Sunday – 25th September 2011

Optimism, sunshine, rain, threat of lightening and a fantastic finish to The Solheim Cup – a brief description of the today at Killeen Castle. We all arrived at 9.30am in plenty of time and each of us staked our viewing spot at our favourite location. We choose the back of the 3rd green where we saw all 11 (Kerr never made it due to wrist injury) come through. The atmosphere was fantastic with equal shouts of “USA…. USA….USA” versus “EUROPE… EUROPE” or “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole”. Early blood to the Europeans with Catriona Matthews taking Paula Creamer apart in the first match. This was the first time Paula had lost in singles matchplay. Catriona never let her get a footing in the match and was in front from the start. The pairing that had the most interest was the veteran match of Laura Davies v Julie Inkster. With both ladies in the twilight of their careers and having played in all of the past Solheim events this was amazingly the first time they met in singles. We later found out that this pairing was arranged as both ladies had requested it. The match fittingly ended all-square with Inkster nearly holeing out a bunker shot on the 18th.  [SinglePic not found]

The crowd at gathering around the 18th at Killeen Castle

 Coming towards the end of the round it was Team USA that had the upper hand. Needing only to reach 14 points to retain the competition they were up in 1 and all-square in 2. Suzanne Peterson and Michelle Wie arrived at the 18th tee all-square. Peterson went onto birdie the hole to take the point, now the atmosphere changed. European suddenly had momentum and USA seemed the be losing their nerve. Hedwell has 2 down with 2 to play against Ryan O’ Toole and managed to sqaure the match – once that happened Europe reclaimed The Solheim Cup.

 

Saturday – 24th September 2011

A glorious day at Killeen Castle today, the sunshine Gods have been good to us. Another strong start by the Europeans but as with Friday the Americans came back strong to end the day 8-8. By all accounts (from golf pundits and the knowledgeable golf followers) the considered view was that Europe needed to have a lead going into the Sunday singles…. things are not looking up for Europe and the strong indication is that Rosie Jones will be bringing the Cup back to the States. [SinglePic not found]

Michelle Wie at Killeen Castle

 

 

Friday – 23rd September 2011

Today was the first day of competition, all the practice rounds are now done and pairings announced. Foursomes were first out this morning with the USA playing exceptionally well on a format they are not used to. At lunch the score was 2-2. Europe would have to do better in the afternoon and they did. At once stage the fourball leaderboard was all blue but a stirring fightback from the USA left the score at close of business… EUROPE 4 1/2 and USD 3 1/2…… tomorrow is a very important day. In my opinion Europe need to win both sessions to have any chance come the singles on Sunday.   The atmosphere at the event is brilliant, so friendly with well intentioned banter at the ready. Rick got chatting to two ladies from Thurles Golf Club and we managed to sneak a photo in (well the marshalls weren’t going to kick us out!). [SinglePic not found]

Ann, Rick and Delia at the 14th tee-box at Killeen Castle

 

 

Thursday – 22nd September 2011

Today we made our first venture to Killeen Castle to see the opening ceremony of The Solheim Cup. It was a worthwhile trip as we were able to review the course and “pick our spot” for the first day of competion. The opening ceremony itself was well attended with some great music from Declan O’Rourke and Donal Lunny (Lunny did a great version of the “Wild Mountain Thyme). President Mary McAleese addressed the audience and spoke very elegantly about Ireland and how excited we are to have The Solheim Cup. Tomorrow is the first day of competition. My feeling is that Europe need to have a lead going into Sunday singles so Friday and Saturday are vitally important.

