We’re back!
And we’ve got a new look too. Hope you like it.
Right now things aren’t working quite like I want them to behind the scenes so bear with me as I tweak some things over the next few weeks. (I might even decide to go with a completely new look if the tweaks don’t work out).
I’m giving the photos page a new makeover as well with some nice looking flash-based albums, so you’ll need Adobe Flash Player installed in order to see them. Currently there’s just a test link to an album from Portumna last year but I’ll be putting up loads more in the coming weeks and adding thumbnails.
I’m also planning to:
- add some links to Google maps so you can see exactly where each course is.
- add links to the course’s own web site, if they have one.
- finally start listing all of the courses we’ve played.
- do a little bit of a write up on our home course, Bright Castle.
Our first trip of 2008 is this weekend and we’ll be playing:
- Portumna, Co. Galway (we play it every Easter)
- Glenlo Abbey, Co. Galway and
- Swinford, Co. Mayo.
So keep checking back or subscribe to the RSS feed.
Clones Golf Club (222)
Clones is a much more modest golf club than the likes of St Anne’s or Howth. We arrived there much earlier than usual, but as we tentatively walked into the bar we were enthusiastically greeted by the 5 or 6 people sitting there enjoying a drink. They were a very welcoming bunch and told them our story and had generally had a good laugh. It wasn’t long before Clive had engaged one of the gents in Church of Ireland talk. I hear this all the time so I watched the Scottish Open on the TV while they swapped tales of rectors and bishops!
Since we were there early and the people were so friendly we decided the push the boat out and have a meal in the bar – and they provide a great feed for a reasonable price. We chatted some more and had a Guinness while the Scottish Open came to its conclusion and then called it an early night.
Belvedere House & Gardens
Belvedere House is right beside Mullingar Golf Club and after golf we decided to pay it a visit. The weather had really picked up and it was sunny and warm when we arrived. After some making some lunch in the car park we headed in to explore.
Entry costs €8.95 for an adult, which we thought was reasonable, and once through the visitor area (which has more displays, a cafe and a 10 minute film which we didn’t watch) we headed for the house. Before you get there you pass the largest folly in Ireland, built to look like a huge ruin. It’s very impressive – as is the story of why it was built (I’ll leave you to discover that bit on your own!). You enter the house at the back through the basement area which has a dairy and a kitchen. There are no artefacts but plenty of displays and information about the house and its owners.
The ground floor upstairs is fully restored and though there weren’t many rooms they were very impressive. I particularly liked the dining room – very easy to imagine what it must have been like to dine there.
As we finished the tour of the house we got talking (and by we I mean Clive) to a very knowledgeable lady about Belvedere and many other houses in the area. She name-dropped shamelessly but Clive managed to keep up with his Lissadell connections! They chatted for ages about history and I kind of switched off – but she sure knew her big houses.
Out of the house we went to the walled garden which was as excellent as any we have visited. They get minus points, however, for the dead fish (carp no less) floating in their pond!
After that we went for a walk down to and along the lake shore. It wasn’t too taxing a walk, though longer routes are available if you’re feeling energetic. There seems to be a Narnia trail of some kind for the kids and it did seem like a popular attraction – the car park was packed as we left.
A worthwhile visit if you’re in the area.
Link: Belvedere House
Mullingar Golf Club (221)
We have passed Mullingar Golf Club many, many times on our trips around Ireland so we thought it was high time to actually play it, and today we did.
Arriving last night we happened to meet Albert Lee, GUI President, who is a member at Mullingar. So without further ado we launched into our story and before long we had the OK to park overnight and Albert generously bought us a couple of pints of Guinness. We tried to catch up on the latest at the Scottish Open but they couldn’t seem to find anything on SKY (so we had to endure some dull looking dance-off reality TV show until someone had the good sense to switch it over for the hurling).
St Anne’s Golf Club (220)
St Anne’s is a links course on North Bull Island in Dublin Bay and it’s a great setting. (Royal Dublin is on the same island). By the time we arrived after our wash out at Stackstown the weather had cleared, but the course was mostly deserted and the clubhouse was empty. Sean, the barman, gave us a friendly welcome and after showing us a bit of the layout of the course from the balcony of the plush looking clubhouse suggested that we speak to Joe Lynch, the President of the club, about parking overnight.
We watched Joe finish the 18th then accosted him in the car park as where we chatted for 5 or 10 minutes. He said it would fine to park overnight and so we headed inside for some of the black stuff.
Stackstown Golf Club (219)
When we arrived at Stackstown last night they were in the middle of a power cut and not only that, but they were also out of Guinness!! We spoke to Gerard, the bar/restaurant manager, explained out story and hung around while he called whoever he needed to call to get the go ahead. It just wasn’t the same without the Guinness so we made token efforts and having a drink before turning in for the night.
