A sad day, as we say farewell to Ireland.
Some general comments and responses to your inputs...
...the Irish have been/are the most gracious hosts. A familiar kind of hosts. Remembering desserts (thank you, Sarah), remembering L and my matches (the final results later) and almost everything else. How good are they? On the back nine of our final round, I lamented not playing at least one hole in the rain...on 17, it rained! Just how did they arrange that? Even had a rainbow. So, to everyone Irish, "Fhagann tu le linn agus taimid ag tnuth le fiieadh ar a thabhairt duit. Go raibh maith agat!"
Thomas, thx for the word idea. Am doing it now. Should be a huge help.
We probably should have taken a break for day, as we are beat from walking. Those beautiful dunes are nasty to walk! Or maybe we should have scheduled an early round one day and a late round another. Man, my feet are some barking dogs.
B Sheehy, as a local, you know and have your routine. Visitors will find the travel here a bit of a challenge, and simplicity is the best way to go. Everyone who visits, take the ferry.
Also, B, you mentioned putting a caddie thru his paces. Absolutely not. First of all, he was L's caddie. Carried my own bag. Hicks weigh nothing. Second, I have a simple routine with caddies (or even fellow players), I ask some questions early and depending on their responses, decide whether to utilise their info for the round's duration. To repeat, it is not criticism. It just means they don't know. Perfect example, yesterday at Doonbeg on #6 (a very short, bitchy 4 par) was told by Roonin (sp?) to hit it 80 yards towards the end of the fence row and it would release to the hole. Well, hit it exactly to the spot and it didn't move an inch. You see, when a ball is hit cleanly and briskly from a tight lie into the wind, it will almost surely stop dead. It's just that most dont hit that shot that way, so he was advising on what he normally would see. In fact, he looked a bit stunned at the outcome. Left a very long birdie putt (did 2 putt). And for the record, L's caddies all love her. They enjoy our matches and our special brand of 'banter'.
Ireland does have a major negative, one that it shares with all of europe...it's brutal to follow sports with the time change. Going to bed not knowing the Tigers' score, is tough. Unless they get waxed 20-4.
Saving hickories v tech for the end...
The far point of Doonbeg has some bordering property that could be hidden by sculpting some dunes for about 100 yards along the fence line. C'mon guys. Would make the tee shots cool almost coming out of a chute.
When you visit Irish cses, play match, not stroke play. The gunge makes a lost ball almost inevitable and some gunge makes recovery impossible. And there are different levels of gunge. This is important...DO NOT TRY HITTING HARD SHOTS, ESPECIALLY FOLLOW THRUS FROM THE DENSE GUNGE. YOU WILL HURT YOUR WRIST/ELBOW/HAND/SHOULDER/RIB, ETC. Especially early in your trip. In match play, a blow up hole is no different than making par versus your opponent's birdie (L on 15!). And it helps with the pace of play.
Speaking of which, had great pace at all venues. Bit of wait at BB, but was able to enjoy watching shots played by the group behind us (and some were quite good). When you visit, take a moment to sit atop a dune and just take it all in. Did that many times at Doonbeg and was amazed at the sensation.
OK. Hicks v tech. Was it a good idea? Probably not, but I enjoyed it. They are not forgiving, difficult to manipulate and hard to hold. The hickories, not Laura!!! Especially the old grips. But wanted to play the two old cses old-style. Like Cortes burning his ships at the New World, bringing only the hicks motivated me and eliminated any ideas of returning to tech (of course, my tech is 20-25 years old). As mentioned earlier, the most difficult part of the hicks is distance control and low flighting short irons. And low shots are important here. Would I bring them again? Probably not, as there are some holes will love to play from the tips:
Tralee - 2, 3!!!, 10, 12, 15 and 16!
Doonbeg - 6, 7 (tried it w/ hicks - ouch), 13, 15 (again tried it -ouch), 16 (more ouch) and 18
BB - 15, 16
Lahinch --------------
The first at Doonbeg has a great green site, but the first two shots are very simple. Since, the two bunkers 100 yards short of the green are to avoided at all costs, and the fairways run, a healthy 5 wood and running 5 iron should get many in position for a short iron into the bowled green (great left pin). And remember that many greens here, especially in the dunes, have backstops which hold shots that are deep. Overclubbing will often be your friend.
Surprised at the lack of drivable 4 pars. In fact, most short holes have some break in the fwy, thus making the tee ball a bunt. Two possible options are 6 Doonbeg and 15 Tralee. 6D has quite the heaving fairway and sunken/falling green, but it is possible. 15T is short, but into the wind and the green has almost no fwy run-up, thus making a successful drive a carry and hope, with gunge all about. Would like to see some fwy added left/short of the green as an incentive.
Time to pack and go. Will post more on our return to States. Really enjoyed these posts as they allow a re-visit to the moments.
And lastly, the final match....JP, 2 and 1. A battle of two tired puppies.