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Course Nuffies - Ireland P1 (re-release)
20 Plays22 days ago
With the highly anticipated (and well overdue) second part of the Ireland Course Nuffies series, we thought we'd whet the appetite and refresh your memory ahead of next week's P2.
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Transcript
Introduction and Return to Course Nuffy Series
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Off The Tips podcast. If you're reading the title, you'll realize this is a little bit of a different pod. We're bringing back the course Nuffy series that we've been a little bit slack with, and this one's probably one for the travelers, one for the Gulf sickos that are about tradition and to break it down.
Memorable Golf Trip Overview
00:00:39
Speaker
Well, with me, I'm going to probably take a bit of a backseat because I was, was just living this trip through images and videos as AC and Monty boys welcome. And I'm sure you're looking forward to breaking down your golf trip.
00:00:56
Speaker
Hey Cal, yep, so pumped for this one. I'm excited to reminisce. We had a great trip. Monty, how are you going, mate? Yeah, good mate. It's good to be here. It's six months have passed, but um yeah, pretty pumped to rip in and try and form the listeners about how epic island golf is.
Why Choose Ireland for Golf?
00:01:18
Speaker
Well boys, we'll cut the small chat there and just Monty, can you talk to me about Why Ireland and not, you know, maybe somewhere else?
00:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, it's a good question. I think most people think of UK golf and think, you know, imminently to Scotland. You whereas for us, and probably one of the core attractions of of doing an island golf trip is it doesn't quite have the same depth of...
00:01:53
Speaker
of golf as say a Scotland or a US or even England does for that matter. So, you know, we, we diligently did quite a
Inspirations for the Trip
00:02:03
Speaker
bit of research. I think for us, no laying up the tourist source um series and Tom Coyne, um who's a professor stroke golf writer did a, did a book where he walked,
00:02:16
Speaker
Ireland and played every single golf links course in Ireland with his carry bag on his back and walked each course. so those two sources sort of born the idea and yeah AC and I sort of ran with it without too much thought. And and as we went through the process, it was, you know, logistically it's quite easy from any, you know, as a first golf trip was was quite easy. You know, there's only,
00:02:45
Speaker
a finite list of course that courses that you want to play as opposed to something like a Scotland where you can sort of break it up into probably five or six regions and sort of go down numerous rabbit holes. So we we carved out a list through, you know, quite extensive research and and and just went for it really, hired a car and basically drove a ah loop of Ireland.
00:03:08
Speaker
And this is the Republic of Ireland only, not um Northern Ireland.
Covering Key Irish Courses vs. Scotland
00:03:13
Speaker
AC, do you have any why not other points to add on that about why Island Golf is important to you or was important for you to see?
00:03:24
Speaker
i think to all Monty's points, he's covered it all really. The main thing was yeah watching that no laying up series just looked like a heck of a time. And then as Monty alluded to, it's just the fact that you don't really have to worry about missing anything.
00:03:40
Speaker
you can You can kind of cover all the courses you want to while you're there, whereas Scotland, you've got a lot more decisions to make. And so, for like, given the circumstances, we I think it was a lot easier logistically to go to Ireland, and man, their golf courses are good, which we'll talk about later.
Irish Golf Course Extravagance
00:04:01
Speaker
Yeah, I think as ah as a duo, as a first-time traveler, like proper overseas golf trip. It was quite easy from our part. It's just easy to tick them off.
00:04:15
Speaker
and And I think the the extravagance is probably a ah word that we might use on a number of occasions through this podcast. It's something to behold, really, ah of these golf courses. Like,
00:04:33
Speaker
a you know, the, the views, the extravagance of the, the style of golf, the shape of the golf holes of what you're playing in between. And I'm, you specifically alluding to the Jones here. It's like, uh,
00:04:49
Speaker
yeah it's it's It's pretty, for a layman like myself, it's hard to, I don't have a vocabulary good enough to sort of put into words, but it's you know so, so unique.
Unique Features of Irish Courses
00:05:00
Speaker
And you you know whilst we get exposure to Lynx golf through the the Open Championship every year, I think Ireland is distinctly different to what we would typically see on, on an open course, you know, which is typically obviously seaside, but big pot bunkering firm and fast.
00:05:21
Speaker
Um, whereas Ireland was, it didn't quite have the same extent of, of pot bunkering. It still had it. Um, and you what it lacked in pot bunkering made up for and, you know, just this, the dunes and the scale of these courses, like carved out of, uh, you know, made with made with shovels primarily back in the day and hence they didn't have the power to move big june. So you put golf holes in between them, which was pretty chaotic and fun.
00:05:53
Speaker
Yeah. I think the big thing is as well, the island style was that the fairways are pretty tight compared to a traditional links course. So they don't, they don't need pop bunkers. They've just got basically knee deep rough off the other side of the fairway.
Challenges and Rest Days
00:06:10
Speaker
and which the boys really struggled with. It was particularly penal. Basically every golf course, Monty and I just couldn't keep big numbers off the scorecard.
00:06:21
Speaker
was it was great, though. it was They were all tough walks as well is another thing I'll add. i ah We were always pretty knackered after a day. we We'd earned our beer.
00:06:33
Speaker
Yeah, well, boys, I'm really keen to hear about these golf courses, but before we kind of rip into that, do you want to just run me and the listeners through what you did and and how you went about it you know your time frame and and your movements i'll start with you ac maybe you can kick off yeah so what we did is we were there for two weeks and played 12 golf courses uh so what what we did is we started in dublin and played played kind of ad hoc round at the course called called barless
00:07:05
Speaker
played at the island and then drove up to Sligo where we played Enniskrone, County Sligo and Kahn and then we kind of went south and down to La Hinch and then we played at Ballybunion, went to Tralee, Waterville and then Dukes to finish.
