St.Patricks Day

Today we complete the Rosapenna Triple Crown, playing their new course St.Patricks. Located just 4km down the road from the hotel on a vast, dramatic, parcel of dune land, formerly home to a 36 hole golf facility built in the 1990’s. Designed by renowned architect Tom Doak, who has his name on 6 courses in the World top 100. St.Patricks is an absolute beauty and could be one of his best yet. We know Doak’s work from our trip to Bandon Dunes last year when we played his Pacific Dunes and Old Macdonald (Jutta’s favourite at BD), but just Google him and look at the list……….very impressive work. The impact of this course on the entire area could be huge. It debuted at #55 on Golf Mag’s Top 100 and is rated around #3 in The Republic depending on who’s list you look at. The course has already started to draw visitors from around the world and is becoming a must visit course when coming to Ireland. There is no clubhouse yet, but obviously plans are in the works, and the site was chosen with the design of the course. Signs of immaturity can be seen……some say it opened too early……2021……but I am sure it will grow into itself over time. We noticed what looks like poana dotting the course, but it might be some other invasive grass they will have to deal with. Fairways are generally wide and friendly, but they do slope from side to side, and are not without features that will impair your approach shots, making tee shot placement very important……..you can’t just blast it out there onto a big wide fairway. The greens……..holy shit………they say that Doak’s designs are influenced somewhat by Pete Dye, and after playing these greens I would say he was likely sleeping with the guy. Hit your approach shot on the wrong side of the pin and you might roll 50ft away from it…….what am I saying “might”…….I did! Hit it short or long, and you are definitely not staying on. Putting was very difficult because of the contours and slope of the greens, but we also found the speed to be very inconsistent………at least that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking with it. The course turns nicely so you have a mix of winds to deal with………all bunkers are being played as waste areas so you can ground your club………not sure if that will change once they clean up the trap edges, but ground your club or not, some of the traps are just diabolical.

Some highlights from the round include THE VIEWS……..spectacular…….perched over Sheep Haven Bay, with a backdrop of some distant mountains I can’t remember the name of, and probably couldn’t pronounce anyway. Too many great holes, but #14 the signature hole is spectacular……..elevated tee box with the biggest view of the day, hitting down to the ocean and playing along its edge to a comparatively small green placed in a bowl surrounded by that hairy mossy crap……#16 is a 487yd par 4……it is downhill, and with visions of another 300yd plus drive dancing in my head, I managed to pull mine left into some light rough and it only went 200……..no worries, still downhill, so I hit a 280yd 3 wood to the front of the green……….wild! OK that’s enough gushing about St.Patricks, but if you are coming to the Emerald Isle it is worth the trip……..3 hours from Dublin…..2.5 hours from Belfast.

Being the foodies that we are, we heard about a place called the Olde Glen Bar via Justin who arranged our tour……..it had been written up by Michelin in their pub section and just gets rave reviews from everyone……..apparently booked up months in advance, we decided to go out there for a pint, and see if we could somehow wrangle a reservation for dinner this evening. There was some confusion getting their location plugged into the NAV as the had no address on the website……just Olde Glen Bar, Old Glen………plugged that in, crossed our fingers and off we went. The roads became narrower with every passing km, until it was really really tight………more than a few times on the trip after an oncoming car passed by, I heard either J or S exhale “Thaaaat waaaas close”. I have to admit I thought I might loose a side mirror somewhere. However, we arrived in one piece, and no scratches on the Jogger. Found the entry and ducked through the door (not Sibylle) and walked into a bedroom sized bar with stools and a couple of tables……..people were eating from what looked like takeout boxes at the tables, but we couldn’t make out the food. I stopped at the bar to order a few pints, and J&S went through to a dining room in the back. Jutta asked about food, and a chalkboard menu was dropped on the table…….the daily specials……and a paper menu with the rest of the offerings. We all looked at each other with jaws dropped, and fired up Google to see if Michelin had truly lost their minds………could this really the best pastrami sandwich in the world????? It turns out we were mistaken, and there was another room beyond ours which was a very cool looking 2 room restaurant…….this was the place. Menu looked fab, but unfortunately fully booked tonight, and won’t reopen after tonight until we are gone…..I went through and ended up talking to the chef and he said he would do what he could for tonight. Will have to wait for an email……..we’ll see. We have a couple of sausage rolls (the best in the World) and book it out of there.

How unlucky can you be……..we sit down for dinner in the hotel at 7pm……I check my email around 7:25, just before our main courses arrive, and see an email from Olde Glen that came in at 7:10pm offering a table at 7:45…….crap…….shit……damn opportunity missed………chat back and forth with them and agree that we will do it next time……..the more we see of this area we know there will be a next time.

Following dinner back in the room, I check my laundry……..just socks and undies I washed in the sink. We are here for three weeks, and I’m sure I probably own more than 21 pairs of socks, and I know between the cottage and home I can cover it on the underwear, but no way they would ever fit in my carry-on sized suitcase, craftily selected so it would fit in our little SUV. So, I carry less, and do laundry. The pisser was that our heated towel rack/underwear dryer was stone cold. I inquired at the front desk to see if there was something I was missing, or a trick to get it heated up, and she said she would have one of the fellas come down and have a look. I’m expecting Paddy the Plumber, but who shows up…….none other than Michael Cain the bartender…….he doesn’t know shit, but we turn up all the thermostats in the room and hope for the best.

Tomorrow is another big day……..playing Portrush…….our tee time is not until 1:30 so we hope to squeeze in Giants Causeway and Bushmills in the morning…….sounds like a full day…….hitting the sack