« August 2007 | Main | October 2007 »
Melanie Futura, the SCGA's assistant director of Rules and Competitions, and NCGA Director of Communications Hillary Howard are among the golf adminstrators who teed it up today in the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship at Desert Forest GC in Scottsdale Ariz. Read David Shefter's profile HERE
Melanie shot 83 today and is tied for 54th. The low 64 after tomorrow's round advance to match play.
Go, Melanie!
Both the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, and the U.S. Women's Mid-Am, at Desert Forest CC in Scottsdale, begin tomorrow.
At Bandon Dunes, 33 Californians are in the field (plus 2005 U.S. Mid-Am champion Kevin Marsh, who lives in L.A. but belongs to La Cumbre CC in Santa Barbara), more than any other state in the nation (Texas is second at 23). The list includes 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Tim Hogarth of Northridge (winner of the 1999 California Amateur and 2004 SCGA Amateur and this year's SCGA Mid-Amateur), three-time SCGA Amateur champion Scott McGihon of Bermuda Dunes, and University of San Diego golf coach Tim Mickelson (whose brother, Phil, is playing in the President's Cup this weekend). MORE
At Desert Forest, SCGA Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions Melanie Furuta and Northern California GA Director of Communications Hilary Howard are in the field. MORE
One oif the most interesting subplots to the recent Walker Cup matches in Northern Ireland'sRoyal County Down GC (MORE) was the issue of whether the matches should be extended to three days from its traditional two. Trip Kuehne, one of USGA team members this year and playing in his third Walker Cup, told his teammates that the entire competition would seem like it was over in the blink of an eye. In addition, the current Walker Cup schedule (four foursomes matches and eight singles matches each day) means that two players sit out each session.
I raise this again because of the President's Cup, which begins today at Royal Montreal Golf Club and runs through Sunday. Today's schedule calls for six foursomes matches, six four-ball matches are played tomorrow, five foursomes and five four-ball matches on Saturday and then 12 singles matches on Sunday. That's 1/3 more than the Walker Cup and also more than the Ryder Cup.
By the way, as many people discovered while watching the Walker Cup, this type of match-play format works brilliantly as a spectator sport. Unlike the PGA Tour's Accenture Match Play, which pares the field down to two players at the end, each of the four days will have plenty of action both for those at Royal Montreal GC and watching on television. I thought this year's Walker Cup (my third, but first overseas) was the most exciting golf match I've ever been a part of.
The Curtis Cup, the female equivalent of the Walker Cup (although there are only eight women on each team), which will be played May 30-31 at The Old Course in St. Andrews, will shift to a three-day format, with three foursomes and three four-ball matches on each of the first two days and then eight singles matches on the third day. Seems like a logical compromise to me. One presumes the USGA and Royal and Ancient Golf Club (which jointly administer the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup) will be watching.
FORE Magazine’s Editor and Publisher Bob Thomas is in Ireland to cover the Walker Cup (two of those on the 10 U.S. team — Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark — are SCGA members) and to gather information for future FORE Magazine articles. His wife, Nikki, is also gathering information for nongolfing spouses.
____________________
We’re finishing up our trip to Ireland and getting ready to fly home tomorrow. Although it’s been an exciting and wonderful trip, we’re ready to get back to the good ol’ US of A.
First things first: Noula died. We don’t know why but our GPS system (which we nicknamed Noula) gave up the ghost. Maybe she was tired of our complaining about the smaller and smaller roads to which she directed us. Who knows? We’ve carried on the old-fashioned way: maps and prayers.
We’re spent the last few days seeing some of the places that nongolfers (and golfers ready for a break from the links) might want to visit on a trip to the Emerald Isle (which certainly has lived up to that name, given all of the rain the area had this summer).
We’ve also had the pleasure of staying in two excellent hotels during the past few days. The Ballymascanlon estate is 130 acres of parkland and dates from 833 A.D. (not the only place we’ve seen that is more than a millennium old). However, the main building dates from Victorian times and is the centerpiece of the Ballymascanlon House Hotel Golf & Leisure Club. Onto that ancient structure, management has added a modern wing of rooms and conference facilities that are stylistically incongruous but make for a top-notch hotel.
About the only negative (for Americans) is the exorbitant charge for internet access ($20 per day) but that has seemed to be par for the course for those hotels that offer it at all. The Radisson SAS Sligo (our first hotel on this trip) offered free internet access but everyone else that has had broadband access has charged $20 to $30 per day).
