The Dell didn't ring my bell ...

[Pete Lavallee]

Jack;

Mea culpa, I just got back from 3 weeks in England, I didn't mean to exclude the Irish, God bless 'em.

[THuckaby2]

Pete - that's how the caddies told us to play the shot at the Dell as well!  it takes a leap of faith but damn is it the right play... Very, very cool.

A similar thing happened on the recent NM trip... on #7 at Black Mesa - a very neat short par 4 with a pretty severely sloped green - the architect himself Baxter Spann hit a chip to a back left pin that had me thinking he's insane, or he horribly mis-hit it... the ball went 30 feet past the pin, up a slope behind it, and then you guessed it... trickle, trickle, trickle, kick-in birdie.  It was damn near the coolest shot I ever witnessed (but Lou Duran apparently hit an even cooler one on the same hole, that he or Adam can describe - Adam called the shot, Lou hit it)... And it was the right shot to play, because the pin was pretty close to a tier and trying to get it to stop going directly at it would have been damn near impossible.  In any case in the afternoon round we had 4 guys then hit the exact same shot, with basically same results.  Damn fun to see a bit of Ireland/Scotland recreated in the NM desert!

TH

[Jack_Marr]

No offence taken, Pete. Sure I was only joking, what with the Dell being in Ireland. There's great golf to be had in these islands, whatever we call them.

[Pete Lavallee]

Jack;

No problem. Just out of curiousity, is there a correct term for including Ireland with the UK?

[THuckaby2]

Pete:

Methinks you be digging yourself a bigger hole here (though I know you don't mean so).  Is there a correct term for the US and Canada combined?  US and Mexico?  I don't think so, and remember at least ostensibly we LIKE both of those nations.

Ireland is a separate nation from the rest.  A lot of bloody history went into making it and keeping it that way.  

But the Irish are so generally welcoming people, Jack will likely come back with some term that works.  

TH

[Jack_Marr]

Pete

"Those strange islands off Northwest Europe", but that's a bit long-winded.

Many call the islands "the British Isles", but that is not generally liked on the western island. It's fine though.

I don't know any other group term. What Tom said is about right, as usual.

On the subject of the Dell, I love it and can't wait to get to it when I'm playing Lahinch. I don't think about its architecture, but live hitting a ball over the hill and seeing what happens. It's like pulling the arm of a one arm bandit, knowing you're going to get some kind of interesting reward.

All holes aren't good on any course, but the Dell is certainly memorable. "Himself" would call it "itself."

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Instead of being so politically correct, why don't you call it like it is.

The Queen needs to get her fat bottom out of the Emerald Isles, and take the protestants with you! Irish Unite!

[Tommy_Naccarato]

And, Queen, take Matt Ward with you! Please!

[redanman]

Someone tell me exactly what is included in the "Home Countries", please.

[ForkaB]

Hey, I'm just interloping over here, but I always thought that the PC way to refer to the whole of the group of wee islands off the coast of France was GBI, as per Walker and Curtis Cup designations.  As for the "Home Counties" I think that refers to the little bit of Little England that lies within crawling distance of the M25 Ring Road that rings (Doh!) London.  But, I may be wrong......

[THuckaby2]

Good call, Rich.  GBI works for sure, doesn't it?  Although being more of Irish descent I'd like to see it written IGB.  

TH

[Bob_Huntley]

The Home Counties number among their members, Middlesex, Essex,Kent, Sussex,Bucks and Berks.

The one great claim they have is that in 1951, they were the only side in Britain to beat the all conquering South African (Sprinboks) rugby team.

Rich Goodale.

They beat Scotland 44-0, the Scots worst defeat since Cullodden!

[THuckaby2]

Mr. Huntley:

Thanks for keeping Goodale in line.  He does get cheeky, doesn't he?  