 

Junior Solheim Cup – The USA retain the Cup

The USA came from behind to retain the Jnr Solheim Cup, played at Knightsbrook Hotel and Spa in County Meath. Europe were leading 7-5 going into the singles matches but the USA won the singles format 7-5, making the overall score 12-12 with the incumbent keeping the trophy. Congratulations must go to both teams who put on a great show. http://tinyurl.com/43km8ek  

Wednesday – 21st September 2011

Without everyone now arrived safely we are all gearing up for the opening ceremony tomorrow. From our locations in Dublin City Centre and Portmarnock we are travelling to Killeen Castle daily to see Europe attempt to wrangle The Solheim Cup from the United States…. it won’t be an easy task but one thing is certain — the European Ladies will certainly give it a good go and with a strong Irish crowd in place it certainly makes for a mouthwatering event. This blog will give you daily updates from the event with some added comment around the goings on of the groups. You can follow us daily on TWITTER, search for # IrishGolfTour  

Solheim Cup 2011

What is Solheim Cup? If you are a golfing fan, then you will not want to miss out on the great experience of the Solheim Cup which takes place this September at Killen Castle Ireland. The Solheim Cup is a biennial woman’s professional golfing event, and is named after its creator – Karsten Solheim. Like the Ryder Cup, the Solheim Cup is a team event with teams representing Europe and the United States. The first event took place in 1990, and alternates with the Ryder Cup every other year. Teams for the events are selected via a points system, although the European team is decided by a mixture of points and world rankings. Team captains for both Europe and the USA are normally retired professional golfers who have had Solheim Cup experience. They are also chosen on their ability to lead a team.

The team match itself is played over three days using a similar format to the Ryder Cup. This means there will be 28 matches made up of eight foursomes, eight four-balls and 12 singles on the final day.

Women’s golf has grown tremendously over the years, with many young girls taking up the sport. As such, a junior version of the Solheim Cup called the PING Junior Solheim Cup was started in 2002. It follows the same format as the senior cup and comprises the top 12 junior players from both Europe and America. The girls play golf over two days. Although not played on the same course as the main Solheim Cup itself, it is generally played in the vicinity. Since 1990, the winning team in both the senior and junior versions of the cup have been the United States. Past American women golfers who have participated in the Solheim Cup include Donna Andrews (1994 and 1998) and Julie Inkster who had an almost continuous run since the event was created. This remarkable statistic is only beaten by Britain’s Laura Davies who has played in every one of the Solheim Cup events. This year participants The official European team for this year’s Solheim Cup is not yet known. The final team will be announced at the end of August. What is known however is that Alison Nicholas will be the captain of the team. There is a suggestion that Laura Davies is making a bid for her 12^th appearance, while others in the frame are fellow Briton Melissa Reid, Frenchwoman Virginie Lagoutte-Clement and Danish golfer, Iben Tinning. On the US side, Rosie Jones is to be the team captain. What to expect this year at Solheim Cup Killeen Castle is based in Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland. The golf club itself covers some 300 acres of rambling grassland surrounded by beautiful natural woodland. Created by the famous golfer, Jack Nicklaus, Killeen Castle Golf club is a golfer’s paradise with no fewer than 18 championship events held here. So, if you are looking forward to going to watch the Solheim Cup you will be in for a treat. What’s more if you fancy a break from watching the match, you could always go fishing or go for a walk around the resplendent gardens. Flights to Dublin go from a number of UK airports including Manchester, Gatwick and Plymouth.

Final Round of the Trip!

By Sam Blackwell We played a final round of golf Friday on the way back to Dublin and our return flight to the U.S. Almost midway between Galway and Dublin, Glasson Golf and Country Club is a lovely and hilly parkland course wrapped around a large lake. It won’t make you forget Enniscrone but offers pleasant challenges. Glasson is 6,800 yards from the members’ tees, so length is one of its difficulties. We stepped up to a forward set of tees that was more amenable to our distances off the tees. The course was wet, so we were advised to use preferred lies. The day was generally sunny and warm, but when clouds covered the sun a briskness set in, so we were always switching between layers of clothing. We were enthusiastic but a bit sad to be playing our last round in Ireland. When we look back on the courses we played on the Road Less Travelled Tour – Carne, Rosses Point, Enniscrone, Connemara and Glasson – we know each has a distinct character and appeal. At Carne we battled sleet, and the sleet won. Rosses Point is a links course of the highest order, one Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy have won on. This is a course that would offer a golfer new challenges each time he or she plays. [Gallery not found]