However, as I said, that’s the only negative for the Ballymascanlon House Hotel, which has its own 18-hole parkland golf course on the premises (nicely maintained, not overly challenging — a good break from the tough links courses covered on this trip) and is located just 3 kilometers off of the M-1 motorway, the main highway between Dublin and Belfast.
The hotel is also close to the River Boyne Valley, with its wealth of historical sites including the passage tombs of Newgrange and Knowth. We’ll cover these in our January/February issue of FORE Magazine, but they were fascinating for what we know about them (older than the Pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge) and what we don’t (why they were built and how). There are several other historical points of interest in the valley, which contains some of the richest farmland in Ireland.
About an hour down the road (drive time) is the Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links (so named because it has its own Bernhard Langer-designed golf course located just a driver and wedge from the legendary Portmarnock Golf Club). In fact, if you can get on the original Portmarnock links and with several other courses in the area, you could easily spend a week at this excellent hotel, which is located just steps (literally) from a broad, sandy beach and the Irish Sea (about half distance that The Links at Spanish Bay is from the ocean).
Every hotel on our trip seemed to have an oddity, and the Portmarock Hotel’s quirk is a lack of electrical plugs in the room in which we’re staying. We had to unplug the television to be able to charge up the computer. There are extra plugs in the room, but they’re an older kind and don’t even work. When the porter brought us a fan, even he had trouble finding a plug.
Aside from that, it’s a splendid hotel and has one distinctive advantage: Jameson’s Bar, which (in addition to serving libations) has a variety of food choices (sirloin steak sandwich, fish and chips, etc.) that are lighter than the fare at Osborne’s Restaurant (a very good restaurant).
One significant advantage to this hotel is its proximity to a DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) station. DART is an interesting combination of electrified light rail and diesel-power commuter rail services co-existing on one set of tracks, with an occasional freight train thrown in for good measure. Because of this, you can avoid driving and parking in Dublin (something you want to avoid at all costs) and make the 20-minute trip via rail instead (get off at the Tara St. station and you’re in the midst of downtown Dublin).
Dublin is a compact enough city that you can walk to many of the top sites, but there’s also a “hop-on, hop-off” double-decker but that, in addition to offering a 1:30 narrated tour (our driver was terrific) stops at 23 of the places most tourists would want to see. You can get off, see the particular site, and catch another bus (they run about every 15 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to about 7 p.m.).
We also took one day to visit Powerscourt Gardens, Gendalough and the Wicklow Mountains, but that’s for the Jan/Feb magazine and Web site extension.
_______________
IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION:
• Jerry Quinlan's Celtic Golf (premiere golf trips to Ireland and more); 800/535-6148
• Ballymascanlon House Hotel Golf & Leisure Club
• Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links
• Tourism Ireland (the number one source for information about the country): 800/223 6470
U.S. team — Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark — are SCGA members) and to gather information for future FORE Magazine articles. His wife, Nikki, is also gathering information for nongolfing spouses.
____________________
(Sunday, Sept. 9)
If you’ve wondering where I’ve been the last few days, the answer is tramping all over Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, or in the media room processing photos and writing five articles on the 41st Walker Cup Matches, which concluded this evening.
If you haven’t already done so, you can click on my coverage HERE.
What follows are some thoughts on what I’ve seen, learned and experienced for the past three days.
THE PEOPLE
As always in Ireland, it begins with the people: friendly, helpful, amazingly golf knowledgeable (at least the 10,000 or so who came Saturday and Sunday to the matches). Not a single “you the man” was heard.
They came from all over Ireland and Northern Ireland, across the Irish Sea from England, Scotland and Wales, and across the Atlantic from the United States. We had dinner one night with a gentleman from Cambridge who said this was his 18th Walker Cup in a row. Others talked about previous Cups with fondness and amazing memories.
The idea of 10,000 people attending an amateur golf event was mind-boggling; one USGA official guessed that half that number came to the Chicago GC for the Walker Cup in 2005. It will be interesting to see how many come to Merion GC in Ardmore, Penn., for the next Walker Cup in 2009. Plan on attending; it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Most of those in attendance were rooting — passionately — for the Great Britain and Ireland team, particularly during today’s singles as the GBI team mounted a furious comeback. As SCGA member Jamie Lovemark said this evening after his singles victory, “All over the course, you could hear the cheers; the crowds would clap for us and roar for them.”