Golf Course Itinerary
00:07:29
Speaker
We played a couple of nine-holers along the way and obviously there was a few rest days in between but that's very high level of what we did. I don't think I've missed any golf course out there, Monty.
00:07:39
Speaker
ah So that's that's the basis of our trip. So we basically did, we went to the top of Ireland real basically and then came down.
00:07:50
Speaker
we we covered a fair, it was a fair trip. We covered ah a decent whack of Ireland during our time there. Yeah, I think we drove 1,200 kilometres or something over over 14 days, couple of rest days, 136 all day. And, know, so it was quite nice. I think, you know, one thing people should be cognizant of when planning a trip and probably more so to Ireland than anywhere else is because you don't have to be so hectic in your schedule, don't be afraid to, you know, plan plan a couple of rest days in there. I know,
00:08:29
Speaker
Most eager beaver yeah golfers just want to get out there and play every day. But yeah we quite enjoyed and found it quite advantageous just having a couple of days here and there, one in Dublin, a couple in...
00:08:41
Speaker
in Galway, where you can just put the feet up because and they are they are big walks. um The pubs are are um pretty epic. So, you know, you don't want to taint your experience at something like a belly bunion by having too many sherbets the night before. So if you can budget in a couple of nights out, and I think that would be...
00:09:08
Speaker
would be yeah who would be good we we we found quite good mix but there one establishment which we'll allude to later where we we wish we could have tucked into a few more yeah is there anything in particular you guys got up to in those rest days that you'd recommend to people going or was it strictly that a rest day and you kind of didn't get out and do anything else because you're busy
Tourist Activities on Rest Days
00:09:36
Speaker
walking holes. with We just sort of roamed, didn't we, Monty? There was nothing in particular, I recall, other than the the Guinness factory.
00:09:44
Speaker
ah That's it's a good experience. It was a good touristy thing to do. Heck of a business, that. ah But they, apart from that, I can't recall us doing too much. Went to the Cliffs and Moher. They're a bit overrated.
00:10:01
Speaker
And apart from that, I can't recall more we did. Fuck, that's my alarm. ah Monty, anything else? I can't remember. no I would reckon we covered quite a few bases in Dublin, which I recommend, including the Guinness factory.
00:10:17
Speaker
But I just think when you're playing that much golf and doing quite a bit of driving, um you know, you need that time off because even sickos like us, you can get a little bit bored of,
00:10:30
Speaker
well, not bored of the golf, but you know, it just, you want it to remain fresh and unique. And I think one other thing I'd just tie into Ireland generally before we get specific into the courses is, you know, I wouldn't get your hopes up about the weather.
Weather Challenges in Ireland
00:10:45
Speaker
Like we, we had a ah run, um, like, and just talking to the locals who we played with and and others whilst we were there,
00:10:56
Speaker
um Yeah, that's just one other factor to be mindful of in that you're like you highly unlikely to get 14 days of ah good weather on an island golf trip. like You could easily get eight to ten, but I can't recall ah around a round of golf where I didn't play with at least a jersey or long pants.
00:11:16
Speaker
um And that just sort of adds to the AC's comment earlier about yeah attitude. Attitude's a premium playing. island golf courses you know your your big numbers around the corner whether it's from your own doing or a big gale or something yeah i think generally the one thing i took away was you've got to have a good attitude otherwise you you' have a shit time because the weather is often pretty grueling uh the scores are never great so you've just gotta just soak it up while you're there i kind of started
00:11:51
Speaker
sort of thinking, okay, I want to play 12, 13 good holes. And I think it's better way to think of your round rather than your total score because Monty and I were never really near our handicaps. It was pretty late. Neither of us playing off, what, fours and fives or something. Neither of us broke 80 around Ireland, I don't think.
00:12:14
Speaker
No, not I don't think them were close. No, no. I think my best was maybe like an 82 with probably a birdie on the last or something. And the other thing I'd say is Ireland golf course, like any UK golf course, is rugged by nature. You know, I alluded to it in the junks.
00:12:36
Speaker
So, you know your expectations should be around like the wow factor of the the shots that you're playing, the creativity required around the greens. Like it's, it's so, so different to what we have at home and you're not going to get like a, a Cape kidnappers or a carry cliffs type, uh, conditioning every round you play like you will at the top courses, but you know, there's just so much rugged beauty out there.
00:13:02
Speaker
You can't probably a prime example, but yeah, it just sort of adds to the, the whole, uh, you wholesome experience. you know It's proper golf, right? Not this glorified resort American golf.
00:13:17
Speaker
Was there any kind of additions to the bag that were important around Ireland? um I'd say what the obvious one would be an iron you can hit off the tee, but were what sort of shots were you guys playing that you maybe wouldn't play in New Zealand?
Adapting to Irish Golf Conditions
00:13:37
Speaker
it It's a good question. I i you really You quickly find out whether you can keep the ball out of the wind, and I can't. ah The top of the bag set-up's a lot more important, I feel.
00:13:51
Speaker
You need a lot of options off the tee. It sounds simple, but you need ah good set-up with your driving line. You need something that you can put in the fairway and try to keep low out of the wind.
00:14:03
Speaker
i bought a drive-in just before I went. And if I didn't have it, I would have been seriously screwed. ah It was a big player for me. So it's ah just a...