A selection of images of our wonderul trip to Glasson

Enniscrone was perhaps the most beautiful course we played, winding through grass-covered dunes for part of each nine and then emerging into Eddie Hackett’s more wide-open design the rest of the way. A bad cold kept me from playing Connemara, but the other golfers enjoyed their day. Getting there from our home base at Sligo is a trip through a lunar landscape, they said, but the course itself is a good links challenge. Glasson offers wide fairways and well-bunkered and often elevated greens. The greens are in good shape, much better than the greens back in the U.S. at this stage of the year. Tampa Joe remained in Galway to meet up with his Irish girlfriend, and Virgil flew back to Dublin a few days earlier to tend to some business, so our group is reduced to four. Mike and Gary took on Rick and me in a match-play contest for a round of Guinness. They made short work of us, 4 and 3. Afterward we had roast beef sandwiches in Glasson’s architecturally distinct and modern clubhouse, which a prospective bride and groom were appraising for their upcoming nuptials.  Breda, one of the owners, greeted us and gave each of us a Glasson ball marker as a remembrance. Our driver Kevin drove our coach back to Dublin, our starting point almost a week earlier. We are spending our last night in Ireland at the Portmarnock Hotel, a first-rate facility not far from the Dublin airport.  The Pormarnock Golf Course is just out the window, but we have no time left to play.   When – not if – we return.

Remembering the Road Less Travelled

By Sam Blackwell A week after returning, our seven days in Ireland seem like a whirl of formidable links golf courses, predictably unpredictable weather, sheep farms and walls made of stacked stones, singular dining experiences and endless glasses of Guinness.  We also met lots of welcoming people who made our stay memorable. Irish Golf Vacations called our tour the Road Less Travelled because most foreign golfers head for golf courses that are more famous – names like Ballybunion, Royal County Down, Old Head, the K Club — than those of Northwest Ireland. Our tour would go places and play courses far off the been-there, done-that list. Rick and Michael are knowledgeable tour leaders who saw to every need, including the large, comfortable coach that delivered us from golf course to golf course.  Kevin, our Irish driver, pointed out historic sites in Dublin after we arrived but also knew well the landscape along the 3-½-hour drive to Sligo on Ireland’s West Coast. Sligo is a delightful town, fun to walk around and filled with unique shops.  The seafood paella at Hartigan’s is excellent, and so is the hospitality. We also liked the food and the folks at the Embassy, a wine bar and grill that serves a mammoth hamburger swaddled in bacon and cheese. Our hotel, the Sligo Park Hotel, is comfortable and has everything a golfer needs, from a hot tub and gym to a late-night bar. Our first golf course, Carne Golf Club, provided the most unforgettable experience of our trip. We expected a cold wind off Blacksod Bay, but a few holes into our round driving sleet began pelting our faces and numbing our hands.  We hoped the squall would soon abate, as we were told the squalls usually do, but this one didn’t.  Our group retreated to the clubhouse after five holes. The other group retired after nine. Never has a round of Irish coffee been more appreciated. The following day at Rosses Point, the County Sligo Golf Club, we played a course where Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy have won Western Ireland Golf Championships on. The famous golfers who have played the course include Walter Hagen, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Byron Nelson and Bernhard Langer. It is a good test with ample variety in the holes. The sun sparkled the next day at Enniscrone Golf Club, a magnificent course on Killala Bay 50 miles from Sligo. Enniscrone offers the work of two designers: Eddie Hackett and Donald Steel. Hackett’s part of the course is open and bunkered while Steel’s winds through huge dunes. It is the best of two worlds of links golf. We left the next morning for Galway, the city known as Ireland’s arts capital. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Galway was a highlight some of the golfers in our group missed because they were playing at Connemara. At midday, bands and gaily dressed children wove through downtown Galway surrounded by festive onlookers, most of them wearing the green in some way – if only their hair color. Afterward everyone filled up the pubs for rounds of food and drink that rolled into the night. We read in the newspapers that St. Patrick’s Day parades are actually a tradition that began in America, but Ireland seems to have taken to it fully. In Galway, a big pub called Monroe’s was a favorite where we ate fish pie and Irish stew. At Connemara, the golfers encountered a landscape unlike anything they’d seen in Ireland before. Some described it as a moonscape. Sleet greeted the golfers in the morning, but by the afternoon they were playing in the sun. Everyone in Ireland is intensely interested in football, rugby, Gaelic football and jump racing. While we were there, the Festival at Cheltenham race played on every television in every pub. The Irish were very proud that their horses won some of the most important races. Glasson Park, a hilly parkland course between Galway and Dublin, offered us a pleasing final round before we returned to Dublin and then back to the U.S. Spending our last night in Ireland at the Portmornock Golf Club and Hotel outside Dublin was a final treat. The hotel is luxurious, the course inviting. The people of Ireland were warm and hospitable, and Ireland has some of the world’s best links golf courses. Ireland offers beauty and golf experiences available nowhere else on earth.

