Milltown Golf Club
There’s a story that goes along with this one so bear with us!
We arrived at Milltown Golf Club last night and went inside to find that there seemed to be a big function on. Feeling a little under-dressed and not sure which room the bar was in we retreated to the changing rooms where we asked one of the gents if a club official was around. He showed is up to the modernly decorated bar with white leather seats and we explained our story to the only two men there (I forget their names, but they were nice blokes and seemed to have something to do with the club). They thought it’d be OK to park overnight but that James was the man to talk to to get the official nod.
At this stage we were beginning to think ‘oh here we go again with the snobby Dublin clubs’!
Then the lads suggested that we should have a chat with the on-site security guard – which we duly did. He said it would be no problem and we chatted with him, and another guy who seemed to be an attendant or something, for 5 or 10 minutes before heading back into the clubhouse. We were going to have a drink at the bar and tell the two guys things were sorted but as we approached the door we got cold feet – didn’t want to tempt fate and be told to go away – and decided to head to the Dropping Well Inn just a stone’s throw down the road which we had noticed on the way in.
Back down to the lobby area we happened to see the time sheet. Imagine our surprise to find that it was a Ladies Open (entry fee €12), and there were our two names prominently displayed at the top! We looked at each other and wondered what we should do. Would we be allowed to play? If so, we didn’t want to pay the full fee, which we guessed would be around the €70 region (actually, it was €85!). As we stood there debating what to do James came over and introduced himself – it appeared he had finally found the Mystery Ladies! James explained that they had phoned a few courses in Co. Down looking for us to no avail. He very graciously accepted that giving us our tee time was their mistake and that he would honour the €12 green fee the next day. He said that Milltown doesn’t have opens (they’re in Dublin after all!) and has no idea how it ended up on the GUI’s site. Whatever, lucky us! We chatted with him for ages – he’s a good Co. Down man himself, from Newcastle, and is currently a member of Glen of the Downs. James, if you’re reading this we’ll look you up when we get around the playing there.
So, with everything sorted, and knowing we now had a great story to tell, we went down to the Dropping Well (which even James recommended and he’s Milltown’s general manager!) and enjoyed some of the country’s finest Guinness.
The weather today was perfect. Barely a cloud to be seen. We had hoped to get away first thing but when arrived on the tee two ladies were just about to tee off and four lads (so we weren’t the only ones chancing our arm) were coming down the second. The lads let the ladies and us through at the par 3 4th but we were pretty much stuck behind the two ladies the whole way.
Nevertheless, it gave us time to appreciate the immaculately presented course. Lots of mature trees of many different varieties, super looking greens, well cut fairways, well maintained rough, bunkers trimmed and raked. It was all just picture perfect. But once again I’m having trouble remembering a great deal about the holes. Immaculate though everything looked there didn’t seem to be anything special about the layout., We crossed a road a couple of times and apart from that it just felt like an up and down course, albeit one that was incredibly well looked after. Maybe our expectations were high on the back of the great build up last night and the €85 price tag, but we left slightly disappointed.
Thomas says:
I was really surprised by the weather. The forecast I saw was for doom and gloom so I was pretty happy with the blue skies and temperature around the 20C mark. Impressive looking though this course was it just didn’t do anything for me. I can’t pinpoint one hole over another or remember a particular hole where I though now this is a lovely hole. Which is not to say it’s a bad course because it’s definitely not. It’s just that I’ve played less well-manicured, but more interesting, courses.
Clive says:
As we made our way round this little, pretty course, I found myself giggling to myself about being honorary ladies for the day although Thomas probably knew what I was thinking. I played reasonably well and hit some decent shots to the lovely greens – it is hard to recall the holes although I do recall a lovely one – about the seventh, where there were lots of fairway bunkers jealously guarding their green. I do remember that, as we approached the 18th tee, we saw something we had never seen before. A squirrel was running through the trees with something in its mouth. I thought it was its dinner but, as I got up close, I saw that it was its baby. It duly dropped the youngster and darted up a nearby tree whereupon the squirellette won its spurs by not panicking and moving up the tree itself in a very assured manner. Mummy had taught it well. The hole itself was a nice finisher. I got round in under 100 which is always OK for me.
Milltown, the posh Dublin inner city club, will go into our travel annals for those two things – us being ladies and the squirrel story.
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