00:14:16
Speaker
ah it got to the point as well where you'd be playing into the wind and you'd be a chance of getting to the green with like a three wood and you, the the risk just was too much as well. So you'd have to kind of lay up and yeah, it was, it was such a, an eyeopening experience for me and I've played a lot of golf, but it was just a different gravy. Yeah. I think you need to be able to have the ability to put your, your ego to one side. Like,
00:14:44
Speaker
just hit a five iron from 110 or something, you know? Like, the shot that, rather than forcing one into the wind, and I know it's 101 stuff, but it was really rammed home in Ireland, but just that half-swing iron shot is is huge.
00:15:00
Speaker
They're both off the tee, and then also... um you know, heading into greens, like, except that on um some holes into the wind, that bogey's a good score.
00:15:10
Speaker
and And also, the probably didn't get as quite as many run-offs as I was expecting, but there's still enough that, like, that seven-iron chip into the hill or even up up to a green is very handy. Like, I know, ah think most golfers would would acknowledge that they don't use it as much as they should.
00:15:33
Speaker
Um, because it's a lower-risk option, but, um, you know, it can really limit the damage and help make some up and downs from tricky, tricky spots around Ireland.
00:15:44
Speaker
Um, and just take your medicine out of the rough.
00:15:49
Speaker
The other thing that was really tricky with the rough is you'd be on dunes, right? So the ball would be below your feet or well above it. And it just made it even more difficult, especially when it's seriously thick.
00:16:02
Speaker
Um, that was what we really struggled with. I felt, ah the rough was bad, but just not having a flat lie. Yeah. And, um, reflecting on it when we were at the open at Liverpool,
00:16:16
Speaker
you You can't ride the wind. Like, if you've got a left to rider trying to hold fairways or hold greens, hitting a fade.
00:16:27
Speaker
Boys, that was some interesting intel um on shot shaping and club usage. You know, I'm um'm sick of that sort of stuff. But I think the punters are ready to get into chatting about some golf courses.
00:16:39
Speaker
ac Kick us off, mate. Where did the big grand...
First Experience at Corbalis
00:16:44
Speaker
We had a bit of an afternoon to kill. We we had no plans of golf, and Monty and I thought, okay, let's have a little look around, and let's just find it. We had a bit of an itch to scratch. We were keen to get out there and just play a pretty casual afternoon round, and we landed on Corbalis, which was a great start to our Irish golf experience. They had this unbelievable front nine that...
00:17:09
Speaker
Had some dramatic holes, a lot of up and down, um some some pretty interesting dunes that you play between. And then the back nine... they shouldn't have bothered with the back nine was bleak but it was a great it was cheap it was an awesome start I remember thinking holy shit I'm in some strife here because I couldn't keep it on the planet that day and I i honestly remember being so concerned about like how it's going to go on all these nice courses was like I wouldn't have verbalized it that much but I was genuinely like oh this could be such a tough trip but yeah it was a it was a great time
00:17:49
Speaker
it's like It's a fantastic curtain raiser for everything. You know, we flew in over Dublin and we saw all these golf courses. fuck We were like, fuck, we've got to get out. We've got to get out. um It's probably 20 minutes out of Dublin on car, maybe 30.
00:18:05
Speaker
Good way to ah practice the Irish driving. And then, ah you know good way, a great curtain raiser, the front nine, like very... a very similar to what we what we faced in the and the days following.
00:18:20
Speaker
um yeah i I'd highly recommend if people have a spare couple of hours in their evening when they're in Dublin or half a day to kill to at least just go out and play the front nine, just your classic, classic country golf course, tiny little clubhouse,
00:18:40
Speaker
um just epic golf holes during, you know, I think we got, we had a couple of shockers with directions thinking the hole was one way and we played it that way and turned out we just had it in some absolute blunder, but it's part of the experience.
00:18:59
Speaker
You talk about it having an epic front nine, what stood out on the front nine that, you know, was was left out of the the design maps on the back?
00:19:11
Speaker
Just the land they had to work with would be the thing, right? A lot of quirky holes. You're kind of hitting off little plateaus down to greens, hitting up to greens.
00:19:23
Speaker
You're kind of between the dunes. And then the back nine, you kind of come out of the dunes and it's just, it looks like it's just been added on to try and make 18 holes is the way I'd describe it. I don't know if that's exactly what happened, but it's the impression I got.
00:19:37
Speaker
On the front nine, you're playing in some like, genuine valleys of dunes. Like, you're playing as if the fairway was meant to be there. And that's the the path you've got to take, which obviously we didn't take. But, um you know, it's lots sort of table-toppy type greens.
00:19:57
Speaker
some ah pretty sure if you If you look at the car, it was pretty short from memory, but it requires all sorts of shots. Epic, epic starter.
00:20:09
Speaker
Then we can probably leave Corbalis there. Like I said, we'd recommend that um for nine holes if people have got time. We then headed, we stayed in Dublin for a few
Experience at Island Golf Club
00:20:21
Speaker
nights. So the day following was and we played the Ireland Golf Club, um which along with Port Marnik,
00:20:29
Speaker
port monarch would be regarded as sort of the top top two or three golf courses in Dublin and is ranked in the top 10 in Ireland.
00:20:41
Speaker
It was quite different in a weird way to what we had through the rest of the trip. So we we had a very firm and fast day at the island, um which wasn't necessarily indicative of the rest of the trip, like whilst it was still firm in summer, this this day was something else. And I think it'll hang with me probably for, you know, the rest of my life. Like some of...
