Everyone in our group, including me, is asking “What’s the format?” “How many teams are there?” “What are the prizes?”……….answer, no idea, but when we checked in for our official practice round, all was revealed. 17 teams in total, and the format would be a two best net Stableford from your foursome. Team Canada makes up a third of the field, so our hopes are high for one of our teams to bring home some hardware.
OslerBrook folks will recognize these teams:
Stensson-McNaughton / Lillico
Hogg / Davies
McLaren / Cosgrove
Meyrick/ McMonagle-McLear
Fallon-Witt-Witt-Norman
When checking in, Danny in the pro shop said “Yer playin with tree womin’”……..”Aye” I said, “It’s me wife, me sister in-law, and me girlfriend.” “Achhh” he said, “You Canadians sure know how to live don’t ye.”
We played our pre-practice round at St.Patrick’s while many of the group were still in transit making their way to Rosapenna……the women wanted to have a game together, so I played with good pal Johnny “Cos” Cosgrove in a twosome a few groups ahead of them, and the relaxed pace of the course was welcomed giving us a chance to take in the beautiful scenery, and for me to recharge the batteries along the way and make use of my shooting stick to rest the legs……….pretty good hike for me, and no riding carts allowed at St.Patricks………”No, I don’t give a shit if you have a medical certificate.”……..(BTW I respect that) but I did have an electric Motocaddy, and whenever a hill came up, I would crank her up to 11 and hang on tight………wheels spinning like mad……..worked beautifully, but that cart is badly in need of a retread!
Dinner tonight at Olde Glenn Restaurant. A MUST VISIT if you are ever anywhere close. What a meal, and we are bringing the whole gang back here on the 1st after the tournament for our last night at Rosapenna. Set price is 80 Euro per head, and you can order whatever you like from the menu……an appetizer, main, and dessert, accompanied by lots of little tasty goodies from chef Ciaran Sweeney. Service excellent……..the pub out front worth an early arrival for a pre dinner pint.
So the tournament begins…….we have a practice round on Sandy Hills, arguably the truest “Irish Dunes” course of the three……….the wind is blowing crazy, and the starter tells us it’s a wee bit breezy out there today……..WTF……..one of those days when the wind was in your face on every hole, but what a blast, and a truly great golf course. Too bad I guess that it is still early season, and the greens are very slow….ok really Velcro slow…….but it is what it is, and we loved it. Our dinner tonight doubles as the opening gala……..cocktails 6:30……dinner to follow, and it is great to get the whole gang together for the first time……..what a crew.
The Rosapenna Hotel never fails to impress…….we love our rooms with views of the beach and Sheephaven Bay…….service in the hotel, lounge, and restaurant, couldn’t be better…….dinner tonight was terrific, and after a few late evening shots of Jamieson Sleeping Liquid we gladly hit the sack.
The order of play for the tournament is Old Tom Morris (called the Old Course by locals), then St.Patrick’s (world 49), with Sandy Hills for our final round. We are not sure how we will stack up against the field, but know that the more net birdies/pars we can manufacture will help the cause immensely. We are feeling ok about our chances, but after returning from dinner out at the Goose and Gander (great pizza) in Downings just down the road, we find the scores posted in the front lobby of the hotel for ALL to see. Here’s the deal…… we score 74 points, in 11th place out of 17………1st place team scores 91, with a 90 and two 88’s just behind………in Stableford if you score net par on every hole your points will total 36……with two players counting, make that 72 for net pars, so to score 91 you would need at least a net par and a net birdie on every hole, with an eagle thrown in for good measure…….clearly some great players in the field, and coming back from an opening 74 is almost impossible………let’s have a cocktail!
Our hopes for a win now rest with Team Meyrick who came in with a great 83……..let’s go……elbows up!!!!
Round 2 at St.Patricks was another tough walk for this guy, but I did get a fresh MotoCaddy with good rubber so I burned that puppy up and made it all the way no problem. Results mirrored round one, with the top 4-5 teams continuing their dominance, and there is now even less chance anyone from Team Canada can catch them……..although Team Meyrick has an outside chance if perhaps about twenty golfers happen to drop dead overnight.
Round 3 at Sandy Hills saw the leaders fighting it out for the podium positions, and our team Meyrick came in a solid 8th……..well done……and were rewarded with a bottle of whiskey each for their efforts. At the end of the day it was more about the golf, meeting new people, and just having fun, which is what we did. A very well run tournament.
HUGEBLOGSITE 
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