St Patrick’s Day at Connemara

By Sam Blackwell and Rick Hetzel Sam, not feeling too well this morning, thought he might opt for a bit of rest and take in the St Patrick’s Day Parade in the Galway’s Eyre Square.  Knowing I would be writing today’s blog, I tried to be careful to study the course for interesting details and nuances like Sam does so well. Connemara Golf Club,  located on the west coast of Ireland about sixty miles from Galway, is situated in a rugged and isolated part of the country where one may see plenty of  stacked stone walls, sheep in lambing season, and a barren but breathtaking mountain and lake vistas.  Mike commented on the long morning ride from the hotel what an irony that such beautiful golf courses would be located in so many remote locations in Ireland. [SinglePic not found]

Connemara Golf Links – County Galway

Tom Watson once stopped by Connemara, said our caddie, Jamie.  But apparently no one recognized him and there was no name on the tee booking.  As one club member walked across the parking lot of the club and noticed Watson, he asked in the clubhouse if there were any famous golfers on the course.  “No” was the reply, but they later learned that it was Watson on the course.  Despite the remote location and sparse population of the area, by the time Watson reached the 9^th hole a large gathering had formed to follow him during the remainder of his round.  Watson shot 69.  An autographed shirt and several photos adorn the wall of the Connemara Clubhouse. The Irish say a golfer can experience any type of weather in Ireland, and today as we started off playing the beautiful coastal links of Connemara we felt the small blades of sleet hitting us in the face as we approached the first green.  Thinking this might be a repeat of our experience at Carne, Gary, who is more of a warm weather golfer, told me he was really hoping this storm would pass quickly.  Jamie Flaherty, our able caddie from Connemara and a keen golfer in his own right, assured us this little ice storm was sure to pass quickly. Indeed it did.  The following eight holes brought us course designer Eddie Hackett at his best as Mike, Gary and I traversed pot bunkers and coastal winds to reach the clubhouse for a warm coffee. As we prepared to tee off the 10th, we noticed the wind had calmed and the sun was beginning to peek through the clouds off the Atlantic coast.  All of our group were playing well of the tees, but the fast greens seemed to be our Achilles heel.  Mike, who has a masterful short game, was even having a few problems getting his chips close, except for the 12^th hole where, true to character, he holed a chip from off the green.  The rest of the round proved to be a unique Connemara experience as we pulled off layers of clothing to the warming sun and joked about freezing rain in the morning and sunburned faces in the afternoon. [SinglePic not found]

Jamie (caddy), Gary, Rick and Mike at Connemara

The coach ride back to the hotel was marked with periodic roadside stops for pictures of the countryside and the sheep with their new lambs.  Our Irish driver, Kevin, thought it all somewhat humorous. [SinglePic not found]

The month of March in Ireland – lambing season throughout the land

Back in Galway, Joe and Sam told us about the parade, a homegrown affair featuring lots of children’s organizations, marching bands and a troupe from Amnesty International.  Most everyone wore green of some kind, if even in their hair or painted on their face. Afterward, whole families retired to their favorite pub to relive it all. As they say in Gaelic, the original language of Ireland, “ La Fheile Phadraig.”

