Ireland advice

[El Gringo]

1 hour ago, DLiver said:

The brown areas were dead due to drought. Playable turf for sure, but it definitely messed up your ability to discern the layout of the hole. Kind of like natural camouflage.

Dead? That would be very unusual. Links turf usually goes brown in the heat, but greens up quickly with decent rain. 

[DLiver]

4 hours ago, El Gringo said:

Dead? That would be very unusual. Links turf usually goes brown in the heat, but greens up quickly with decent rain. 

The staff will tell you it is dead. Some say the course opened too early after construction. The turf wasn't mature enough to withstand the kind of heat/drought they had. While the course does have irrigation, they are limited in how much water they can use. They used the water they had to save the greens and the tees, and the greens are still in rough shape.

[El Gringo]

This is what St Pat's looked like in early June. That grass is dormant. Are you saying the grass died since then? 

[DLiver]

Geez dude give it a rest. The turf is more white than brown. It looks nothing like your photo. I know what dormant turf looks like. It's dead. They are reseeding it everywhere. If it was dormant they wouldn't be reseeding like mad. They acknowledge it is dead. Some of the fairway grass is still viable, but about 50% of it is dead. But if you want to believe it is simply dormant, that's fine.

[El Gringo]

Photos from 6 July. Four weeks after the above pix. 

[puttnforthe8]

On 7/28/2023 at 5:29 PM, DLiver said:

Geez dude give it a rest. The turf is more white than brown. It looks nothing like your photo. I know what dormant turf looks like. It's dead. They are reseeding it everywhere. If it was dormant they wouldn't be reseeding like mad. They acknowledge it is dead. Some of the fairway grass is still viable, but about 50% of it is dead. But if you want to believe it is simply dormant, that's fine.

Wow - you have issues.  It is simply conversation and a seeking to understand since this would be rare.  I live here and would have thought exactly the same.  Go seek help!

Edited July 30, 2023 by puttnforthe8

[AltC]

Ladies please - put the handbags away - many courses have suffered due to the exceptional weather - very hot and dry then loads of rain - fairways have become a bumpy and unsettling mix of still browned out and new growth grass - this is links golf - accept and enjoy - it ain’t supposed to be pretty!! Hehe

[gaspasr]

Thanks everyone for your replies-lots of changes to our itinerary which hopefully will flow much better now.  We will now be playing County Louth our first day in country and then crashing in their on-site lodging. Has anyone stayed there?  How is it?  We’ve also decided to rent a van and do the driving ourselves. This saves us about 1500$ per person. Any advice on driving in Ireland?  Also if anyone has any other thoughts on “things I wish I knew before I went” I’d love to hear them. 
 

Day 1

fly into Dublin, Co Louth at 1330, overnight at Co Louth

Day 2

drive to Portrush, play Dunluce at 1400

overnight in Portrush

 

Day 3

Ballyliffin 7:00, Portstewart 1530, 

 

Day 4

drive to Royal County Down for 36 holes on the championship course 

 

Day 5

Ardglass at 11:00, drive to Dublin

 

Day 6

Portmarnock 9:30, the Island 1500

 

Day 7

The European Club at noon

 

Day 8

Fly Home

Edited August 1, 2023 by gaspasr

[Chanceman]

5 hours ago, gaspasr said:

Thanks everyone for your replies-lots of changes to our itinerary which hopefully will flow much better now.  We will now be playing County Louth our first day in country and then crashing in their on-site lodging. Has anyone stayed there?  How is it?  We’ve also decided to rent a van and do the driving ourselves. This saves us about 1500$ per person. Any advice on driving in Ireland?  Also if anyone has any other thoughts on “things I wish I knew before I went” I’d love to hear them. 
 

Day 1

fly into Dublin, Co Louth at 1330, overnight at Co Louth

Day 2

drive to Portrush, play Dunluce at 1400

overnight in Portrush

 

Day 3

Ballyliffin 7:00, Portstewart 1530, 

 

Day 4

drive to Royal County Down for 36 holes on the championship course 

 

Day 5

Ardglass at 11:00, drive to Dublin

 

Day 6

Portmarnock 9:30, the Island 1500

 

Day 7

The European Club at noon

 

Day 8

Fly Home

I can say we played all those courses apart from P/Stewart. Loved every one of them. And your schedule looks nice and balanced unlike some we have seen here.