00:21:13
Speaker
the shots we had to hit, like very, very narrow fairways on some instances. You had numerous cross wins and we just, to be, to be, yeah to be honest, just weren't up to it. Like we just ah couldn't hold the fairways because it was so firm. And if you started spinning a ball left to right with a left to right breeze, you just have no chance of holding these fairways. Like,
00:21:41
Speaker
And equally hitting into greens downwind was like nigh on impossible. Like you're hitting wedges and you're having to land them like 30 metres short of the green to then like hope that you've predicted the run out and the bounce accurately enough to then, you know, try hold the green or get well get close to the hole.
00:22:02
Speaker
It was in a great condition. it was a great condition golf of course. Yeah. you know, a lot of fun. Like, and that was probably the very early reminder where you need to learn how to fade, you fade or draw the ball like against the wind.
00:22:19
Speaker
And it was notably tight compared to the other layouts we played. And then you add... the wind and the firmness and the fairways playing half the size of that. And so it was just extremely difficult.
00:22:31
Speaker
The other thing about it, the way I describe the fairways, like if you were to pitch a ball onto a cricket pitch, it was, it was so firm. ah And,
00:22:42
Speaker
I just distinctly remember just hitting a few wedges downwind and you just, you actually have no idea what to say. yeah you don't know where to say, go, sit. And normally you have an idea, but it was just a different, different gravy.
00:22:58
Speaker
And one hole that stands out to me, I think it was the narrowest fairway in Ireland. I think it was 13 or 14 maybe. And there's this part of four where you start swimming back alongside this inlet by the harbour there.
00:23:13
Speaker
And, you know, that's pretty fun to to, like, experience a hole like that. And, you know, and the par three before that was, like, really epic. Some some really cool holes. Like, and the the people there, it'll be something we say throughout this whole pod. But um the guy who who greeted us and sort of had yarns with us on the first tee. It was almost as though he was employed by the club just to be a legend and just chat to the visitors and be an epic guy, really. and
00:23:51
Speaker
And that was something we didn't quite get the other big boy courses in this realm. So it had this, you know, whilst it's ranked quite well and, you know, we'd rank it pretty highly ourselves, it had There's quite you a different feeling about the about the place. like all All island golf courses, I had a lack of snobbiness, like you may expect at these grand golf courses. That was a cool thing of the whole trip. But ah the island stamp stood out slightly above the rest in that respect, which is always nice on your first proper round.
00:24:27
Speaker
Yeah, you... talk You talk about this being your first big boy golf course of the trip, and I'll kind of ask a question regarding to kind of all of
Tradition of Collecting Souvenirs
00:24:36
Speaker
the golf courses. When you were going there and you're, you know, obviously hanging around Pro Shop bars, did you collect any kind of souvenirs from these golf courses?
00:24:47
Speaker
Yeah, I've got a ball marker from every one. a little I've got my Waterville hat on too, but that apart yeah, just one. ball markers for me, I do it back home as well with the golf courses and that that's what I collect. Monty, you're similar, think? Yeah, yeah, similar and um some courses gave us yardage books which which is always quite a cool keepsake but, you know, as you can imagine, the pro shops are ah on the expensive side so, you know, it all depends on one's on one's budget and an ideal would be you're bowling a polo at each place but,
00:25:26
Speaker
us young professionals can't quite cop that. so So, boys, your your day at the island wraps up. How have you and enjoyed your day and what's next?
00:25:39
Speaker
It was a heck of a day. ah And then we had the afternoon free, I believe, and we went to the pub. Well, not the pub, several pubs. ah temple bar while you're in dublin the the irish don't like temple bar because it's so touristy but as a tourist it's a heck of a time the the drinks will sting you but uh it's a it's a great spot to tie one on yeah we that was that'll go down as one of the greats like the live music um and yeah it's just incredible scenes like incredible scenes
00:26:17
Speaker
Yeah, my experience with Temple Bar is very similar. it was It was a bit loud and ruckus-y. But, boys, speaking of beers, Monty especially, not known for enjoying his stouts. how did you How did you get around the you know the local drop Guinness?
00:26:38
Speaker
I'm starting to warm to them. The thing with them, you've got to take big gulps. If you sip at them, they taste horrific.
00:26:47
Speaker
Yeah, splitting the Guinnesses was a great way to indulge. get yeah Get a big gulp under into your first and then you're underway. But I don't know, battled through.
00:27:01
Speaker
Haven't ordered one since, but and tried to order one at every clubhouse. they They weren't necessarily going down quick at these clubhouses.
00:27:12
Speaker
There was some nursing going on. Well, boys, ah yeah so you've you've got your first day off and as you alluded to, you ripped and teared at Temple Bar. So I imagine the next day, the rest day looked a little bit bleak. And then you headed off to Monty. where Where was next on the agenda?
00:27:32
Speaker
Yeah, we um we we drove we drove about three hours three hours north um until sort of the the northwestern tip of um Ireland, by the northeastern tip of Ireland, I should say, um to to County Sligo, Enniskrone area. So we played Enniskrone in the afternoon, um which which is a golf course that is probably starting to come on the radar of of tourists more and more. It's probably not one.
00:28:08
Speaker
that would have always been on the radar like some that we've alluded that we will allude to through the course of this podcast. But it's, it's, I think it has the highest, you know, one of, if not the highest set of dunes and in Ireland on, on the golf courses. So it was, you know, it was ah good course, amazing dunes, amazing views, probably the biggest dunes on, on the trip.
