[JWinick]

Friday starts an epic and intense Ireland and Northern Ireland golf trip.   Our itinerary:


July 1 - Ballybunion
July 2 - Waterville and Lahinch
July 3 - Potmarnock
July 4 - Royal County Down (36)
July 5 - Royal Portrush (36)


Any advice???   It's a heavy schedule with 18 hours of driving, but we wanted to hit the best spots and play the most golf.

[Ed Brzezowski]

gore tex      over there the same time     rain every day.

have a great time.

ed

[Thomas Dai]

That'a a pretty severe itinerary to say the least.
Ensure the driver doesn't fall asleep at the wheel.

Change socks between rounds if playing more than one round in a day.

Atb

[J_ Crisham]

Jon,   Given your itinerary I would consider ditching Portmarnock - its good but not top 10 IMO. The drive would be better if you headed up the west coast played either Carne, Ballyliffin, Rosses Point, Donegal Etc and then went to Portrush, then to Co Down. Your drive is very intense- Ireland is the same size as Illinois- you will be driving  out of your way given your itinerary. Have fun - the golf will be world class- the driving will be really tough IMO.

[Adam Lawrence]

Crikey, anyone who thinks that Portmarnock is not top ten in Ireland has a rather different view of golf courses than I do. It's a magnificent course, as good as anything you will play anywhere.

[Jeff Johnston]

Intense as you say - carpe diem though and crack on.

As others have said there is a lot of driving in this one, but no doubt the die is cast now. One suggestion I would make is that if possible, you spend the night near Lahinch after the Waterville / Lahinch day (or at least break the journey somewhere) before making your way to Portmarnock. I think I'd mutiny if told I had to get in the car / bus for three hours at the end of that particular 36 hole day.

Good luck to you and your group - you will get a great welcome everywhere and have excellent golf ahead of you.

Jeff

[Tommy Williamsen]

Driving is just part of the experience. I've been to Ireland a dozen times. Just go slowly when a bus is coming at you on the narrow roads. Sometimes I actually stop. The drive up the western coast is stunning. There is a lot of golf to choose from that way. Portmarnock is worth the drive but so too are some of the courses on the west north west.

[Rob Marshall]

Driving won't be that bad and you'll see the countryside. I started in Dublin then went:


Ballybunion
Lahinch
The Island
Ballyliffen
Port salon
Rosepenna
Port Stewart
The Valley
Dunluce
Royal County Down


Back to Dublin

[Garland Bayley]

Friday starts an epic and intense Ireland and Northern Ireland golf trip.   Our itinerary:


July 1 - Ballybunion
July 2 - Waterville and Lahinch
July 3 - Potmarnock
July 4 - Royal County Down (36)
July 5 - Royal Portrush (36)


Any advice???   It's a heavy schedule with 18 hours of driving, but we wanted to hit the best spots and play the most golf.

Don't forget to take a punch for your belt.

[JWinick]

Well, driving is intense early.   12-13 hours the first two days.  We discussed whether we would stay in Lahinch or drive to Dublin after 36 holes.   Since our tee time was 2 PM the next day, we thought it made sense to get in late and sleep in.  Plus, it allows us to spend two nights in the same hotel.   Getting up early the next day is just delaying the inevitable, you still have to do the drive.


Fortunately, we have an SUV and four guys with an average age in early 30s.   

Intense as you say - carpe diem though and crack on.

As others have said there is a lot of driving in this one, but no doubt the die is cast now. One suggestion I would make is that if possible, you spend the night near Lahinch after the Waterville / Lahinch day (or at least break the journey somewhere) before making your way to Portmarnock. I think I'd mutiny if told I had to get in the car / bus for three hours at the end of that particular 36 hole day.

Good luck to you and your group - you will get a great welcome everywhere and have excellent golf ahead of you.

Jeff

[Daryl David]

Well, driving is intense early.   12-13 hours the first two days.  We discussed whether we would stay in Lahinch or drive to Dublin after 36 holes.   Since our tee time was 2 PM the next day, we thought it made sense to get in late and sleep in.  Plus, it allows us to spend two nights in the same hotel.   Getting up early the next day is just delaying the inevitable, you still have to do the drive.