BTW, you would have been interested, or might have wretched, if you had seen what I was wearing upon arrival in NM the other day... My brother was recently in New Zealand and he picked up for me an authentic All-Blacks rugby shirt.  I must say I look smashing in it.  My allegiances in that great sport (after America, of course, but that's like rooting for Nigeria in golf) are very clear.  

TH

[ForkaB]

Bob

The only reason Scotland got a bad result at Culloden was that Mel Gibson hadn't been born yet!

Tom IV

I was taught rugby by a storied All Black Captain.  Thanks for (inadvertently as it may have been!) putting me well back out of line.......

[THuckaby2]

Very cool, Rich.  Hell all I know is that mine is a damn fine shirt.  Interesting, wearing it through the airport, three different people came up to me and commented... Here I thought it was my natural magnetism..  

TH

[Bob_Huntley]

Tom,

You should advise our brethren that All Blacks refers to the national rugby side of New Zealand.

As an aside, some fifty odd years ago, I was a young officer in the Rhodesian Army. The Queen Mom and Princess Margaret came out to Rhodesia for the Rhodes Centenary Exhibition.

At a reception at the Governor's mansion I was in a conversation with Margaret's Lady-in-Waiting. The conversation went something like this.

L- in-W.   Oh Huntley, with which regiment are you?

H.           The Rhodesia African Rifles, maam.

L-in-W.    Do tell.

H.            We have white officers and black privates.

L-in-W.     How exotic!  
 

[THuckaby2]

Now for one and all, anecdotes such as these are why when a golf round, outing, or other meeting with Mr. Huntley is offered, you are beyond the fool if you do not attend.  

 

Wise clarification about what All-Blacks means, also.  One of the comments I got at the airport was from an African-American gent, who looked at me rather oddly and asked "what the hell does that mean"?  Lucky he was of good humor when I explained it meant the NZ national side in rugby...

 

TH

[Dan Kelly]

I played Lahinch during my Irish adventure and first things first -- I loved the course (the back-to-back 6th and 7th holes are simply grand stuff indeed, but had just two exceptions.

Did I miss something? What was the second exception?

As for the Dell: Wonderful fun, as quirky as quirky gets. C'mon, Matt! Enjoy yourself!

(I think I may have the opposite problem: The more a hole abuses me, the better I think it must be!)

[TEPaul]

Bob Huntley:

I can't remember how long GOLFCLUBATLAS has been around, maybe 4-5 years, but that Rhodesian army/lady in waiting story takes the cake--goes right to the top of the list of all-time funniest posts--and I doubt it'll be challenged anytime soon.

"LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!"

[TEPaul]

BobH:

Does that lady in waiting story have any kind of addendum you might want to flick out there?

Never mind--I'm sure I'll be meeting you one of these days--we'll talk about it then.

[Jack_Marr]

Actually, the "home nations" term includes Ireland - probably from back in colonial times. Again, it's not a term the Irish use. Much the same as calling GB "the mainland". I have to give credit to British TV and British people - they seem to always support Ireland in sporting competitions, as long as they're not playing us themselves.

If it weren't for Britain, Ireland might not have as many great links - as they were built for British soldiers etc posted in Ireland. There are the downsides, which I won't get into.

I love going over to Britain, although the pound is a bit strong at the minute...

[THuckaby2]

If it weren't for Britain, Ireland might not have as many great links - as they were built for British soldiers etc posted in Ireland. There are the downsides, which I won't get into.

I knew I could count on you, Jack.  That is the most sane, witty, and humorous summation of British/Irish history I have ever read.  

TH

[Paul_Turner]

Rich

Hey, leave the Home Counties alone  That's where I'm from and I an't no Little Englander.

[ForkaB]

Apologies, Paul.  In any case these days there are probably more "Little Englanders" in the Highlands than there are in all of the Home Counties.

[Paul_Turner]

Rich

Actually, it's quite sad seeing some of my old school mates turning into Little Englanders as we get older.  They seem to fail to notice that England has always been a nation of immigrants (just like the US) and that's its greatest strength.  I blame The Sun and that idiot Enoch Powell.