00:28:35
Speaker
um but didn't quite have the wow factor like some of the other golf courses. It was rugged. um It was a really good golf course, but yeah we'll touch on Kahn in a moment. it's It's very similar to Kahn, and that Kahn and Enniskorn are big in dunes, quite rugged,
00:29:03
Speaker
sort of smaller
Memorable Time at Enniskrone
00:29:04
Speaker
feel about the places with some very quirky holes and if one was was planning a trip and you were a little bit time or cost constrained I would definitely say that you know Enniskrone with all due respect is probably in the you know not the no need camp but like if you had to pick one of Kahn or Enniskrone I'd go with Kahn they're quite similar and in a similar location but yeah but
00:29:33
Speaker
a worthwhile course all the same. AC? Yeah, i think I think I agree that Ennis Cone was one of the weaker places that we played at, but I still had a ah heck of a time there.
00:29:48
Speaker
the i think to Monty's point, the the the holes that were outside of the dunes just didn't inspire us that much. um The one thing that we aided by is we played with think he was about 15 and ah he was, it was his local track and just a great, a great kid.
00:30:10
Speaker
He was so mature for his age and just showed us around so well. We had a great time playing with him. That's, that's, what was his name? Frankie.
00:30:21
Speaker
Frankie. yeah So that's, that's the sort of experiences that you have that you'll remember as well, rather than the course, um, He was just a – he really took pride in showing us around the place, which was awesome. um And one thing I'll never forget is Monty asked him if foxes are dangerous.
00:30:41
Speaker
the The foxes on the golf course are dangerous, and he just lost it, Frankie. um he He just thought it was the stupidest question he'd ever heard um and basically told Monty, let's put it this way, it's more scary than you. Yeah. ah yeah Do you reckon Monty's just watched too much Dora the Explorer when he was growing up and and had a bit head noise about Swiper?
00:31:10
Speaker
ah Yeah. Many a nightmare is about Swiper. Swiper knows swiping is is a common phrase in my head. I want to shout out the Par 5s there. that They had four four of them, but three were epic.
00:31:23
Speaker
ah One wasn't great, but I thought they had the stronger set of par fives of any of the courses we played. at ah They would have matched up with them. Yeah, and what, 12 or 13? Maybe this epic downhill par four. and yeah so You sort of can take the options well over the junes and try to almost get to the green.
00:31:43
Speaker
We just play around around them. if Epic golf hole. Yeah, still a lot of really good golf holes. AC, what in particular stood out about the par fives? Were they just all different or...
00:31:55
Speaker
Was there anything that springs to mind? Well, three of them were in the sort of June section of the golf course, which is obviously always going to be more exciting and just, yeah, big, big elevation changes, um some dog legs.
00:32:11
Speaker
One of them I had a pretty good look for an email too, so maybe that tainted my view of the hole, but basically just, they just had a whole lot of intrigue about them, um different sort of shapes to the holes really. And,
00:32:24
Speaker
And a few of them you couldn't hit drive was it risky off the tee as well, which is always a bit quirky for a par five. And they were playing in different directions as well. and So, you know, like the wind doesn't necessarily impact you as much, like which was quite cool.
00:32:43
Speaker
Around kind of this part of ireland I... I don't know what the exact kind of township's called, but what is the community and the villages kind of like?
00:32:53
Speaker
Very, like, small. It's saying in the obvious, but they're very friendly people, Ireland, and it'll be a theme in this pod, just accommodating.
00:33:04
Speaker
Definitely the out of all the places I travelled in Europe over that sort of two, three-month stretch, the Irish were the friendliest by a mile. Yeah, and... It does get quite remote, like a small town New Zealand, but probably 40 years ago, you know, or something like that. Like it feels almost backwards in a way, like like some some of the small towns in Ireland, which is quite refreshing, actually. um like And then the roads, you for those who aren't aware, the the roads in Ireland aren't known to be the easiest for driving in.
00:33:40
Speaker
when you get up into the the more remote parts of the country, you start driving on what are allegedly double lane roads, but you can barely fit one car, one car through, let alone two.
00:33:52
Speaker
How did the boys go with that? We were fine. Driving in the cities was almost harder. We had some hairy moments in Dublin just early on. Me specifically.
00:34:03
Speaker
I think one stage Monty went down, down a one way lane, heading, heading against the grain. Uh,
00:34:11
Speaker
but they they have So the thing that's a bit unsettling sort of when you're driving there is they have these these sort of um stone walls, but they're hard up against the road.
00:34:25
Speaker
So you you don't have like wriggle room either either side. So it feels a lot tighter than it probably is as well. um But I thought the boys did pretty well in the driving front, to be honest.
00:34:38
Speaker
Yeah, no those skiers, which is a tick in the box. and Well, the car's coming back in one piece, so, like, you could argue it was a fantastic driving display from the lads.
00:34:51
Speaker
Yeah, impeccable. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but this was your 36-hole day at Enniskrone, and then you headed to County Sligo, or is that we false mail? We just played County Sligo the next day.
Praise for County Sligo
00:35:07
Speaker
Okay. So... AC, one of your favourites, mate. The floor is yours. Yeah, it just stays clear. I loved this place. um Very different style to the other courses we played at. It doesn't really have dunes, so the fairways are a lot wider, which I can appreciate.
00:35:28
Speaker
ah bit more of a Scottish sort of English-type feel, more pop, because there's actually room. with What happens in Ireland is there's not... With the big dunes, there's actually not...
00:35:39
Speaker
any room to put pot bunkers so at Sligo we got a lot more of that was a bit more strategic off the tee trying to take some bunkers out of play and then around the greens as well without dunes they had room for some pretty wicked green complexes the greens were a little bit bigger um had some nice run-offs I feel like you had a bit more options at Sligo. They, the hold and dictate how you should play it quite as much as, as the other golf courses in Ireland, I'd say.
