Monday, August 20, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Davey Jones at Pit Stop
Classic Davey Jones......as we drove the 2 hours to Portmornack, we stopped at a gas station for a pit stop. Davey decided to get a couple of cheeseburgers and pay 3 pounds to sit in the massage chair for 2 minutes. Gotta love him.....
Photo's...
Yes, we do have tons of photo's but for whatever reason the photo link on Blogger has disappeared and rendered us unable to post any..........
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Round 9......Portmornack
Portmornack is one of the oldest clubs in Ireland. It is host to several championships and has an exclusive membership. It was a beautiful place and the people proved to be very friendly. The wind was blowing 40 mph so everyone knew it was going to be a tough day........it was. After hacking like a lumber jack during the front nine, Drew Davis decided that was enough and called it a day. Heineken found his game and shot a 37 on the front. Davey and Sammy went to the pub for a couple of pints b/c the Big Brown and Hogle in the group ahead were playing slower than molasses. They had 2 pints at the turn, waited 20 minutes, and still caught up to the group ahead at the 15th. Slow play apparently helped Big Brown as he dunked a wedge for an eagle on the back, rolled in a birdie, and missed another eagle by an inch. Needless to say, it was Brownie's day and yes, he was paired with Hogle to claim a team victory. We stopped at a local pub called Gibney's for a pint and then headed back to Dublin for some well needed rest. Last stop.......European Club tomorrow. Rankings for the Irish Open are....
1. Hogle
2. Clay
3. Handley
4. Galvin
5. Heisley
6. Pettijohn
7. Heineken
8. Davis
1. Hogle
2. Clay
3. Handley
4. Galvin
5. Heisley
6. Pettijohn
7. Heineken
8. Davis
Ireland greets Texans........County Louth
As we woke up to head 1 1/2 hours South to County Louth, it was chilly and did not look good. We've had great weather the entire time, but it was Ireland's turn to show us her teeth. Everyone geared up and we tee'd off in the pouring rain. It was blowing about 40 mph with wind and rain hitting us all over. The caddies thought we were crazy for playing. It turns out that only Sam, Galvin, Neal Clay, and Heisly finish the round. Sam proves to have the best rain gear with a NorthFace jacket that has a hood and prevents himself to losing to Davey Jones as he gets blasted in the earhole with wind and rain on his 12 foot par putt on the last hole but can't concentrate through the elements and misses badly. We head to the clubhouse for a warm shower and some food before traveling to Dublin.
Round 5....Royal Portrush
Day 6 started off a little bit dicey in Bushmills. It was pouring down rain and we had a 2pm tee time on Royal Portrush. We were able to sleep in and chill for a bit which was much needed. As we headed over to the golf club we stopped at Dunluce Castle. What an amazing view that was! See photos. After a few minutes checking it out we headed over to a pub to see some of Graham McDowell's trophies. G-Mac is from Portrush and has been winning golf torunaments since he was a lad.
After a few pints, finally it was time to head out on the golf course. By the time we hit the 4th hole, the skies cleared and we had a 70 degree afternoon in the sunshine. While the weather was great to golf left something to be desired. The course was spectacular but it kicked our asses. Handley and Galvin shot the low rounds of 87 and Hogle and whoever was his partner won the day money.
After the round we headed southeast to the town of Newcastle. We rolled into Newcastle about 9pm and stayed at Slieve Donard. The hotel was awesome and we went out for a great dinner at Percy French. All agreed that could have been one of the best Casaer Salads ever. We also crushed a few bowls of mussels.
Day 7 brings 36 holes at Royal County Down. RCD is rated as the #5 course in the world and I can say it did not disappoint. The first round started with some rain but again it quickly cleared to a sunshine day. The highlights of the day were Rick Hogle's net 71 in the afternoon. Neal Heikkinen shot 85 in the morning and Handley shot 84 in the afternoon round for low gross. Hogle and his partner again crushed in day money. Moral of that story is don't give 17 shots to anybody especially someone who can play like Hogle. He's got pretty solid game.
After a few pints, finally it was time to head out on the golf course. By the time we hit the 4th hole, the skies cleared and we had a 70 degree afternoon in the sunshine. While the weather was great to golf left something to be desired. The course was spectacular but it kicked our asses. Handley and Galvin shot the low rounds of 87 and Hogle and whoever was his partner won the day money.
After the round we headed southeast to the town of Newcastle. We rolled into Newcastle about 9pm and stayed at Slieve Donard. The hotel was awesome and we went out for a great dinner at Percy French. All agreed that could have been one of the best Casaer Salads ever. We also crushed a few bowls of mussels.
