GHIN
Ireland - Part 1
"Your miss here should be to the left," the caddie told us. “There's a big bunker behind that right side hill.” We were on the 2nd hole of the Kilmore Nine of Carne Golf Links in Belmullet, Co. Mayo, Ireland. This was also the 2nd hole of proper links golf I'd ever played. In Europe, on the west coast of Ireland, that “hill” was a dune that looked like a mountain.
As we walked up to the green, the bunker revealed itself, and I laughed. As large as that hill looked from the tee box, it was monstrous up close. The sand behind was peppered with green grasses and went at least halfway up the hill's height. It looked like a protective dune seen down the Jersey shore but at least ten times the height.
Carne was the first of four rounds we played over eight days in Ireland. We started thinking about the trip back in January with friends from our golf club in New Jersey. Our friend, Brian, had family from Co. Mayo. He had visited many times before but never really played golf there. Going together let us split up planning duties: He would handle hotels and non-golf activities while I took care of tee times.
Over the next few months, while my husband, Jon, and I packed up our house in New Jersey and moved across the country, I researched where to play. Knowing that Westport, Co. Mayo, would be our home base, it became clear that we should target the last three courses featured in Tourist Souce Ireland: Carne, Co. Sligo, and Enniscrone. I made up an itinerary, and in May, we pulled the trigger on airfare (United, of course) and hotels. Just like that, our first overseas golf trip was a reality.
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In a world where resorts are booked solid 18-24 months in advance, it was a pleasant surprise to be able to book the times and days with each course that worked perfectly with the rest of our itinerary (more about the non-golf activities we did down in the Tonic section below).
Carne was course number one on my shortlist and happened to be the first course we played. We weren't the only ones checking it out that week: Actor and director Ed Burns was also there with a full crew working on a new film called Finnegan’s Foursome. The course was buzzing with activity from the filming - trailers, lighting rigs, the works. In the pro shop, we met up with our caddies and, of course, chatted with Fiona and Gerry of Tourist Sauce fame.
Filming was taking over a few holes, so we played a special “alternative” course routing to work around it. We started with the Kilmore Nine and then a composite nine made up of holes from the Wild Atlantic Dunes routing. It was everything I had envisioned in my head and then some. I was in awe of the massive scale of the dunes and the views of the Atlantic Ocean.
I could have played better. I lost around eight balls, which was not ideal, but I didn't care. Just walking with Jon, Brian, and the caddies - having a laugh, looking at vista after vista - was enough to make it an unreal day. The wind was down, the sun was up, and vibes were high. Guinness was had at the end of the round. Perfect day.
The next day involved some non-golf activities, but we took advantage of the late summer light by heading up to Mulranny Golf Club for our 2nd round of the trip. Mulranny is down a narrow road off of the N59 on the coast of Clew Bay, about 30 minutes north of Westport.
The small pro stop wasn't staffed when we arrived just after 5 pm. I followed the posted instructions to sign in on the log, put €25 in a tiny envelope with my name on it, and dropped it into a tiny slot to pay. As we were going out to find the 1st tee, someone came in from the back to see if we needed help and told us we could m
Source: https://nolayingup.com/blog/ghin-and-tonic-vol-20-casey