00:36:11
Speaker
And that's what I really enjoyed about It was in great nick. Uh, the, the routing was really interesting. ah yeah. I, I can't speak highly enough of County Sligo. I think out of all of them, if I was a member anywhere, it probably would be there.
00:36:25
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I've got very little to add to that. Um, cool little town, Sligo, like good place to, good place to stay. Um, quite a cool clubhouse.
00:36:38
Speaker
Um, probably one of the courses we have scoped to sort of play more runs, uh, you run, run chit shops, bump and runs around the greens.
00:36:49
Speaker
It's probably one of the tighter courses in terms of wise, like sort really good neck, um, which, which was quite fun. um just some nice yeah ups and downs.
00:37:01
Speaker
um yeah Because whilst whilst the the walking through Ireland is quite difficult, like with your dunes, if you were to look at an elevation change over round, you're probably not looking at massive amounts. With Sligo, you're going up big hills, down big hills, which was also quite nice for a change. We had a pretty cool experience, actually, probably on reflection, like...
00:37:27
Speaker
um 13 holes in, we were looking at rain all day, and then the heavens opened up, and we've we we literally yeah tried to get through it, but had to sprint from the back of the course into the clubhouse, strip down to our undies, basically, sat in the clubhouse for baby...
00:37:50
Speaker
I don't know, two or three hours in the hope that the rain would clear. And then the the boys in the clubhouse let us take a card out for free when the and we got a small break in the weather and and shot out for um for our last five or six holes, which was probably the best stretch in aggregate almost on on the golf course.
00:38:10
Speaker
um ah The logo, the County Sligo logo, is probably... probably top two on the trip. So I'd say Waterville and Sligo had the best logos.
00:38:23
Speaker
um I got a head cover from there. So if you don't know where to buy your kit, I'd say Sligo's up there because it does have an epic logo. And it's pretty proximate to Enniscrone. So it's probably 45 minutes from Enniscrone. So the scope to do a 36-hole day, ah if that's desired, because outside of that, it's pretty sparse in terms of top tier golf courses.
00:38:50
Speaker
They've got a bit of a yarn, I think. AC, again, the floor is yours. I think you might be better at telling this one, but... Yeah, yeah yeah I'll have a go on that.
00:39:03
Speaker
So we we didn't we didn't stay many B&Bs. We were mainly our own residences, but Sligo, there was a distinct lack of accommodation options because you're in a relatively small town.
Humorous B&B Anecdote
00:39:17
Speaker
So we we stayed in a B&B and our host, our lovely host, Celine, and was was was great. It was a cold, cold, cold evening. I think AC and I had been out. Oh no, we got home late from Innisfree and was we we thought we were probably the last one last one's home maybe.
00:39:44
Speaker
So there was there was some opaque instructions with the door opening and closing that we didn't quite get our head around. So I think think what happened is we got home late, and thought we were the last ones home, locked the door, maybe on accident, I can't recall. And turns out, you we go down for breakfast the next morning in what had been a pretty cold and a pretty thundery night.
00:40:10
Speaker
in a small town island and AC had managed to lock Celine and her darling husband out ah yeah of the house for the night.
00:40:22
Speaker
Jesus. They didn't... for the life of a kid, they did it in a spare key or something, so like they were unable to get into their own home. I think they tried to tried to scale the fence anytime and get into the back door and our our phones were blowing up the next morning. i think they'd been banging on the door for around three or four hours and I think One of the guests in the other room managed to let them in at maybe 3 or 4 a.m. Probably the best part about it was she comes down and was explaining it to me in the morning, like we were so cold, couldn't get in.
00:41:06
Speaker
i was like oh, shit, sorry about that. The AC just shrugged it off like nothing had happened. For a pretty sympathetic guy, there was there was a distinct lack like a sympathy showing for Paul Selene.
00:41:21
Speaker
Jeez. was Was that a... Go on, AC, mate. I need to hear more about this. So I'm one of those people that sweats everything. like Normally in that situation, I'd feel so guilty. I'd be thinking about it for weeks.
00:41:38
Speaker
But I just... I just couldn't wrap my head around how there was no other way you could get into your house, especially when you're hosting like four different bedrooms. I just, I just couldn't get my head around that. I said, there's gotta be a spare key or a way in the back door. Like you guys, surely that's gotta be in the models.
00:41:55
Speaker
So I don't know. I didn't, I don't think I'd really appreciated what we'd done. Uh, yeah, I was about rattled in the morning. ah Yeah, it was... But yeah, I didn't... I don't think I even used the word sorry, which... I don't... I don't know. think we were checking out that morning too, which probably helped. Good timing.
00:42:16
Speaker
Was it a frosty reception over your complex, or...? Oh, she made it... Yeah. yeah I hope she's not a listener. No, I felt bad, so I gave her five stars.
00:42:31
Speaker
Good on you, mate. ah I'm glad you can sleep at night after that. Great memories. And then we headed across to
Rugged Play at Khan
00:42:40
Speaker
Cannes. So as I mentioned, Sligo is sort of the northeastern corner of of Ireland. We we then traferred traversed essentially across to Cannes, which was you know sort of in the northwestern corner of Ireland.
00:42:54
Speaker
um Between Sligo and Khan is Enniskrain for a bit of context. So it's probably 45 from Sligo to Enniskrain and then another 45 or maybe even a bit more on onto Khan. So Khan, how do you describe Khan? 27 holes of just rugged, and rugged extravagant,
00:43:20
Speaker
ay chaotic, unique, don't know, it was probably, you know, the probably the craziest course I'll ah play, or at least I've played in my time.
