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17th green at the K Club

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The K Club Palmer Course

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Final Day in Ireland

Our trip has been really enjoyable. The time has flown by and we can’t believe it is time to go home. Ten days sounds like a long time but we both said next time we come we’ll plan to stay longer. The Irish people have been very hospitable. We haven’t had one bad experience with anyone along our route. 

Today has been the most ideal day from a weather standpoint. It’s the first day it’s been sunny all day and the only day it hasn’t rained at all.  The Palmer course we played today was quite the challenge. I see why they chose it for a Ryder Cup venue. Both Kim and I played decent and the round was thoroughly enjoyable. The pace of play was fast, the weather was ideal and the course was in great condition. 

After our round we had a pint and talked about how much fun we’ve had playing the different courses and how different each one of them was. Ballybunion rugged & difficult, Tralee had the most challenging nine we played, Old Head was picturesque as almost all of the holes were perched on the cliffs of the Atlantic and The K Club was serene as there were no houses on the course and the sounds of nature surrounded us as we played. Everyone of the courses were absolutely beautiful in their own way. 

We took in dinner this evening at a local pub in Straffen. Kim had to have an Irish dish so she ordered Guinness stew and of course another pint. I went more traditional and had a toasted ham, tomato & cheese sandwich and of course another pint also.

Reality has set in so we are now packing our bags for our trip back:-( Finding spots for all of the extra things we picked up along the way has not been too difficult as we are making maximum use of our golf carrying bags. We look forward to seeing everyone when we get back and boring you with all our pics and stories:-)

We have been truly blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful country and some of it’s most friendly people. We’ll be back!! Traveling companions welcome!

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The K Club

Today we made a 3 hour trek to the north as we traveled to the last destination of our trip, The K Club. Besides making a few wrong turns and going the opposite way we were supposed to be going on one of Irelands only interstates for 6 miles, the rest of the trip was pretty calm.

Once we arrived at the K Club, we were glad that our travel agent had recommended we stay here. It’s a very large and stately resort. It reminds you of something out of the early 1800′s with all the amenities of the 21st century.

As I mentioned before, the K Club was the site of the 2006 Ryder Cup where the European’s kicked the U.S.’s butt. We are playing the Palmer Ryder Cup course tomorrow for our final round of the trip. We’re very excited to see the course as we have been told that it is very beautiful and will be as challenging of a test of golf that you are ever going to get. So I’m not anticipating being under par:-)

I’m writing this blog sitting out on our veranda that overlooks the par 3 8th hole of the course. It’s very peaceful and you can hear all sorts of wild life making their sounds and seeing the last few golfers of the day coming through. During dinner this evening we were sitting by a window overlooking the 18th hole and were quite entertained to see the golfers as they struggled to complete their rounds. Guess it’s entertaining when it is not you doing the struggling!!

Today was not a picture taking day so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see the sights of the K Club. BTW, some of the pictures online on their website will probably give you a better idea of our surroundings than any pictures of mine will.

We can’t believe that tomorrow will be our last day here before we leave on Saturday to fly back. The time has gone sooo fast and I guess that’s because we have had such a great time!

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Our caddie Joel, I think he was smiling because the round was over! 21,000+ steps! Only one lost ball:-)

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This is the look at the 14th hole at Old Head from the tee box. Yes, there is a fairway somewhere out there.

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16th hole at #OldHeadGolfClub lreland

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Beautiful Day at Old Head

Today was one of the best days of our trip. We played the Old Head Golf Course which has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth! Particularly if you’re a golfer but you don’t have to enjoy golf to enjoy the beauty of this place. We played with a couple, Ed and Lisa Ryan from Toronto, Canada but they were originally from Ireland. They were about as talented as we were and had a great sense of humor.

The caddie’s names were Joel and Daniel. They made the round thoroughly enjoyable with both their help in guiding us around the course and their great senses of humor also! Ed gave his caddie a hard time saying that he wanted to know if he could trade his caddie in for a new one when he made the turn to the back nine.

We walked a total of 21,000 steps and 10+ miles as we took on the challenge of the Old Head course. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for it’s impossible to describe just how undulating and flat out gorgeous this place really is. When we left, we left by car, some of the more high profile people helicopter in, folks like Dan Marino and other celebs.

After golf, we came back to Kinsale and had wine and dinner at the Black Pig Wine Bar. The wine and dinner were exquisite. We met a lovely couple from Cork, Ireland that were out celebrating the gentlemen’s 70 something birthday. They were fun to talk with and made our dinner and stay in Kinsale a little more special.

Day is done and we are both TIRED. Tomorrow we will travel to Kildaire and check into the Kildaire Hotel Spa & Country Club better known as the K Club, site of the 2006 Ryder Club. It’s our last stop before flying back home on Saturday morning.

Now for the answer to yesterday’s quiz. ‘The answer was the sinking of the Lusitania occurred 11 miles off the coast of Old Head in May 1915. The ship was carrying 1959 people from New York to London and was sunk by the torpedo of a German U boat. The ship sank in 18 minutes and 1,198 crew and passengers were killed. This was a pivotal event that drew the U.S. into World War I.

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Trip to Kinsale

We left the Sheen Falls Lodge in Kenmare today for Kinsale around 11:00a. I asked Kim, “Do you want to take the shortest and fastest way or do you want to take the more scenic way?” One way was 1 1/2 hours, the other 3 hours. She chose the more scenic way which was my preference also. Well......not such a good idea considering that there were very low clouds most of the way and what could pass as a light fog for the first hour and a half of our drive. Not ideal sightseeing weather!  Not to mention that the roads got narrower and narrower the further we traveled. So narrow that two cars could not pass!  Four hours and twenty minutes later we arrived in Kinsale. 

Kinsale is a beautiful seaside town. It has a great mix of locals and tourists. The town has several narrow streets with multi colored business fronts that line the streets. The shops are both service oriented for the towns people and then several shops that sell more locally made products to the tourists. Kinsale crystal and Kinsale leather goods (purses) are some of the more well known products from the area.

The Old Head Golf Club is located just outside Kinsale and has become one of the most well known courses in the world. Kim and I are playing there tomorrow so I’ll keep today’s post short and wait until tomorrow to post some pics and give you a little more history of Kinsale and background on Old Head and the historic event that happened just off the shores of the course. Any guesses?? I’ll give you the answer tomorrow. Hint: It was a pivotal event in drawing the U.S, into World War I.

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Sunset on the Zinsale harbor.

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A grassy path to the ocean. Taken on the #RingOfBeara.

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18th Tee at Tralee

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#TraleeGolfClub - Ireland