The European Club- An unrelenting championship test that was not only beyond my abilities in a stiff breeze, but was not what the doctor ordered at the end of a golf-heavy trip. Another go at Baltray, Portmarnock, the Island or even RCD would have been significantly more enjoyable, even for the sticks in the group at that point in the journey.
Turnberry- Tough to really judge the course itself given that we played in the toughest conditions ever- i.e. sideways rain and 60 mph gusts (yup, you read that correctly, SIXTY!!) Out on the point you had to lean into the wind so as not to be blown over. I hit driver 360 downwind and hit the same club hole high on a 120 yard par 3 into it's teeth. Still, I have the sinking feeling that I'd have been better off with another go at Prestwick and 95 quid in my pocket. The haggis is not to be missed however. Sadly, it's no longer on the menu.
Ballybunion Cashen- Hard to pass up the free round at the Cashen they threw in with a time on the Old Course but as we learned at the University of Chicago, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Our first hint should have been when the caddies requested carts. In hindsight I would have paid dearly for either another round on the Old or a massage and a few hours in the pub. One of the more severe properties you're likely to see. When you look up 'Goat Track' in the dictionary, there's a picture of this course, primarily because only a goat would comfortably walk his second round of the day on this course, and he wouldn't be foolish enough to play golf while he did. Combine massive dunes with tight fairways and a 30 mph cross wind and it's a recipe for disaster for all but the most masochistic. The last thing one wants to do after seeing a slight fade turned into a banana slice or a baby draw turned into a duck hook by the 'breeze' is hike up a massive, steep dune to hack his ball out, hike back down said dune only be faced with yet another similarly penal shot. UGH.