00:43:32
Speaker
um e Shaggy condition, which made it just all the better, like, just, we talk about these dunes and these But this was sort of next level, probably. Like the the scale, but also the consistency of it Like each hole, you're just weaving in between these dunes is probably a a decent way of describing it.
00:43:56
Speaker
and You get out to the coast at one point. um You know, Jerry Maguire, the guy who greeted us at the club, absolute legend, had so much time for us. Like, you know, think that the club has has struggled.
00:44:14
Speaker
in the past to sort of put itself on the map and has struggled financially. you know COVID hurt it. They were ramping up the visitor rounds again, but it's still very small in the context of Irish golf. It's quite remote, which makes the experience all the better.
00:44:32
Speaker
um He gave us, Jerry gave us ah a great a great term, the lobster pot, when describing a pub. Once you get in, you can't get out. um In reference to one of the local pubs near there, which which I thought was great. And I started to weave into my vocabulary back home. and um ah don't know, AC, you must play all 27 holes. The Kilmore Nine, which is which was our last nine holes, was...
00:45:02
Speaker
Yeah, just chaotic. I don't know. I was struggling for words. It was cool. It's very hard to describe. I think what we'll do is we'll put some stuff on socials and just, I think, a few photos next to June's just to put in perspective how, like when you're putting on the greens next them, how tall they actually are when you see ah human under it.
00:45:25
Speaker
um Just for that reference, I... I think it's, yeah, it's one of those ones where i just don't think you can ever describe it. I don't think a video or photo will ever truly reflect sort of how dramatic it is.
00:45:41
Speaker
how It's kind of like playing golf on the moon. well it It's just so, you just feel so, just it just feels like you're actually on a different planet. And it sounds really soppy and painful, but it's it's true.
00:45:57
Speaker
think one... One memory I'll have is on the Kilmore Nine, there's this hole that is probably about 300 up the hill. And this hill is steep and its it's firm. And Monty's hit his two iron, probably 200 metres, 210 up the hill.
00:46:17
Speaker
And into the middle of the fairway, and we're just like, oh, nice shot sort of thing. And then probably about 10 seconds later, at this thing's rolling back 100 metres, and which is...
00:46:29
Speaker
Which is unfair, but if you if you laugh it off, it's just like that hole was just so outrageous. I'll never forget that. don't actually know how you meant to play that hole. I think I remember it would have been about a 54 into the green, and I think I hit 6-0, if my memory serves me correctly.
00:46:50
Speaker
and And that hole follows probably like one of the coolest par fives, right? that That one where you weave you go You go left, then you go right, then you go left, basically, onto the screen.
00:47:03
Speaker
and risk a Really risk-reward golf course. If you're hitting drive around there, again, it's not long. You could probably make hay, but um yeah even more so than some of these other courses, are a big risk-reward element. um Yeah.
00:47:19
Speaker
It was the sight of a club throw. umm I'm embarrassed by that on reflection, but it was just the compounding of like early links golf experience where you sort of nothing quite goes your way. You get these unlucky bounces.
00:47:34
Speaker
You just can't quite hit the golf ball properly. And it's just, you know, all the frustration came out at Cannes for a couple of, couple of holes. I think we both made two on this par three afterwards, which was cool.
00:47:48
Speaker
I think we did that a couple times on the trip. Yeah, I distinctively remember Monty and I just making messes of par fives. and And they were always after we had something a bit, a couple of big numbers and you felt like you might be able to get one back, little wedge in your hand into the par five and we'd shank one or fat one and make a six. And we we did that all trip really.
00:48:12
Speaker
I think it was almost like you put a bit of pressure on yourself when you're on the par fives. And that's where that's the frustration Monty's alluding to. But the Kilmore 9, I reckon I finished three holes.
00:48:23
Speaker
was um The rough was so tough, and I just lost it at that point in the round. was pretty gassed. It's a tough walk-around, Khan. So I think if you're playing the Kilmore 9, you do want a decent break between your 18-hole round.
00:48:41
Speaker
um You have to play the Kilmore 9. Just bring it out, then not if. Yeah. you're there you can't not yeah oh can't been been high on my agenda for a long time and I really hope I get there and seeing all the footage of you guys playing and obviously the the no leg up boys went there and kind of I ah don't know if this is correct but put them on the map a little bit but you can just tell by all of the things I've seen through you guys and through other stuff how drastic it really is and You can just tell, you know, two accomplished podcasters like yourself struggling for words to describe this magnificent place. I think it's it's just a place, and I haven't been there, that that you need to get to.
00:49:25
Speaker
and I can't ran home sort of the whole experience of getting there too. Like, it's it's very remote. Hands down be the most remote part of the the country that we were in. And you, you sort of take this road where you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. And then next minute you're in this golf course at the tip of, you know, the Northwestern tip of Island. It's pretty, ah pretty epic in combination with the, the, the grand nature of the golf course.
00:49:56
Speaker
Anything else they say? The one thing we haven't actually talked about yet is just how windy it was at every golf course
Windy Conditions Challenges
00:50:02
Speaker
we played. it's, it Staying the obvious, Lynx golf is always going be windy, but you know we were dealing with three to four club breezes all day, really. There'd be occasional times where it'd die down, but you're that was sort of the normal, I'd say.