Day 7 brings 36 holes at Royal County Down. RCD is rated as the #5 course in the world and I can say it did not disappoint. The first round started with some rain but again it quickly cleared to a sunshine day. The highlights of the day were Rick Hogle's net 71 in the afternoon. Neal Heikkinen shot 85 in the morning and Handley shot 84 in the afternoon round for low gross. Hogle and his partner again crushed in day money. Moral of that story is don't give 17 shots to anybody especially someone who can play like Hogle. He's got pretty solid game.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Round 4...Royal Portrush
The golf course was absolutely spectacular but the golf was suspect. Handley shot 83 for the low round and Big Brown did manage to make his first par in two rounds. Rick Hogle drug Heikkinen along to a winning team score of 67. Hogle is now 4 for 4 in the team bets. Handley looks like he's gaining ground on Hogle for the Irish Championship.
We rolled into Bushmill's Inn at 10pm and had one of the best dinners we've had yet. The lobster bisque and filet mignon was the overwhelming selection along with the Italian Barolo.
The boys certainly appreciated having the morning off to get massages, have breakfast and recharge the batteries. Now it's onto day 5 with a 2pm round at Royal Portrush. It should be interesting as the rain has made it's way into the trip. Hello raingear. Meltdowns surely to follow. Stay tuned.....
Day 4....Long drive ahead....
Day 2...Doonbeg in the AM and Lahinch in the PM
Well Day 2 is upon us with a full day of golf at Doonbeg in the morning and Lahinch in the afternoon. The morning was a little windy and scores reflected it. Low round was Neal Heikkinen with 84 and the team of Heikkinen - Rick Hogle won the team event with even par 72.
Onto Lahinch, one of the top 50 golf courses in the world. It's quirky with many blind shots including one of the most famous par 3's, The Dell. To say we came in hot to the first tee was an understatement. The sign on the tee says no practice swings and the starter Tony ran a tight ass ship. Imagine his greatest fear is 8 big, drunk Texans on his turf. Tony and Sammy became quick friends until Hogle tries to chip balls on the tee box (remember the no practice swing policy) and then Big Brown asking a 65 year old lady coming off the 18th green if she'd like to make $100....to carry his bag. Obviously that didn't go over too well with Tony. Recognizing we were a problem with our bottle of Jameson in hand and beers, Tony got us off the number one tee.
Galvin, not knowing what planet he's on, stiffs one at #1 for tap in birdie and then proceeds to almost ace the famous Dell hole for another tap in birdie. Then he came back down to earth and the wheels came off. Since one bottle of Jameson wasn't enough for the group, on #12 a local caddie was dismissed to the store for a back up. This could be the reason Big Brown did not make a par all day and Handley - Hogle won the team bet. John Handley came in low round of 81.
Walking off the course at Lahinch in the darkness of 10pm the group headed straight for the bar/restaurant at Doonbeg. After a quick dinner of mostly chicken wings (long story) our own Drew Davis and Rick Hogle decided to join the Irish Celebrity wedding party at the Lodge at Doonbeg. Let's just say the party went on until 6am.
Irish Campionship Standing after 3 rounds:
Leader: Rick Hogle (17 hdcp)
Handley, Galvin, Pettijohn, Clay, Davis, Heisley and then Heikkinen
Onto Lahinch, one of the top 50 golf courses in the world. It's quirky with many blind shots including one of the most famous par 3's, The Dell. To say we came in hot to the first tee was an understatement. The sign on the tee says no practice swings and the starter Tony ran a tight ass ship. Imagine his greatest fear is 8 big, drunk Texans on his turf. Tony and Sammy became quick friends until Hogle tries to chip balls on the tee box (remember the no practice swing policy) and then Big Brown asking a 65 year old lady coming off the 18th green if she'd like to make $100....to carry his bag. Obviously that didn't go over too well with Tony. Recognizing we were a problem with our bottle of Jameson in hand and beers, Tony got us off the number one tee.
Galvin, not knowing what planet he's on, stiffs one at #1 for tap in birdie and then proceeds to almost ace the famous Dell hole for another tap in birdie. Then he came back down to earth and the wheels came off. Since one bottle of Jameson wasn't enough for the group, on #12 a local caddie was dismissed to the store for a back up. This could be the reason Big Brown did not make a par all day and Handley - Hogle won the team bet. John Handley came in low round of 81.