The Heritage Golf Resort located in Killenard County Laois. It’s a relatively new course (by Irish standards) and was designed by Seve Ballesteros and in 2007 it played host to the Seve Trophy (GB & Ireland versus Continental Europe). We played the course in March with little or no run on the fairways and it felt really long. Off the white tees it measures 6,900 yards – and it plays every yard of that. The opening hole lures you into a false sense of security as a good drive leaves you with a short iron to the green. After hole #1 the fun starts and you end up with mid-long iron approaches to undulating greens. We don’t want to be to come across as being too hard on the course as it is a wonderful layout and we really enjoyed our day out but we hadn’t expected it to be so difficult. We felt it’s a course where you need to play it once to get a feel as many shots are blind and I’m sure we left ourselves with some extra yards that we could have avoided. The greens are excellent and water is prevelant throughout – not something we tend to see in irish golf courses. Both the 9th and 18th holes have water all along the side of the fairway and errant shots will be punished. The par 3′s are interesting and don’t give you room to bail-out, a special word of note must be given to the 4th that claimed many golf balls on the day we visited! The facilities are great with the locker-room worthy of mention. The food and service was nice and we were certainly looked after. Overall a very nice course that will have you thinking your way around. If only playing “vacation golf” then try to get off the green tees as it will make life a lot easier.  

Tuesday 15th March 2011 – Enniscrone, my Enniscrone

By Sam Blackwell Tampa Joe, one of the members of our group, didn’t feel well enough to make the 50-mile trip to Enniscrone Golf Club. Later we’d tell him he may have missed one of the best golfing experiences of his life.  The course is exquisitely beautiful, and so was the day. Enniscrone sparkled in the sun. As Rick, one of the leaders, says, it doesn’t get better than this. The championship Dunes course at Enniscrone is on Killala Bay. The course is framed by Batra Island and the Ox Mountains, but the most striking characteristic is the way much of it threads through mountainous dunes covered in long brown grasses. [SinglePic not found]

Some of the magic dunes to be experienced at Enniscrone

The club was founded 1918. Eddie Hackett, who designed a number of the courses our group is playing, redid this one in 1974.  Hackett’s courses tend toward wide fairways and protective bunkering. When Donald Steel redesigned the course in 2001, he added treks through the dunes on both the front and back nines. Golfers are provided with two very different kinds of challenges, but the effect is not schizophrenic. This course engages you with its beauty while sternly testing your golf skills. Pat Sweeney, the club manager, played in the lead group with Rick and me. He told us many funny stories as we played, including one about a Japanese golfer who made supposedly made  hole-in-one. The Japanese custom requires the golfer to provide the playing partners with lavish gifts. When the group played the next day the golfer aimed away from the pin, but his ball struck a rock and caromed in for a second hole-in-one and second round of expensive gifts. Pat told us Enniscrone would add 10 strokes to our handicaps, and that turned out to be true for all but one member of our group. Mike is not a long hitter but keeps the ball in front of him and has a masterful short game. That is a good combination at Enniscrone, and he shot just 3 over par. [SinglePic not found]

Gary, Virgil, Mike, Sam, Pat Sweeny (Enniscrone) and Rick

Virgil is leaving the group to tend to some radio business in Dublin, a live broadcast from the Jameson Distillery on St. Patrick’s Day.  The rest of us will be wearin’ the green in Galway. Our stay with the Sligo Park Hotel has been as pleasant as could be. Every morning we have powered up with their full Irish breakfast, and every night we have found an intriguing eating establishment in Sligo. Everyone says they would return. For those interested Pat tells us that you can play Carne (Day One), Rosses Point (Day Two) and Enniscrone on the 4/5/6 July of this year in the inaugural Atlantic Coast Challenge. You can find out more about it here

Monday 14th March 2011 – Rory, Paddy and us….

