It is known as one of the very top golf courses in the world and for good reason. Situated in the shadow of the Mourne Mountains with the Irish Sea lapping the shores to one side - only a heavy slice away - it is an absolutely beautiful place to play golf.
I know what it can be like playing on links courses so I made sure I had a bumper supply of balls and must have had at least 20 when we started. Needless to say I came back with a substantially lighter bag but at least I had enough to get me round.
I got off to a good start winning the first hole. Unfortunately I was going to have to wait another 17 holes before I could say that again. Ed won the match easily (the bastard) and you can see from his swing below that he has played before.
Gavin tried to keep me in the game with advice about the lay of the land that only local knowledge could provide. First bit of advice that I failed to adhere to was avoid the gorse bushes. I tried but found it impossible and once the balls were in there there was no finding them or even if you did, no getting them out.
Second bit of advice was to avoid the bunkers. Apparently Tiger Woods himself played here a few years ago and had an awful round going into and not getting out of the bunkers. They are beasts - less forgiving than John Wayne Bobbitt's wife was.
At one point I found myself with the above tough third shot to the green.
All I had to do was keep the head down and pretend that the bunker was not there. Ignore the bunker, ignore the bunker. Head down. The bunker does not exist.
SHIT!!!! Unfortunately the bunker did exist and the head did not stay down. Less said about the rest of that hole the better.
I soon found out that it is not always better avoiding the sand, no matter how finely judged the shot may be (although technically I guess I WAS in the bunker). Guess where this shot ended up.
Lucky for me I have a good temperament for golf, and a good supplier of American lake balls so thoroughly enjoyed our game.
I did not win but I did take part and as long as the conditions are as good next time (which they never will be again) I think I will play better. there is certainly much room for improvement.
Just to emphasize how lovely the people over here tend to be - we were looking for a drink afterwards and went to a nearby pub, which was closed. The one two doors down was also closed but there were some women coming and going out of it who told us they were closed on Mondays. We discussed where to go and were struggling to come up with an option when she said 'Oh come in boys I'll give youse a pint'. So she poured us three Guinesses, chatted to us while we drank them and then sent us on our way.
Perfect way to spend a Monday.
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