We also stayed at the County Louth (Baltray) Dormy. Its basic, as many of them are. In my case I had to skip across the corridor to the shared bathroom where there was this really weird electric shower. Some rooms have their own I think.

There's a good vibe at the club for a meal and a jar and also a pub across the road which is worth a visit.

As for driving, just take it easy, leave plenty of time and always know what side you are on.You will get wet, very wet at times, so waterproofs are key. 

Nothing better in Ireland than golf, drink, eat, drink, sleep and more golf....

[ajgoodal.704]

That is going to be an awesome trip.  Chancy hit driving spot on.  Just leave yourself a decent amount of time to get from place to place.  Those roads aren't made to 'make up time' by going a little faster, especially in a van.  The good thing is you aren't trying to traverse the rock-lined paved horse paths of County Clare.  

[hammergolf]

15 hours ago, gaspasr said:

Thanks everyone for your replies-lots of changes to our itinerary which hopefully will flow much better now.  We will now be playing County Louth our first day in country and then crashing in their on-site lodging. Has anyone stayed there?  How is it?  We’ve also decided to rent a van and do the driving ourselves. This saves us about 1500$ per person. Any advice on driving in Ireland?  Also if anyone has any other thoughts on “things I wish I knew before I went” I’d love to hear them. 
 

Day 1

fly into Dublin, Co Louth at 1330, overnight at Co Louth

Day 2

drive to Portrush, play Dunluce at 1400

overnight in Portrush

 

Day 3

Ballyliffin 7:00, Portstewart 1530, 

 

Day 4

drive to Royal County Down for 36 holes on the championship course 

 

Day 5

Ardglass at 11:00, drive to Dublin

 

Day 6

Portmarnock 9:30, the Island 1500

 

Day 7

The European Club at noon

 

Day 8

Fly Home

Good solid plan. Driving over there on the major roads is easy except obviously being on the other side of the road. It’s the smaller roads that are much more narrow. Just be careful and don’t try to set any speed records. You have enough room, but the first time you see a car coming the other way on a narrow road it will definitely get your attention.

[DLiver]

This is a great plan, although I am wondering if you have your Day 3 courses backwards. Any chance you are playing Portstewart first and Ballyliffen second?

[greenlight]

Much simpler plan now, driving is not so bad. Though you’ll need a bigger car than you think to be comfortable with 4 sets of clubs and luggage. 

[gaspasr]

14 hours ago, DLiver said:

This is a great plan, although I am wondering if you have your Day 3 courses backwards. Any chance you are playing Portstewart first and Ballyliffen second?

Unfortunately no it’s correct. Ballyliffin and Portstewart couldn’t switch times. It will be an early morning but oh well. We will survive. 

[ajgoodal.704]

While Portstewart is a fantastic course, I think 36 on the Old & Glashedy at Ballyliffin and maybe a quick jaunt around the Pollan (9) would make for a day you would never forget.  

[gm12673]

Just to weigh in on St Pats - was up there last weekend and played it 3 times in 3 days as well as Sandy Hills and Old Tom. 
 

They have - unfortunately- lost lots of the fairway areas - not dormant grass - but instead dead turf that will need replacing. I play links golf all the time and they have a battle on their hands. I played with a former greenkeeper who worked at Cypress Point and other world class high end courses who verified my concerns.

 

Really disappointing to see - I plugged the course to anyone who would listen since it opened but it has gone backwards, at pace, based on recent condition. For context, we had the wettest July on record here in Ireland just gone, so the turf issue is not one that will be fixed with rainfall. A real pity as it’s an amazing piece of land and I love the course.

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by gm12673

[El Gringo]

Well, that's two folks. There must be a serious issue. I spoke to a few folks who worked on building the course including one very high up the chain. They weren't informed of the issue, which for the guy up the chain seems very odd. Such a pity as St Pat's is terrific. 😢

[DLiver]

3 hours ago, gm12673 said:

Just to weigh in on St Pats - was up there last weekend and played it 3 times in 3 days as well as Sandy Hills and Old Tom. 
 

They have - unfortunately- lost lots of the fairway areas - not dormant grass - but instead dead turf that will need replacing. I play links golf all the time and they have a battle on their hands. I played with a former greenkeeper who worked at Cypress Point and other world class high end courses who verified my concerns.

