July 2 (Waterville and Lahinch)
On July 2, our group did what few have ever tried to do – play Waterville and Lahinch in one day! Not only did we pull it off, but we also had another long drive to Dublin (about 3 hours) after 36 hours.
We really had limited options. We could only play Ballybunion on a weekday, so our only choice was to play it the first day in the afternoon. We then had three possible options for day 2 – Waterville, Lahinch, and Old Head. If we played Old Head, we could possibly play Waterville, but certainly not Lahinch. And, there were no early morning tee times at Old Head, so we decided on Waterville and Lahinch in one day. If we could have arrived a day earlier, we could have attempted to play both Ballybunion and Waterville in one day, and possibly Lahinch in the morning and Potmarnock in the late afternoon. Nevertheless, it worked out very well, but left us with a very exhausting day 2.
We debated fairly intently on whether we drive to Dublin after an exhausting day, or stay in Lahinch. I argued that you should always do the driving the night before because you’re not going to fall asleep early anyway, and then you have a long drive the following morning. Additionally, I liked the idea of staying in the same hotel 3 of the 5 nights (two nights consecutive, then a night in Portrush, and then back to the same hotel), rather than checking out one more time. Fortunately, our tee time the following day was at 2:00 PM, so we had some time to recover.
Anyway, I got up fairly early and wanted to hit some range balls. I decided to grab my clubs and walk a mile or so to the golf course. The walk towards Waterville told me we were going to play somewhere special. I saw a beautiful seaside restaurant, small quaint houses, and farm animals.
When I arrived at Waterville, it was 6:40 AM and there wasn’t a sole on the property. In the US, most pro shops are already open and the grounds grew has been preparing the golf course for hours. I decided to work on my putting and chip around the practice green while I waited for someone to show up.
We were the first group out at 7:30, although we did allow some twosomes to go through. All of us were stunned at how amazing Waterville was as a golf course. We had perfect weather (going to Ireland and Scotland involves re-setting your view of good golf weather) and amazing caddies. My caddy told me the local innkeeper was a crook, and was the most loyal person I may have ever met. Two terrific guys!
After such trying weather at Ballybunion, all of us appreciated the less exposed weather at Waterville. The golf course essentially sits on an estuary surrounded by mountains, so you had a lot more protection from the wind. The finishing stretch (16-17-18) may be the best finish in all of links golf – a par 4/3/5 finish where you are reacquainted with the water. It is rare that a golf course has a perfect routing, especially one in which multiple architects had a hand in its design. We also felt that Waterville had more generous fairway widths and less forced carries than either Lahinch and Ballybunion, while still offering a stern test.
After our round ended, we were in a bit of trouble as we finished in 4.5 hours and lingered a bit too long in the pro shop. I knew we were in trouble with our Lahinch tee time, but we hit the road and gave it a go. Fortunately, Lahinch was very accommodating and let us tee off at 5.
The drive was an adventure. I had been warned about the roads in Ireland, but I needed to see it myself. Even if you drive aggressively, you have a tough time going more than 40-50 miles an hour, as you are stuck on two lane and sometimes one-lane roads. The roads are so narrow that you essentially have to drive center left, and then pull left any time a car comes towards you.
Fortunately, there is a ferry that our GPS devices did not easily pick up. If you time it right, you can pretty much cut 45 minutes out of your journey by taking the Tarbert / Killimer ferry. It leaves every 30 minutes and we made it just in time. It’s a fun 30-minute journey and it leaves you only 30 minutes from Lahinch.
When we arrived at Lahinch, we quickly understood why its considered the St. Andrews of Ireland. I’ve never seen a golf course fit so snugly into a community. In the US, it is pretty rare that a golf course feels part of any community, let alone integrated with a town. Pebble Beach is the best example I’ve seen, but it’s nothing like this.
Patrick Glynn joined us when we arrived and had dinner with us afterwards. It was so nice knowing a member at a club, especially someone as helpful as Patrick. Our group was dragging a bit early in the round and we were on pace to not finish, but we got back on track.
The 4th and 5th holes were of such distinction, first a memorable Par 5 with a totally blind second shot over a massive dune followed by a medium length blind Par 3! Welcome to Links golf. I believe that was both my first blind second shot on a Par 5 and my first blind Par 3.
After a round, we enjoyed a dinner and a few drinks. On a side note, our caddies were 13 and 15 and they enjoyed a drink at the bar afterwards I later learned. That was a surprise!
We then arrived at Dublin at the Contarf Castle hotel. It was essentially a castle converted to a hotel. Once again, we had room issues and they did not have separate beds for us. Fortunately, they brought us cots. Two of us actually went out that evening and one didn’t make it back to 5:00 AM – a nearly 24-hour day!