4 in the world. This course deserves its lofty world stature.
Wednesday evening: Visit the Cliffs of Moher, Lahinch, stay at the Vaughan Lodge (www.vaughanlodge.ie ), Lahinch, Co. Clare
Thursday, September 16: 36 holes at Lahinch Golf Club
6th Hole at Lahinch
Lahinch Golf Club (www.LahinchGolf.com) is commonly referred to as the “St Andrews of Ireland,” and with good reason. Lahinch Golf Club seems to sit in the middle of the town and shares a formidable lineage to the Old Course, as Lahinch was originally designed by St Andrews’ most famous son, Old Tom Morris. Later modifications were designed by Dr. Alistair MacKenzie. Lahinch sits on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, making the course subject to its fickle temperament. Lahinch embraces a raw and rugged links golfing experience. It is beautiful, challenging and unique. At a par of 72, it stretches out to 6,950 yards. It was with intent that I chose this course to play 36 holes upon and to close out our sojourn.
Thursday evening: Closing dinner celebration at Lahinch with special guests (cash bar). Stay at the Vaughan Lodge, Lahinch
Friday, September 17: Flight back to the U.S.A. from Shannon Airport. Coach will depart Lahinch for the airport by 9:00 am.
To Sign up for this Trip:
1. Cost is € 2638 per person (double occupancy. Single occupancy is an additional charge and subject to availability)
2. Spots are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis
3. Contact Rosa at Swing Golf Ireland (www.SWINGGOLFIreland.com) at email address: Rosa@swinggolfireland.com, or call 011 353 66 7125733
Please note the following items are not included: Airfare, meals (except the welcoming and departing group dinners), gratuity.
All travelers must have a valid passport.