MY TRAY IS FULL

Yesterday’s decision to scoot down to Malahide from Ardglass a day early has proven to be a very wise one………sure, we blew off a paid for room, and had to pay for another night at the Grand Hotel, but we have a great room with a super view, a bed built for two, and dinner last night was ab fab at Kajjal. Speaking of food, the Grand Hotel was the first we stayed in a few years ago on our maiden trip to the Emerald Isle, and my first opportunity to experience the FULL IRISH BREAKFAST at their elaborate buffet…………can’t wait to get down there this morning!………Jutta just shudders. Malahide really is a happening little town, and worth staying here for a couple of days on either end of your trip…….only 15 minutes to Dublin Airport…….play The Island, Port Marnock, Royal Dublin, or our course for the day, now just 45 minutes away rather than two hours, County Louth/Baltray. This course comes with a strong reputation, and is usually ranked somewhere in or around the top ten links courses in Ireland. It has also hosted the Irish Open at least a couple of times, so we are very anxious to get out and finally play this one.

My battery is fully charged following the FIB with way too much black pudding, white pudding, sausage, bacon, eggs, and beans……..just awesome…….and the Cash Cab is rolling in plenty of time to make it up the road. We are greeted at what must be a very nice clubhouse, but you can’t see much of it for the scaffolding and fencing that is in place for a major construction/makeover project……..meet our forecaddie for the day Billy……..quite a character, and long time member here. Interesting to note that at most of the courses we have played on this trip, the caddies are also members of the club……….it is actually required at many of them…….Billy lives just down the road, and funnily on one hole when his house was in sight, he said “Just aim for my bedroom window.”

The course is just a beauty…….very subtle…..not overly dramatic…….but wonderful challenging holes in excellent condition. We don’t have direct exposure to the sea, but know it is lurking behind the large shore dunes, and the steady wind is a sure sign it is nearby……..it winds it way through the dunes on an interesting path that is not pure out and back links, and therefore the wind direction changes regularly. Billy just points me in the right direction and the round is going quite well.

We all agree this is a fine golf course that we probably should have played one one of our earlier trips, but nice to get it in the memory bank now. At one point we climb a dune to reach a tee box at the highest point on the course and are surprised to see other golfers just 20 yards away teeing off on a hole that I haven’t seen before…….Billy tells us that this is a neighbouring course called Seapoint Links…..opened in 1993, this is another good one that slips under the radar of many golf travelers…….yep, like us.

With the round over, what else but our last traditional Guinness in the clubhouse, final shopping in the pro shop, and we are headed back to Malahide. Time to pack away the clubs in the travel bags…….we all have the same Ping model and call them coffins……..that’s what they look like……..got a strange glance from the oversize bag check-in gal at the airport when I asked Jutta to pass me her coffin. Dinner tonight is at Sale e Pepe where we have dined once before with good results, but tonight not so much…….still ok, but we have done better. It is up early tomorrow, get rid of the Cash Cab, and homeward bound. Can’t believe it is over. 13 rounds in 16 days……many, many pints of Guiness, great food, great golf, great weather, great friends, great traveling companions, an all round great trip. Many thanks to Justin at Links of Ireland for putting it all together, and to all of you who have been reading along…….always enjoy getting your likes and comments. As you know I am already back home and have a few rounds in at Oslerbrook getting my Canadian season underway. Have a good one and we’ll see you next time.