THE TOURNAMENT

The tournament begins today. I can still remember after returning from our first trip to Ireland, when Mark “F1” Mclaren told us about a tournament he plays every year in Donegal. A short investigation online uncovered this and other tournament, The Spring Links, hosted by Rosapenna on their three golf courses, with green fees, hotel, and a couple of gala dinners, all thrown together in a neat little package that was too hard to resist. We have been back every year since, and just love it. Daily breakfast is included also, and is likely my favourite meal of the day when travelling. Sometimes I find myself wondering…….. Just how many slices of black pudding has this man eaten over the past couple of weeks?…….Will there ever be a sausage I don’t like?…….Would anyone notice if I ate the homemade marmalade with a spoon without putting it on some toast? It is a good thing that Jutta has me sworn off those little danish and cinnamon roll things, but they still call out to me every time I pass the buffet table.

I am full to the brim and tournament ready……the goats are loaded on my cart, and we are off to the driving range. Mo’s Maniacs are there also, and we hope that any knowledge we passed along about the Old Tom Morris course will help them today in the opening round. Well I guess it did…….they come in tied for first place with two other teams at 88 points (still no idea how that is calculated), and Mo himself turning in a very tidy 74 on his first look at the course……..The Goats are respectable in sixth place scoring 83 points. We have an opening night gala dinner at the hotel…….food/service perfect as always, and we get a chance to meet some of the competition. There are some good sized groups here from various clubs around Ireland, a couple of foursomes from the US of A, a few from the UK………15 foursomes in total. I think back to last year when we had 5 foursomes from Oslerbrook…….a third of the field.

Day two is to be played at St.Patricks Links, just down the road from the hotel. This is the newest course at Rosapenna, designed by the great Tom Doak, which fully opened in 2022 with a ranking of #49 in the World. Where it stacks up against other courses in the World Top 100 is a matter for discussion with some folks, but all I know is that it is a great test of golf, the scenery and sight lines are amazing, and it only gets better each year we play it. Apparently there are plans for a clubhouse/hotel/lodge on the property, but no signs of that yet, so still working from the temporary trailers, pro shop and washrooms. St.Patricks has never, and to this day, does not allow buggies (riding carts) on the course……….that means I am walking this course once again. I will have an electric trolley for my clubs, and don’t tell them, but when I come to a hill, I just crank that puppy up to 11 and hang on tight……..it really provides a nice assist. That, along with my shooting stick (ancient sitting apparatus) and I should be fine. Today was my day to shine with a 74 of my own…….perhaps there is something to this walking thing……….and my partners played some inspired holes to bring us in with 88 points for the day…….Mo’s Maniacs faltered a little, but still scored a very respectable 79……..both of our teams are in the mix near the top of the leaderboard, so we need to do well in the final round tomorrow.

The crew decides we are heading out for some lunch, but pickings are slim in this area at this time of year when many restaurants close their doors Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I have driven by, and noticed a hotel with pub attached in the neighbouring town of Carrigart, so we decide to give that a go. It is a great spot, and one we will put in the memory bank for future trips………great menu, and open for lunch/dinner daily……..oh yeah, they also have lots of beer on tap! When eating too much at lunch, as we did, you would think dinner would be out of the question……..the decision is made to trundle into town and have another go at the Goose and Gander, which hits the spot just fine. Back home, nightcaps, and hit the sack for the final round tomorrow.

I think Sandy Hills is the hardest and most interesting course at Rosapenna. Largely built on and through the dune lands above Old Tom Morris, it is a real test of golf, calling for you to make shot after shot…….there are no weak holes on this course. The views over Old Tom and Sheephaven Bay are fantastic, and when the wind whips up off the sea, you are in for a great round………maybe not a great score, but a great round. The course opened for play in 2003 and has steadily been building its reputation as a premier Irish course. Our final round begins, following the now routine breakfast gathering and warmup on the range. We have been lucky to have the same tee time every day…..9:30 – 9:40…….and there doesn’t seem to be many people ahead or behind us…….maybe we can be leaders in the clubhouse. Both teams play well today…..Goats 78 pts. Maniacs 79 pts………best score overall today was 81………nobody even close to the 88’s from the past two days…….difficult course. We hang in the bar at the clubhouse for a bit and have the classic fries and Guinness snack, but it will be a while before any results are posted.

The gala dinner and prize presentations are this evening, and as you can imagine, there is an early gathering down at the bar waiting for results to be posted in the hotel lobby. Everyone is there, sharing stories about the tournament, and this shot or that……great crew……met so many people, all interested in where we were from and how we liked Ireland. Some familiar faces from last year, and many new ones that swear they will be back. The G&T’s never tasted better with our Irish favourite Dingle Gin, and it is not too long before we get the word that results are in. Two teams are tied at the top with 255 points, both from The Castle GC just south of Dublin………I have already met one of their fearless leaders “Ray” who I almost punched in the face on the way into the washroom. You know, one of those things where you go to push the door open at the same time someone is pulling it on the other side on the way out. We have a good laugh, and as per usual, a nice little chat. Then comes two more teams tied at 249 points……Belfast Baba’s, and THE GOATS!!!…….right behind us are MO’S MANIACS at 246, and the rest don’t even matter. Once again I have no idea how the points are calculated, or what method was used to break the tie, but we are happy to have finished well……..looks like we get a bottle of whiskey with a pair of drinking glasses for our trouble, so that’s not too bad at all. Dinner is first though, and again it is spot on terrific.

Everyone begins to filter out to the bar following their meal and it is not long before a solo guitarist/singer starts up, and eventually an announcement that it was time. One thing I found was that the entire field moved from their drinking tables down to the presentation area, and gave everyone receiving a prize a strong round of applause with “Well done” and “Good playing” and the like being shouted over the clapping and whistles. Very nice touch, and we all joined in. Jutta noticed that the teams finishing in the top two spots were receiving a premium bottle of whiskey, but also an original painting, either of the golf course, the beach, or some other local scene. It didn’t take her long, and she was off……..bottles of whiskey under her arms, she was trading for a couple of those pictures come hell or high water. I could see it took a little convincing, but a couple of the lads from The Castle GC just couldn’t turn her down and we now have two lovely paintings…….ok one for us, one for Sibylle. Everyone decided to spread our winnings around, and Mo gave a bottle to Michael behind the bar who has been here for years, and we put a couple aside………one for the morning Maitre de……..and another for Geraldine, again, a long time employee here at the hotel who waits on us most days in the restaurant.

The whiskey comes from Croithli Distillery…….apparently the first distillery opened in County Donegal in over 100 years……..pronounced and known as Crolly, I will be looking forward to a taste of the last bottle we saved after all the gifting and trading.

So that is kind of a wrap!………..we are off early AM, driving to Dublin for our flight to Scotland tomorrow……..Tulloch’s Relihan’s play Ballyliffin in the morning with Mo and Andrea heading directly to the airport from there, and John and Cheryl have some plans to head down the west coast a little for a little exploring, and maybe even a little more golf. This has been a great start to our trip, and even though we look forward to Scotland……Macrihanish and Islay…….we will always have great memories from Rosapenna and the Spring Links.