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Howth Golf Club (218)
Before today we had played 217 courses in Ireland over about 9 or 10 years. In that time just one course, Waterford Castle, had turned us and our camper away. Last night Howth joined Waterford Castle in our Bad Book as they too would not let us stay overnight in their car park.
We arrived in the middle of the ladies night presentation and spoke to Aveen (I’m sure I’m spelling that wrongly) who put us in touch with Louise who spoke to the Captain who sent the Vice Captain to speak to us. They were all really nice people. The Vice Captain explained that he would call their Secretary who was also their insurer, or something, and it was that guy who said that we would be a ‘liability’ and so we had to leave. We were very disappointed. The Vice Captain pointed us in the direction of Howth harbour we spent the night there.
Castle Dargan Golf Club (No. 217)
Castle Dargan bills itself as Golf / Hotel / Wellness.
We’re not fans of golf clubs attached to hotels and such, but since we were impressed with Ballymascanlon and Castle Dargan was designed by Darren Clarke we thought we’d give this one a go as we were going to be in the area.
The course is in Ballygawley not too far from Sligo and is set in some picturesque rolling countryside. We started at our usual time of around 7:30am when none but the greenkeepers were around. We feared for the warranty on our wet gear but thankfully the rain stayed away and it even brightened up towards the end of our round.
First impressions were very good. The first opening 5 or 6 holes were impressive and the greens were in top class condition – fast (but not too fast) and absolutely blemish free. We played from the green tees as we didn’t feel like doing ourselves in today!
The fairways were beautifully shaped but, it has to be said, they looked in a bit of state. Every single one was scarred by drainage ditches covered with sand. We wondered why it was so extensive and subsequently discovered from our chat the David O’Donovan (the manager) after our round that the course has only been opened for a few months and that they should have healed over by the end of the season.
This certainly changed our opinion of the course. For only being a few months old it is in fantastic shape and I think we’ll be back to play here in a year or two when things have settled down and matured.
Thomas says:
I enjoyed playing here, even though I wasn’t troubling my handicap much. The condition of the fairways was a bit of an issue until we discovered the reason and I can see that once all of that has settled it will be a very impressive course. The middle section of the course seemed a bit plain
My favourite holes were the par 3 third – a very short hole requiring an accurate chip over trees – and the 6th – a lovely, shortish par 5 which could tempt the bigger hitters go for glory on the second shot over the water. The 15th is also worth a mention. The green is driveable from the green tees – if you can carry 200+ yards over water and bunker that is! As it turned out I had my drive of the day here ending up just a few yards short on the left side, away from the water.
Final impressions are that there isn’t anything particularly outstanding or memorable about the course but the whole package had enough variety and challenge for golfers of all abilities without being too easy for the low handicappers or too hard for the higher handicappers.
Clive says:
Being in Sligo to visit Lissadell (the home of Constance Markievicz and the Gore-Booths) it seemed a good idea to ‘tick off’ another course – making Castle Dargan our 217th course in Ireland. I didn’t like the hotel complex idea for I think it totally detracts from what a golf club should be – members enjoying golf chat in their clubhouse.
The weather had been poor so we wondered if we would be lucky – as it turned out we were. As ever we had the course to ourselves – we only saw two others playing golf on the course on the 1st hole when we were coming down the 18th! I really liked the first few holes which were near the old castle. At the short par 5 6th (as mentioned by Thomas) my drive wasn’t much good and my second was about 150 yards from the green with a vast expanse of water in between. I took out my 6 iron and the ball sailed over the pond and landed two inches (no kidding and there’s a photo to prove it) from the pin – a birdie 4! My game was then brought down with a bump with a 5 at the next par 3.
The last holes were lovely especially the 18th which had lots of water to bother many golfers and a tricky green position. My impression of Castle Dargan was of a super course for its three months of age. It will be absolutely great in a few years time. The greens are just superb. My lasting memory of this 7 and a half out of ten course (for now – better marks soon!) is of the view coming down the 14th where we saw four different greens all in a line – I don’t think I’ve seen this line up before. So take care you hit for the correct green when you are enjoying this course. I hope the new members of the club will detach themselves from that hotel and enjoy the true spirit of golf – talking about those big drives and all those putts they just missed.
Galleries updated
Added some photos of Fintona Golf Club to the Galleries pages.
Fintona Golf Club
Our friends John Flannagan and Don McConnell invited us to join their society outing to Fintona last Thursday and we thought it would be a good opportunity to tick off another course (and be in with a chance of a visitor’s prize!).
Weather-wise we got very lucky. The forecast was doom and gloom and whilst it was cloudy and the rain threatened, it never materialised. It even brightened up quite a bit towards the end and everyone finished in lovely sunshine.
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