Walking off the course at Lahinch in the darkness of 10pm the group headed straight for the bar/restaurant at Doonbeg. After a quick dinner of mostly chicken wings (long story) our own Drew Davis and Rick Hogle decided to join the Irish Celebrity wedding party at the Lodge at Doonbeg. Let's just say the party went on until 6am.
Irish Campionship Standing after 3 rounds:
Leader: Rick Hogle (17 hdcp)
Handley, Galvin, Pettijohn, Clay, Davis, Heisley and then Heikkinen
Friday, August 10, 2012
Day 1- 2012 Irish Championship
We had a beautiful day in Ballybunnion. It was 75 degrees with just a slight breeze, according to the locals it was the 2nd warmest day all year. While the conditions were perfect, the scores were not. The team of Rick Hogle and John Handley won day 1 with a NET 68 and they won by 6 shots. Rick is the lead on the individual with a NET 75. Our SCRATCH GOLFER, Neil Heineken, who claimed two nights ago that he's NEVER SHOT OVER 90 IN HIS LIFE..........smoothed into a cool 92!!! Here is is post game shot.
The first round of the 2012 Irish Championship is upon us. We couldn't ask for better weather here in Ballybunion. 70 degrees, sunny with a slight ocean breeze. Filled up on the Irish breakfast from The Cashen Course House and we're on our way for the 9:12 tee time on Ballybunion Old Course. The two-man teams today are Pettijohn-Galvin, Handley-Hogle, Heikkinen-Heisley and Clay-Davis. We'll see who's struggles the most from last night.
Cheers.
John
Cheers.
John
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Last 24 hours.......whew!
Ok, I'll add some pics later, but here's the rundown. We endured a 4.5 hour flight delay in Chicago......once again for no apparent reason. So we finally took off around 11pm and landed at noon in Ireland today. We were supposed to land around 8am, drive 4 hours to Tralee and them play golf at 2:30. Instead, our driver was waiting on us at noon, Galvin and Clay, who flew Aer Lingus had already arrived and went to play a local course. We went and picked them up and headed to Ballybunnion. We finally decided to just enjoy the ride and take in the country side. Our driver took us to a great restaurant in Limerick named Matt the Trethers and we enjoyed some fine fried Cod. By coincidence, the female Irish boxer was going for the gold medal in the Olympics so quite a few folks showed up to cheer her on.
We arrived in Ballybunnion around 7pm and decided to rush out and play at least 9 holes. Let's just say Ireland is hilly.....wow! Everyone rolled in about 9:30 and we went into town and had a nice dinner.
Tee off at Ballybunnion tomorrow at 9:15am. Galvin and Pjon are teammates for Round 1. Should be fun.....
Again, more pics when the wi-fi is better.
We arrived in Ballybunnion around 7pm and decided to rush out and play at least 9 holes. Let's just say Ireland is hilly.....wow! Everyone rolled in about 9:30 and we went into town and had a nice dinner.
Tee off at Ballybunnion tomorrow at 9:15am. Galvin and Pjon are teammates for Round 1. Should be fun.....
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Supreme let down
It is with extreme disappointment that our boys Scottie, Freddie, and Jack could not make the trip, but we welcome our new friends Matt, Rick, Drew, and Neil. First Class Scottie was kind enough to send Drew and Rick as a work reward, but apparently got a little lazy in regards to booking their flights. Here's what everyone but Drew and Rick flew......
We are all confirmed, booked and ready to go. Welcome to the trip Neal Heikkenin. Here is the final itinerary. Nothing short of deluxe!
August 8 Depart Dallas for Chicago, Chicago to Dublin
August 9 Arrive Dublin, Drive to Tralee, Golf at Tralee, Stay at 19th Lodge Ballybunion
August 10 Golf at Ballybunion, Drive to Doonbeg, Stay at Doonbeg Lodge
August 11 Golf at Doonbeg, Golf at Lahinch, Stay at Doonbeg Lodge
August 12 Drive to Portrush, Golf at Royal Portrush, Stay at Bushmills Inn
August 13 Tour & Lunch at Bushmills Distillery, Golf at Royal Portrush, Drive to Newcastle, Stay at Slieve Donard Hotel
August 14 Golf at Royal County Down (36), Stay at Slieve Donard Hotel
August 15 Golf at Baltray, Stay at FitzWilliam Hotel in Dublin
August 16 Golf at Portmarnock, Stay at FitzWilliam Hotel in Dublin
August 17 Golf at European Club, Stay at FitzWilliam Hotel in Dublin
August 18 Depart Dublin for Dallas
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Ireland 2012
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