 

Really disappointing to see - I plugged the course to anyone who would listen since it opened but it has gone backwards, at pace, based on recent condition. For context, we had the wettest July on record here in Ireland just gone, so the turf issue is not one that will be fixed with rainfall. A real pity as it’s an amazing piece of land and I love the course.

 

Yeah they are working hard on the turf. They reseeded after the drought at the same time Sandy Hills did. For some reason the Sandy Hills reseed did well, but the St. Patricks didn't. They aren't sure why. One of the caddy's said it was because SP is more exposed to the ocean breezes, but I'm not sure that makes sense. Anyway they are def trying hard to recover. Being a new course certainly doesn't help.

[jhipps]

You need more time between Portmarnock and The Island. The PM clubhouse is great with lots of history, and you'll be hungry for lunch following your round. The PM pro shop is also awesome. Maybe an earlier time at Portmarnock? We played at 8:30am. They seem close but you have to drive back inland to get from one to the other, probably 30min. We loved them both.

 

If I could go back in time, I might've played PM back to back with lunch in the clubhouse between rounds. It's just a lovely proper links and easy walk.

 

The European Club is nice but was our least favorite. I think it's a bit polarizing when it comes to opinions. Very challenging/penal off the tee and we just didn't feel like it was as fun as the rest. The Island is wonderful.

 

If you feel confident driving, I'd go for it. Just know the roads are mostly made for 1.5 cars so plan on regularly pulling over for opposite traffic to pass on the smaller roads. 

 

One more thing- you might want to plan for more time out in Dublin. Great city but you'll be trashed after 36. Maybe add an extra Dublin day and don't double up? We stayed in the city near Trinity College and had a blast. We weren't tying one on every night, just a lively city. Golf in the morning and Dublin in the evening. 

 

Guiness tour is worth it if for no other reason than the Gravity Bar... GO!

[ESOX ZO]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:55 PM, gm12673 said:

Just to weigh in on St Pats - was up there last weekend and played it 3 times in 3 days as well as Sandy Hills and Old Tom. 
 

They have - unfortunately- lost lots of the fairway areas - not dormant grass - but instead dead turf that will need replacing. I play links golf all the time and they have a battle on their hands. I played with a former greenkeeper who worked at Cypress Point and other world class high end courses who verified my concerns.

 

Really disappointing to see - I plugged the course to anyone who would listen since it opened but it has gone backwards, at pace, based on recent condition. For context, we had the wettest July on record here in Ireland just gone, so the turf issue is not one that will be fixed with rainfall. A real pity as it’s an amazing piece of land and I love the course.

 

 

Did the former greenkeeper talk about how long something like that would take to fix? 

[gm12673]

He didn’t but they do close from October to April-ish so hopefully can focus on it this off season. 

[golfday]

On 7/31/2023 at 10:55 PM, gaspasr said:

Thanks everyone for your replies-lots of changes to our itinerary which hopefully will flow much better now.  We will now be playing County Louth our first day in country and then crashing in their on-site lodging. Has anyone stayed there?  How is it?  We’ve also decided to rent a van and do the driving ourselves. This saves us about 1500$ per person. Any advice on driving in Ireland?  Also if anyone has any other thoughts on “things I wish I knew before I went” I’d love to hear them. 
 

Day 1

fly into Dublin, Co Louth at 1330, overnight at Co Louth

Day 2

drive to Portrush, play Dunluce at 1400

overnight in Portrush

 

Day 3

Ballyliffin 7:00, Portstewart 1530, 

 

Day 4

drive to Royal County Down for 36 holes on the championship course 

 

Day 5

Ardglass at 11:00, drive to Dublin

 

Day 6

Portmarnock 9:30, the Island 1500

 

Day 7

The European Club at noon

 

Day 8

Fly Home

I found Ireland driving a little easier on than Scotland driving - less traffic and road closures, and more time on mulit-lane "interstate style" roads that are really easy to navigate. Overall you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Just note that when you're off the big roads the small two lane roads can be tight and have brush or walls to one side, so don't plan on driving too fast, esp. in a van. Also, make sure you have your wits about you and are concentrating at intersections and roundabouts if you're not used to driving on the left side of the road. The rentals I've had also had a helpful little diagram targeted to right side drivers showing us how the left side round abouts work. 

[ryan983]

I played St Patrick’s around July 20 of this year and conditions were awful.  Several greens were punched.  Dead grass everywhere.  Pictures look better on Instagram lately but it was in really rough shape this summer.