July 21st..
Left Groarty House at 6:30am.. only about 25 miles to Ballyliffin. Took about 45 minutes.. we're not talking major highways here.. all 2-lane roads through farming country... goats in every field. Lots of goats.
Teed off at 8am. Very cool morning with a very strong breeze off the North Atlantic. Had to bundle up and use hand warmers. Temps (maybe) in the mid-50s with a 20mph wind. Temps did get to mid-60s by later afternoon. Locals said it was a great day.. dry and warm. Right.
Let me tell you. Ballyliffin Golf Club is outstanding. There are 2 courses - The Old Links and Glashedy. Glashedy is much newer. I played the Old Links. Nick Faldo assisted in tweaking The Old Links. Supossedly, he expanded the greens. Right. They were still small.. and very fast.
You can see the North Atlantic from every hole.. #15 runs right along the shore separated by a stone wall. Neatest hole was defintely #5, an long uphill Par 3 named 'The Tank". The green sits in a bowl. #18 was 550 yards.. uphill.. into the wind. No shit. The wind was very strong. Brutal. I hit 3 very good shots.. all from the fairway and was still 90 yards away.. 4th shot found the left bunker.
I believe they must have buried VWs in all the fairways.. never an even or flat lie.
The neat thing was (most times) the ball would roll forever.. unless it rolled through the fairway or into a bunker.
The Old Links at Ballyliffin is a GREAT course. I simply cannot explain how great it is... well worth the trip to play the most northern course in Ireland... see http://www.ballyliffingolfclub.com/. Also, I'm glad I purchased the course guide.. helped immensely. I played alone and there were many holes where you couldn't see *any* fairway and had to trust what the hole layout in the guide.
I had thought about playing Glashedy in the afternoon taking a buggy.. no way was I going to walk another 18 holes. I had just finished walking 36 holes in less than 24 hours plus about 7 hours of driving. Wind picked up and was decidely cooler (wind chill effect). Decided to head to Ballyliffin Hotel for several Smithwick's.. a very good Irish Ale.
Tomorrow.. a drive to Cruit ("critch") Island to play a 9-hole course that sits atop the cliffs overlooking the North Atlantic. Highly, highly recommended.
3 comments:
Nice read, enjoying reading your reports. I really appreciate your choice of course, I've mapped out my own trip to Ireland in the next year or two and I'm sticking to the Northwest and Northern Ireland. I love golf courses that are off the beaten path.
George,
You will love Northwestern Ireland. Definitely do Ballyliffin Old Links. My favorite along with Carne (excluding The Old Course, of course).
Definitely have Carne on the list. Reading a book now called Ancestral Links, which is centered around Carne. Although I loved the experience of playing the Old Course, I think it's a course that has to grow on you.
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