By Sam Blackwell We thought about switching our scheduled tee time at Rosses Point in Sligo to a day later to ensure we wouldn’t have to battle sleet again.  Monday morning was chilly but dry, so off we drove to a course rated among the top 10 links courses in Ireland and Great Britain. Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy are both past winners of the Western Ireland Championship played each year at Rosses Point.   The challenging course is situated between the Atlantic Ocean and flat-topped Benbulben Mountain, a spectacular rock topped by snow this time of year. Rick, Mike and Virgil took me on their team for this round. Following us were Michael, Joe, Gary and a Norwegian golfer named Sven who is traveling around Ireland playing all the links courses. [SinglePic not found] Carts on golf courses are rare sights in Ireland but carts are available, an accommodation perhaps to Americans’ expectations. In America the golfer who walks has become a rarity.  Mike and Virgil have been riding in a cart the first two days of our trip. Mike rides because he has bad knees from football injuries. Virgil probably rides to keep Mike from feeling lonesome. Benbulben seemed to follow us as we made our way around the course.  When the sun broke through the clouds the mountaintop appeared to be on fire.  The scenery on this course is a spectacular mix of mountain, sea and vegetation that look almost exactly the way they did eons ago.  It’s easy to get mesmerized by the beauty, but the difficulty of the holes does get your attention. Because of the wind off the ocean, some of the par 4s were unreachable for our group. Bogey was a good score on those holes. Mike is the King of the Short Game on our tour. Off the tee he hits a short fade, followed by a faded approach shot and never more than two putts or a chip and a putt.  Mike’s play helped our team win the day’s best-ball competition. Afterward Joe said that he didn’t know whether to fly his approaches to the hole or to bump-and-run them.  That dilemma is one of the beauties of links golf. Sligo is William Butler Yeats country. He lived here and is buried here at Drumcliffe, where his father was the Presbyterian church rector. After golf and lunch, Kevin drove us to the poet’s grave to take pictures. [SinglePic not found] Tonight we’ll go to another pub – about 750 are listed in Ireland’s West/ North West Golden Pages — and might even dance an Irish jig. Traditional music is played almost everywhere.

Sunday 13th March 2011 – Carne Golf Links

Blizzard at Carne By Sam Blackwell We left for Carne (pronounced Cairn) Golf Links at 8:30 in the morning after a filling breakfast of eggs, sausages and fruit at the Sligo Park Hotel. Our driver Kevin treated us to Irish history lessons, jokes and an occasional song as we drove on a gray morning past stunningly green scenery including mountains frosted with snow and an ornate cemetery. The Atlantic appeared through the windshield from time to time, a reminder that wind would be our playing companion today. As we neared the golf course the sun appeared through the clouds, just as ordered, Kevin said. [SinglePic not found] The weather forecast was for a dry and chilly day with wind. We couldn’t have known the scale of the bluster off the ocean that awaited us. Most of us rented golf clubs in Ireland to keep from having to cart them through airports, so our practice swings were the first with these clubs. Rick, Mike and Virgil drove off the first tee in sunshine, their shots diving into a stiff wind.  They departed with their forecaddie Rory. Joe, Michael, Gary and I hit similar shots off the tee, and with the advice of our forecaddie Harry kept our balls in play the first two holes. Then tiny stinging icicles began pelting us, making it almost impossible to look at your ball unless your back was to the wind. But on we soldiered. In the group ahead, Mike skimmed ice off the face of his driver before teeing off and scraped ice off the windshield of his cart. Our hands quickly became wet and numb as the sleet pelted down. We expected the storm would quit eventually, but at the end of the fifth hole Michael mercifully said we should go in. He and other veterans of golf in Ireland said they’d never played in such brutal conditions before. While marching in, we saw the other group’s forecaddie, Rory, running for the clubhouse. When we arrived t he was rubbing his hands and arms, which he said had turned blue. Two members of his group want to continue playing, he told us. “They’re not right in the head,” Harry said. We laughed and guessed which two he meant. Virgil stopped playing on number 8, and Rick and Mike finished the front nine before joining us in the clubhouse. Over rounds of Irish coffee and Guinness we told the stories we would tell again soon in the States about the day Carne and the Irish weather got the best of us.