However, they did clap, often and vigorously, for fine shots from anyone and everyone. They also moved carefully around the course, not an easy task especially if you were following a group with one of the two Irish players. Royal County Down and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland (the latter administers the event in conjunction with the United States Golf Association) elected to allow people to walk the fairways and crowd around the greens, using a cadre of marshals and yellow ropes to keep things moving smoothly. The entire thing worked wonderfully and what a wonderful experience for the spectators.
Everyone who found out we were Americans went out of their way to be friendly, talking about “our boys” and marveling at the golf from Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark (among others). It’s the people that make Ireland so special.
THE MEDIA
In a word: amazing. The R&A issued more than 160 media credentials, not counting television crews, and most of those were from Ireland. When we registered, they handed us a media packet that included dozens of pre-tournament stories from newspapers all over Ireland and Britain. They probably couldn’t find any from America.
BBC devoted nearly a dozen hours each day covering the event live, plus rebroadcasts. Peter Allis was the lead announcer and it was interesting to hear how much of a “homer” he is when he’s on British television, as opposed to how he appears when he shows up on BBC.
Although I walked the course the equivalent of four times Saturday and two times this morning taking photos and following matches, I spent most of the afternoon in the media center because it’s the only way to adequately follow eight singles matches. Peter and his fellow announcers groaned with each GBI putt, praised all the GBI efforts while, at the same time, trying (sometimes successfully) to work up that kind of enthusiasm for U.S. efforts. It was comical, in a way, and they weren’t shy about questioning shot strategy, especially from the GBI boys.
Working this center was like being part of the crowd, with European media members cheering the GBI comeback (not least because it made for a better story). We Yanks felt distinctly outnumbered at that point. The image of U.S. Captain George “Buddy” Marucci collapsed on the ground in agony watching the final matches was priceless.
THE COURSE
Royal County Down GC more than lived up to its reputation; it’s one of the great links courses in the world, a course that as one player put it, “never lets up, never gives you a breather.” The course was also in immaculate shape and, because of an extremely wet summer, was greener than you would normally expect to see. That was probably a break for the USA, as was the comparative lack of wind. The two days were played under cool, occasionally misty, weather — perfect golf weather, actually — with fog shrouding the Mourne Mountains. The favorite (and best) description of Royal County Down GC is “where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.”
There are several blind shots on the course, the heather, marron grass and gorse in the rough are treacherous, and the greens are slick, undulating and multi-tiered (in many instances). The putting exhibitions of Rickie Fowler in the first three sessions and Jamie Lovemark in the last three on these greens were nothing short of phenomenal.
Aside from the people, the impressive opening ceremonies and the scintillating golf, I suppose my most indelible impression will be Jonatham Moore’s brilliant 252-yard 4-iron shot that hit about 50 yards in front of the green and bounced up to with four feet of the flag. Jonathan was one of the more controversial selections for the U.S. team because, while he had a great 2006 (including winning the NCAA Division I individual title), he hadn’t played much or well this summer. He delayed turning professional to play in the Walker Cup, but no matter how successful he is as a professional, he’ll never forget the thrill of pulling that shot off or sinking the ensuing putt for an eagle 3 to claim the cup for the U.S. It was truly one for the ages.
IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION:
• Tourism Ireland (the number one source for information about the country): 800/223 6470
• Jerry Quinlan's Celtic Golf (premiere golf trips to Ireland and more); 800/535-6148
FORE Magazine’s Editor and Publisher Bob Thomas is in Ireland to cover the Walker Cup (two of those on the 10 U.S. team — Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark — are SCGA members) and to gather information for future FORE Magazine articles. His wife, Nikki, is also gathering information for nongolfing spouses.
____________________
Thursday evening (Sept. 6)
Lack of internet access and power supply problems have meant www.silence for two days. Hopefully, tomorrow at the Walker Cup the Wi-Fi will be working and I can post this Blog and other things.
This is my third trip to Ireland in the past 22 years — each trip about seven years apart — and while many things about the country have changed (e.g., the roads have improved significantly and most golf courses have, reluctantly, added at least a few buggies — carts to Yanks) one thing has remained constant: the unfailing courtesy, willing to help, totally friendly people that we have met everywhere. In a word (Ireland's favorite word, by the way), GRAND.
