jvincent

I watched it last night going in with very, very, low expectations so the fact that I laughed a few times was a bonus. I actually thought the bits with Scottie were actually pretty well done. They played off his image and the arrest pretty well and he did a better than I expected job of delivering his lines.

You are indeed late to the party on these. The blended set of blades/CB is my backup set. Great set of irons if you like a compact head.

Similar story here. Delta somehow managed to bust the wheels on my bag. Replaced free of charge.

@taylorsc have you tried the Modus 125 or 115? Same bend profile in both of those just different weight.

@brownm good trip. We did a very similar itinerary in May. We started at Machrihanish / Mac Dunes and then headed to Ayrshire. Gailes/Western Gailes had a tournament the days we were there so we ended up playing Dundonald, Barassie, and Irvine, in addition to Troon and Prestwick. Our group really enjoyed Barassie. The two Gailes are on the list for next time.

Yep. We were there for a short trip this March after we cancelled our Bandon trip. Next year's trip will be longer.

Northern Ireland + 1 in the Republic booked for next April. Royal Portrush Castlerock Portstewart Galgorm Castle Ardglass Royal County Down County Louth MIght actually end up in Portugal for a week in March, but that's not booked yet.

As you have found out, places like Portrush and RCD book up quickly. Many of the other top courses (Lahinch, Ballybunion, etc) may also already be full. If you have a specific part of Ireland that you want to visit that would be helpful. Save yourself a ton of cash and driver yourself and stay in AirBnBs.

My recommendations: The Island and Portmarnock. Classic links courses. Fun to play while still being challenging. European Club is spectacular, but as you have noted, can be very tough. It's a good course, maybe just a little over the top. Coballis is the best bang for the buck. Best 35 euro (2025 pricing) you can spend. Some so-so holes, but some really, really good ones as well.

Your $70/round is going to pretty much rule out everything. Most of the golf in the Caribbean is geared around tourists/resorts, especially at that time of the year. We went to the Portugal (Algarve area) this past spring and you might be able to find something in that range there or in Spain. Mostly because there are a lot more courses so there is some competition.

Depending on the number of golfers it's generally pretty easy to plan a trip by yourself and you will save a ton of $$$ doing it that way vs using a tour company. The key cost savers are driving yourselves and staying in AirBnBs vs hotels. For example, I have organized a group of 6 to Northern Ireland for next year and we are about half what it would have cost using a tour operator. The first thing you need to do is pick a specific area you want to visit. Don't get sucked into playing every top course in one trip. There are a LOT of them in Ireland and they are distributed all over the country. Once you've picked an area, probably determined by proximity to two or three top courses, build an itinerary around other courses in that area. Depending on how long you plan on staying it's OK to move between two locations spending 3 or 4 nights at each location. For the top courses you will may need to book as far as a year in advance.

-- double post --

The roads up in the northwest of Ireland are a LOT narrower and curvier than in the Edinburgh area.

First off you need to tell us the brand/model of the shaft in question and what lengths and weight of each specific shaft is. If they are constant weight shafts that have been cut properly, they should all be within a gram or two of each other. If they aren't constant weight then it would be normal for the shorter shaft to be lighter and the longer to be heavier.

We stayed in a nice AirBnB in Downings when we went. Price compared to staying at the hotel was a no brainer and we all had our own bedrooms. If you get 3-day ticket at Rosapenna it will almost certainly be cheaper. It's a bit of a drive to Ballyliffin, but that's always going to be the case unless you change locations.

Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. There was a group of older guys at my club and one of them was horrifically slow. They had the talk with him about playing faster and he told them that he wasn't willing to speed up. They booted him from the group. Since we have a mandated pace of play policy at the club we don't get many slowpokes but this guy was notorious for failing to meet the time.

Last time I played 3 tournament days straight I wasn't bummed, just tired. It's surprisingly tiring to be super focused and grind for 3 straight days.

The key to not getting dehydrated is to make sure you are FULLY hydrated before the round and then keep it going. If you cross the threshold while you are playing, you are toast. It was super hot this weekend here. In addition to making sure to drink plenty the evening before I had a bottle of Gatorade on the way to the course and during my warmup and front nine polished off another two. I kept drinking water on the back nine. Never felt any effects from the heat other than needing to play in rain gloves because of the amount of sweat. From the time I left my house to the time I got back my liquid intake was just over a gallon (8.8 lbs). According to the before/after readings of my scale, I lost 2 lbs of water weight NET. So I actually sweated out just over 10 lbs of water.

Assuming they still have the option, do the 36-hole package at Ballyliffin. Play Glashedy first and the Old in the afternoon. It was a pretty good deal when we were there.

I agree with @hammergolf. The first few holes are a bit meh, but then it gets really interesting. I think it starts to pick up on #5, but the stretch from #6 to #10 is really spectacular. We played it in a pretty steady 2-3 club wind and it was exercise in flighting your ball on a few of the holes. 15 in particular was dead into the wind for us and anything in the air was dead. Definitely worth a play.

Just added a 4H to the bag. Most people who struggle with hybrids have ones that are either too long or too light (or both). Try an iron shaft in a hybrid and double check the total weight / swingweight vs your longest iron.