Saturday 12th March 2011 – we’ve all arrived!

All our guests arrived on time and in one piece this morning. Kevin (our excellent driver) met all at Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport and with all on board brought them to the Brazen Head in Dublin for an “Irish Breakfast”. We forgot to tell everyone that potatoes are pretty much standard in all food offerings in Ireland – after that initial shock we got back on the bus and settled in for the journey to Sligo and to our wonderful location here at the Sligo Park Hotel. Here’s what Sam Blackwell has to say….. Most of the Road Less Travelled crew landed in Dublin a bit after 9 Saturday morning after leaving Chicago about 8 Friday night.  On the flight we ate Irish stew, watched movies, listened to audio books and read, and slept very little. Mike, Gary, Rick and I were groggy on landing but adrenalized enough about being in Ireland to want to go to the Guinness Storehouse right away. [SinglePic not found] Kevin, our driver, met us at the airport along with two other members of the trip: Virgil from San Antonio and Joe from Tampa.  We set out to sample some Guinness and begin our golf vacation. Once at the huge array of buildings that make up the brewery we balked at paying 12 Euros for the tour when all we wanted was a Guinness and a sandwich.  A Guinness and a sandwich can be had anywhere in Ireland. Instead we went to The Brazen Head, which claims to be the oldest pub in Ireland. It dates to 1198 and served as a hostelry in the coaching days. According to legend, the name refers to a sculpture of a talking metal head that could answer questions and predict the future.  Once inside we predicted this would be fun. The place reeks of real Irish history. The Irish revolutionary Michael Collins frequently visited. So did the writers James Joyce and Brendan Beahan.  Joyce’s masterwork “Ulysses” contains the reference “you got a decent enough do in The Brazen Head for a bob.” We had fish and chips and more Irish stew and Guinness, of course, and looked at the photos of luminaries who’ve also visited, including the singer Tom Jones and actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. We also learned a bit about the members of the tour we didn’t already know. Rick, Mike, Gary and I sometimes play golf together in various combinations in our hometown, Cape Girardeau, Mo.  Rick is an entrepreneur and former police chief. Mike owns a store that sells Oak furniture. Gary is a retired accountant. Joe is a retired Verizon exec.  Virgil manages a group of radio stations. Rick, Joe and Mike are talkers. Gary and I are quiet. Virgil is somewhere in between but has a radio voice and knows how to use it. Three and a half hours after leaving The Brazen Head we arrived at the Sligo Park Hotel, our headquarters for the first part of the trip. The hotel is comfortable and has all the appointments golfers might want, including a restaurant, a bar that stays open late, a gym and a hot tub. The staff is helpful and smiles a lot. Michael, Rick’s partner in Irish Golf Vacations, met us at the hotel. He is from Tipperary and drove four hours to meet our group. Michael has a taste for the wry. Hargadon’s, a highly recommended pub in Sligo, hosted our first evening meal. .  At the bar men nursing tall beers watched a rugby match. We sat far at the rear, an area with its own separate bar. Many in our group chose the excellent seafood paella, others the traditional bangers and mash. Our waitresses were happy to take our pictures and allowed us to take theirs.