Your intrepid scribe was smart enough to bring along a voltage converter and adapter so that our 110-volt American world can co-exist with the 220/240 world that is Ireland and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, I went off and left it in our first hotel (charge (!) it up to jet lag) and didn’t discover the error until we arrived at the Ballyliffin Lodge & Spa (which calls itself a “Luxury Hotel” and easily earns the moniker). Everyone I came in contact trying to rectify the problem went out of their way to help out this stupid American (although I will say that I can’t be the only person to have done this).
Claire, the lovely lass at the reception desk at the Ballyliffin Lodge, told me they often have converters left by other guest as forgetful as me but such was not the case at the moment. She gave me two electrical supply stores in different towns that might be able to help. So, after a productive stop at the Ballyliffin Golf Club (you’ll have to read the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of FORE Magazine to find out the details), we went to Buncrana (a charming little town) where a nice young man told me apologetically that they didn’t have converters and suggested we would probably have to go to Derry to find one. Since Derry was one of the suggested sites to visit, we continued on there, using Noula (our GPS voice) to guide us to a shopping center.
We tried several stores with people saying they didn’t carry converters but directing us somewhere else. One lady even offered to walk me to an electrical supply store (I told here that even without GPS I could navigate three blocks) where a young man dug a dust-covered one out of the back and sold it to me. It worked only intermittently in Ireland but seems to be doing all right in Northern Ireland.
One other interesting note is how many people in Ireland are going to attend the Walker Cup. Each of the six clubs we have visited oversubscribed their allotment of tickets, and as I was running around photographing courses (dodging raindrops along the way) we met dozens of people who said they were going Royal County Down on the weekend. When they learn what I’m doing, the standard answer is “grand. You’re very welcome here.” When I tell them that the SCGA has two members of the U.S. team, they’re all impressed. Again, nothing but friendly people; everyone says, “hello” with a wide smile. We Americans could learn a lot from that attitude.
One of the other memorable parts of this trip has been driving through the unspoiled countryside in Donegal, the Inishowen Peninsula and now Northern Ireland. The malevolent Noula continues to lead us down narrow roads but the scenery makes up for the driving challenges. We drove out to Malin Head, the northernmost point in Ireland late yesterday, and today, after visiting three superb golf courses (Royal Portrush, Port Stewart and Castlerock) drove to the Giants Causeway and Dunluce Castle in Antrim today, both spectacular.
Right now, Nikki and I are eating dinner in Sweeney’s Bar in Portballintrabe — the name made it too good to pass up. Tomorrow, we head south to Royal County Down.
IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION:
• Tourism Ireland (the number one source for information about the country): 800/223 6470
• Aer Lingus (Ireland’s national airline); 800/474-7424 (800/IRISH AIR)
• Jerry Quinlan's Celtic Golf (premiere golf trips to Ireland and more); 800/535-6148
• Ballyliffin Lodge and Hotel
FORE Magazine’s Editor and Publisher Bob Thomas is in Ireland to cover the Walker Cup (two of those on the 10 U.S. team — Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark — are SCGA members) and to gather information for future FORE Magazine articles. His wife, Nikki, is also gathering information for nongolfing spouses.
____________________
Nikki and I and Nuala (no, it’s not a ménage a trios — Nuala is the name we’ve assigned to our GPS navigator on this trip) traveled from Sligo to the northern tip of Ireland — Ballyliffin — today. Along the way, we discovered that Noula has a malevolent streak about her, taking us down some of the narrowest roads in Ireland in search of our hidden gems. We persevered and made it to all destinations, dodging raindrops as we went. Whoever invented the phrase, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes,” must have been talking about Ireland. We went from mist to sun to rain to mist to sun . . . well, you get the idea.
We overnighted last night at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Sligo, a new and sparkling hotel just a couple of hours from the Sligo GC. With the letters “SAS” in the title, you knew the décor wasn’t going to be mahogany. It’s beautiful light wood everywhere with spacious rooms and a top-notch breakfast. Plus, wireless and wired internet!
The three courses we visited today included two — Sligo GC (aka Rosse’s Point) and Rosapena — that are well known and one — Portsalon — that might be called a hidden gem. Tomorrow, we begin at Ballyliffin GC’s two courses and continue from there. All of those crazy bounces you see during British Open championships are at these three courses, but everything here is green as opposed to the tan colors you see in Scotland. All three courses began in the 1890s but all have been updated to modern standards. More in the January/February 2008 issue of FORE Magazine.
