One Glass……or Maybe Two

Today we travel up the coast to play Ardglass, about a half hour drive away…….punched it into the NAV and we are on or way. Sorry, forgot to mention our day started with……….a Full Irish Breakfast……..damn I love those sausages.

The route was along the coast road……..very scenic, but also quite narrow with a turn or two, or maybe a thousand, thrown in for fun………time to let this Dacia “Jogger” unwind. The ladies commented that it was a good thing I have had some F1 training on the simulator, because with some cars behind, and no passing possible, you didn’t want to be that asshole tourist slowing everyone down. Mission accomplished.

Arriving at Ardglass you immediately realize you will be playing along the sea, and there will be some texture to this golf course………a little bit of fun in the sloping parking lot, trying to find reverse on the stick shift and back UP the hill. I was longing for an old school lever style handbrake to make that happen because the electronic button thing wasn’t cutting it. Almost took out the Club Captains Audi in his designated parking spot, but eventually managed the maneuver and found a spot of my own. We check-in at the oldest clubhouse in the world…..1405…..a former castle, or more likely part of a former castle complex that encompassed the entire town back then. There are remnants of towers, walls, and battlements everywhere.

Our forecaddy for the day is Francie (short for Francis……its a guy) and we begin the journey on this lovely scenic golf course where you are never without a view of the sea. Sometimes playing along cliffs above it, and other times playing along the shore, but always in view, and always a decent (annoying) wind coming off the water. Although not particularly long, it is still a very challenging course requiring precise shot making, and again just like at The Island, the treacherous rough, fescue, and marram grass, had yet to grow in for the season…….lucky. There was a single named Tim that joined us for the round with his own caddy……..he is from Portland, and thats about all I know……….not the most personable fellow, bit of a stiff, but he sure thought he was a good golfer!!! We decide following the round that our free day tomorrow might be well spent coming back to Ardglass for a second kick at the can…….we hoped to get in a second round at Royal County Down, but Wednesday is members only, and we can’t be bothered looking for another course when we liked this one so much.

Hence today’s blog title, “One Glass or Maybe Two”………we’ll have two.

Dinner tonight was again at Percy French (we are just creatures of habit), eating pretty much what we had last night, with a few extras comp’d by the chef for our return visit. Up early the next morning for an earlier tee time, but basically a repeat of everything we did yesterday, including the Full Irish Breakfast, and we all played better, had just as much fun with Francie, and got in some additional F1 training along the coast road. Having played early, I finally had some time in the afternoon to get caught up on my writing, and the ladies decided they would go for a hike up Slieve (Mount) Donard……surprisingly only 4.6km, but some strong elevation gain……turns out they made it up past tree line before deciding to head back down…….they will hire sherpas with oxygen tanks before attempting a summit push on our next visit.

Great Jones was our dining spot in town tonight, and although very good, still not up to par with our favourite. Sibylle was a riot when she asked the waitress if she would wrap her second untouched pulled pork taco and have them keep it in their fridge for an appetizer when she came back tomorrow for fish and chips because she didn’t have a fridge in her room at the hotel……….I can just hear the discussion in the kitchen now…….She wants what???……classic. One pork taco deep-six’d.

Tomorrow is a big one…….Royal County Down…….we have been looking at the many Best Courses lists for Ireland, the Uk, and the World, and RCD is always in the discussion………some have it #1, others #2,#3,#4, but whatever it is, it should be great. The girls are already crapping themselves because the most forward tees are still 6,200yds………we’ll see what happens……..full report tomorrow.