Breaking out of my Chicago rut, I recently returned from a trip to Ireland with two other GCA'ers in which we played exactly ten courses-- and managed to meet another GCA'er for dinner and pints in his hometown (cheers, Patrick!).
We knew the quality would be of the highest degree. But we were not prepared for the incredible variety -- both from course to course and within a given course -- and prevailing "heroic" nature of the layouts. The latter point proved very relevant in the five matches one of the others and I played with hickories...Royal County Down from 6300 yards with 100-year-old clubs is quite the test!
I had read very little on the courses prior to traveling over, and now greatly look forward to sifting through older threads in the coming weeks as a way of locking in memories of a fantastic trip.
The list, in reverse-chronological order:
-Portmarnock
-The Island
-Royal Portrush, Valley
-Royal Portrush, Dunluce
-Royal County Down, Championship (x2)
-Co. Louth
-Lahinch, Old
-Dooks
-Ballybunion, Old (x2)
-Tralee