BL Trip 1 - Golfing in Ireland
As Jen and I have begun our retirement traveling, there have been a few trips on my "bucket list" (BL). A couple of those trips I've been able to complete recently which I'll write about in these next two posts. The first was a golfing trip to Ireland.
For those of you who golf regularly, I don't need to explain why a golf trip to Ireland or Scotland is a BL trip. But for the rest of you, I'll try to explain.
It was in this part of the world that golf began. "The Open", or formerly called the British Open, recently conducted it's 154th tournament. So golf goes back a long way here. Some of the courses are quite old, and many golf traditions started here.
Many of the courses here are called "links courses" which is not readily found in the USA. A "links course" description got it's name from the rising land on the edge of the sea between the ocean and the farmland in Scotland. Courses along the sea in Ireland and Scotland look much different than those you see in the USA. There are usually no trees, but instead lots of long grass, sandy areas, and undulating fairways and greens. Because of the location, the weather is also normally very windy and often rainy.
Unlike many sports where you play against someone, in golf it's been said that your opponent is the course. Playing links golf in Ireland/Scotland gives golfers an opportunity to play against a very different and challenging opponent. And, because these courses are often by the sea, they are often beautiful to golf on. For all these reasons, golfing in this area is a bucket list trip for golfers.
Two years ago, and again this summer, I had the opportunity to golf in Ireland. A very gracious friend of mine has an apartment in Killarney, and a golf membership at Tralee, one of the top golf courses in Ireland. So naturally when he invited me to play there, I accepted. For those of you who might be interested in this type of trip, I'll try to give you positives and negatives of going there.
First, if you like travel and you've never been there, Ireland and Scotland are great destinations (see our previous blog post on Ireland). When not golfing, there are numerous things to do and see in these countries.
Second, the golf courses are spectacular. They are fun to play and beautiful to walk around. And if you don't take your game too serious, they are a fun challenge as some different types of shots are needed that you wouldn't typically do on an American course.
With all that said, there are some drawbacks to playing here. One is the weather. My friend David who was with me both trips to Ireland and my normal golfing partner, likes to say that golfing in Ireland and Scotland is one of the best marketing ploys ever done. The normal weather there, if we had it here, would keep you off the course. Cool/cold, wind, rain. It is definitely part of the allure, but if you hate golfing in the elements, you might be miserable. Fortunately on my last trip, the weather was abnormally gorgeous.
Also, the golf can be very expensive. Many of the top courses can cost $500 or more per round, and if you get a caddie, add more to that. So a trip in which you play 4-5 rounds of golf can easily cost $3000 just for the golf! I am very fortunate that my friend's membership at Tralee allows us to play essentially for free at that course, but other courses were $200-500 per round. Once you add food, lodging, pro shop souvenirs, and airfare, the trip can be quite pricey.
Finally, it can be a pain to lug your clubs around. Airports, cabs, and trains are not fun when you have to pull a set of clubs with you. And there is the cross-Atlantic travel and jet lag to deal with.
So is it worth it? It really depends on how much you love the game of golf, and if you want a significant challenge to your game. For those who are very casual golfers, or high handicap golfers, it might not be worth the challenge.
My next post will cover BL trip #2...fishing in Alaska!
Peace and Love,
Mike