00:50:18
Speaker
Yeah, and that day was no different. After that, and that was sort of that was our only 36-old day. um So we played 27 at Cannes and then probably drove for a couple of hours and then played nine holes and this was heading down to the southwest which is you know we're a pocket of good golfers so then we played a country nine holder called Marani which Tom Coyne had recommended from memory through his book as one of his more preferred nine holders in Ireland sort sheep for context like honesty box green fees uh
00:51:02
Speaker
ah Fences around the greens, sheep roaming around, um relatively small area of land crossing over holes almost, and then just sort of quite this stunning little, stunning bay with these massive sort of hills
Playing at Mulrani
00:51:17
Speaker
on either side. like very very lovely outlook um and a very flat, flat pleasant walk.
00:51:25
Speaker
um Yeah, I wouldn't say it's a must-do, but if you're looking for a cheap and cheerful place fun, nine-holer, different experience to some of the other ones, then, you know, I'll put it on the list.
00:51:41
Speaker
Yeah, nothing not a lot to add. it was I think Pleasant's a great way to describe It it was just a nice evening. The wind had started to die down. The other thing was it just so flat, which was really nice. it was just a real easy walk.
00:51:56
Speaker
think I played in runners. um And there was a couple of cool little quirks to it there's a not there's a really cool path three um i enjoyed it i i agree in that it's not something you need to worry about but definitely worth kind of calling in if you're passing by and still feel like you're up to playing a bit of golf and it's probably the most local course that we played like you know we'd probably been the only tourist through there for You know, all week at least. Like, there's probably only 50 tourists that play there a year type thing, you know, which is quite cool.
00:52:33
Speaker
Like, all the locals were just out there in jandals and walking their dogs and everything. It's got, yeah, nice nice contrast. Awesome, some boys. We're heading to the kind of the end of of part one One thing I just kind of want to circle back on is you talk about the lobster pot being the local around Cannes.
Local Pub Near Cannes
00:52:51
Speaker
Did you guys get yourself stuck in a lobster pot when you were there? Nah, we had to get moving. So we didn't didn't go out in Cannes. Yeah, basically, Jerry said to us, there's probably, um um speculating here, there's probably about two places you can stay in in Cannes.
00:53:10
Speaker
And he asked us if if we'd stayed and if we'd experienced the pub. And he said, and we said no. And he said, next time you must stay in Cannes and you must go to this establishment. So I think you know yeah yeah You've got to take his word for it. So if you're up in Cannes, we stayed in Sligo, then trekked to Cannes.
00:53:29
Speaker
Spend a night at Cannes and experience the the the original lobster pot, if you will. Yeah, I think Balmullet's the town.
00:53:41
Speaker
Balmullet, that's it, yeah. lies Well, I'm sure you'll find yourself in a lobster point pot at some point, especially if you're you know, head back that way or maybe on your Scotland trip or, you know, maybe just on Saturday.
00:53:55
Speaker
But, boys, as we wrap up this pod, i mean what are the must-dos of part one that we've kind of gone over? Yeah, I think if you're being cutthroat and you were you were cut for time,
00:54:11
Speaker
or or on a budget, let's say. I think in this pocket of golf courses we've played, I'd say you must play County Sligo, um as we alluded to, quite different to what we had, Great Nick.
00:54:24
Speaker
You must play Khan and all three nines as as we emphasized, and I think you must play the island and in Dublin. Like, therefore, we've opted to leave out, I guess, the two nine holes of Mulrani, Corbalis, and Eneskroen, as we've probably touched on. um But not not that they're bad in their own right, but if you're really tight for time, you know, I'd go with those.
00:54:57
Speaker
And is there anything that you guys maybe had to cut out when you were doing your itinerary that you'd probably to play or or is there anything you'd do differently about the start of the trip?
00:55:09
Speaker
we We would have loved to play Port Marnock. They'd they had no bookings available when we would have liked to play. So it just didn't, didn't line up. But I think while you're in Dublin, Port Marnock sounds like it's an absolute must. And especially if you just kind of want to do it all while you, while you're there, it's, it's one that you shouldn't leave out.
00:55:32
Speaker
um Yeah. The other thing I'll add is I think, I think Sligo was probably best course value for money as well. So while you're there, that's,
00:55:42
Speaker
that's definitely another sort of thing I can rant home about Sligo, even though I've already given it a pretty, pretty big rap. um The other thing I'd say just generally on the whole, without wanting to toot our own horn is, you know, we, we were quite diligent in our research heading into the trip. And I think, you know, as a playbook, generally we, you know, we're pretty happy on the large, ah by and large. So like,
00:56:12
Speaker
you know If one's looking to traverse through Ireland, like um you know we were pretty content generally, but Port Marnock would be the one in this pocket of the trip that we were just unlucky this time around. and But I think probably we we we should probably post our full itinerary or something, including accommodation afterwards too.
00:56:34
Speaker
It's probably a good thing to do. but Yeah, I was so content. We nailed it. Boys, I've absolutely loved you running me through the start your trip. We obviously have talked about it a little bit, but I i haven't heard all these yarns in depth and the Celine one definitely stands out. I don't remember ever hearing that yarn. So that's brilliant stuff. And you know i think you've provided a great insight to playing some of the golf courses in Ireland and two, I'm really looking forward to. So
00:57:08
Speaker
Thanks guys for tuning in and I really hope you and enjoyed the boys' yarns. And as we've said, part two is coming out in the next fortnight. So keep your eyes and ears peeled. We're going to have heaps of stuff on socials, describing the trip, photos, videos.
00:57:25
Speaker
I hope there's a club throw yarn in there, but boys, thanks for breaking that down with me at such different times of the day. And I really enjoyed it. And I'm i'm sure the listeners did too. And we'll catch you next time. and Time to go home here, boss.
00:57:38
Speaker
Why didn't you just go home? That's your home! Are you too quick for your home?