One thing that hasn’t changed about Ireland is the friendly people. Whether it’s checking into a hotel, asking for directions, or buying a Diet Coke at a gas station, everyone is ready with a smile, a kind word and whatever help they can provide. We could learn a lesson about that attitude in the U.S.
IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION:
• Tourism Ireland (the number one source for information about the country): 800/223 6470
• Aer Lingus (Ireland’s national airline); 800/474-7424 (800/IRISH AIR)
• Jerry Quinlan's Celtic Golf (premiere golf trips to Ireland and more); 800/535-6148
• Radisson SAS Hotel, Sligo
FORE Magazine’s Editor and Publisher Bob Thomas is in Ireland to cover the Walker Cup (two of those on the 10 U.S. team — Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark — are SCGA members) and to gather information for future FORE Magazine articles. His wife, Nikki, is gathering information for nongolfing spouses.
____________________
Call it a quintessential Alice in Wonderland experience. When we left our house in Los Angeles yesterday at noon, the temperature in our tinder-dry, arid part of the world was 100+ degrees. About 13 hours later (plus time-zone changes), we arrived in Dublin, Ireland, where the temperature was about 45 degrees lower and the predominant color is green and every conceivable shade.
Getting to Ireland from Southern California is a simple driver-wedge par-4 hole on AER LINGUS, Ireland’s national airline, which operates daily nonstop service from Los Angeles to Dublin (continuing on to Shannon) and, beginning next month, starts service from San Francisco to the Irish capital.
If you’ve got a hankering to go Ireland, this fall is a great time. You can fly from LAX to Dublin in early October for a total price (including all taxes) of $536 round trip. My associate, Katie Denbo, often spends more than that to fly to her home in upper Northern California! Moreover, that’s just for starters. Aer Lingus’ Web site has fares of one Euro (about $1.30) to fly to any of six cities in Great Britain; seven Euros to fly to Copenhagen or Madrid; 10 euros to fly to Paris; 45 to fly to Salzburg. Amazing! In fact, given all of the problems associated with flying in and out of London Heathrow, Dublin International looks like a very viable alternative. Fly into Dublin, spend a few days exploring the Irish capital, fly on to your European destination, enjoy yourself, fly back to Dublin (or Shannon), spend more time in Ireland and then fly back to LAX nonstop.
If you’ve got the money and/or the miles, then by all means upgrade to Premier Class — the name says it all: roomy, leather seats that recline to more than a dozen positions, including almost full layout, great food and beverages served on Waterford Crystal and Wedgewood China, etc., etc. Aer Lingus says it has dropped Premier Class prices by as much as 60 percent. It’s a great way to fly.
Two of the of the significant traveler additions since I was last in Ireland in 2001 (my original plans called for me to fly out on Sept. 12) are cell phones and Global Positioning Systems in Hertz rental cars. With a little digging, you may find your cell phone can easily be converted for use in Ireland, but Nikki and I just bought a phone at the Vodaphone story in Dublin Airport. Cost: about $70 for two weeks (most of the cost is in cell phone minutes). Great way to be able to check on your upcoming hotels or golf dates.
If you’re going to drive in Ireland, make it a two person operation: Ireland is back-seat driver’s heaven: with two or more people, one of you drives and others navigate (and keep reminding the driver to stay it the left). Making turns correctly and keeping from hitting curbs on the left are the toughest part.
Even with human help, GPS is one worth adding on. If you’ve never used one before (and we hadn’t), you plug in the address or tourist site you want to visit and off you go. The female voice in our system (we named her Nuala for the Irish heroine in Andrew Greeley stories) kept us on the correct path today for most of the time, although she did fail to record a couple of roundabouts (traffic circles to Yanks — Ireland is full of them). We found ourselves talking to her: “Come on, Nuala. Get with the program. No coffee breaks.” You do have to keep an eye on road signs, which are plentiful.
We arrived this evening in Sligo (on Ireland's Northwest coast) and head out early tomorrow morning to visit famous golf courses, tourism sites and "hidden gems" in both regards.
IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION:
• Tourism Ireland (the number one source for information about the country): 800/223 6470
• Aer Lingus (Ireland’s national airline); 800/474-7424 (800/IRISH AIR)
• Jerry Quinlan's Celtic Golf (premiere golf trips to Ireland and more); 800/535-6148