Fortunately, we have an SUV and four guys with an average age in early 30s.   

Intense as you say - carpe diem though and crack on.

As others have said there is a lot of driving in this one, but no doubt the die is cast now. One suggestion I would make is that if possible, you spend the night near Lahinch after the Waterville / Lahinch day (or at least break the journey somewhere) before making your way to Portmarnock. I think I'd mutiny if told I had to get in the car / bus for three hours at the end of that particular 36 hole day.

Good luck to you and your group - you will get a great welcome everywhere and have excellent golf ahead of you.

Jeff

One word:  helicopter

[JWinick]

It's not so easy to get tee times.   RCD was practically begging us to give up our time on the 4th.    The other problem is you can't play certain courses on the weekends, such as Ballybunion.   We are hitting the top four in Ireland based on Golf Digest and the top two in Northern Ireland.   That's not too bad!    I hear what you are saying about Potmarnock, but we also want to see Dublin!

Jon,   Given your itinerary I would consider ditching Portmarnock - its good but not top 10 IMO. The drive would be better if you headed up the west coast played either Carne, Ballyliffin, Rosses Point, Donegal Etc and then went to Portrush, then to Co Down. Your drive is very intense- Ireland is the same size as Illinois- you will be driving  out of your way given your itinerary. Have fun - the golf will be world class- the driving will be really tough IMO.

[Doug Wright]

It's not so easy to get tee times.   RCD was practically begging us to give up our time on the 4th.    The other problem is you can't play certain courses on the weekends, such as Ballybunion.   We are hitting the top four in Ireland based on Golf Digest and the top two in Northern Ireland.   That's not too bad!    I hear what you are saying about Potmarnock, but we also want to see Dublin!

Very ambitious but doable. Enjoy Dublin--you young guys would love the Temple Bar area...

[Jud_T]

Portmarnock is well worth seeing IMO, as is Dublin, of course.  Personally I'd finesse Waterville and the associated drive, although beautiful, and get in 36 each at Bally Old and Lahinch if possible.

[John Handley]

I've done Ireland a few times and while I would agree that it's ambitious if you are self-driving, it is absolutely worth it.  Royal Portrush and County Down are two of the best courses you will ever play.  Portmarnock is a great club and not to be missed either.  36 at Lahinch would have been better but save that for next time.


The only challenge you really face is A) the weather and B) which guy gets stuck driving.  My suggestion is you play for it.  High round = driver.


Enjoy

[JWinick]

See the attached itinerary.... I don't think we are going out of our way at all.   Only way to cut down on the driving would have been to fly into Shannon.   But that was impossible.


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Wtb6XwaYNt_THV58Uy7Sry8rkAw&usp=sharing

[Tim Martin]

That's a great lineup of courses but the amount of driving would take some of the luster out of it for me. I would do a trip to the Southwest or a trip to Dublin and Northern Ireland.  Just by skipping Warerville you could save a fair amount of driving and there are many worthy substitutes. Even if I had a driver I would not want to spend that much time in the car. Just sayin.

[JWinick]

Is it really?   It averages about 3 hours / day.    Is it easier to drive a little longer and hit every top course or make two trips?   The flight back and forth is 16 hours.   How does it make sense to spend an additional 16 hours on a plane so you cut down the driving.   All of us have busy schedules.   The choice was easy for us.

[Tim Martin]

Is it really?   It averages about 3 hours / day.    Is it easier to drive a little longer and hit every top course or make two trips?   The flight back and forth is 16 hours.   How does it make sense to spend an additional 16 hours on a plane so you cut down the driving.   All of us have busy schedules.   The choice was easy for us.

You asked for advice right? Enjoy!!!!!!

[Criss Titschinger]

I thought the trip I have planned someday for just N. Ireland courses was optimistic. This takes that to another level.

I've shared this with a couple of GCA'ers, but my itinerary would go something like:

Sun - Arrive in Belfast AM/Ardglass PM
Mon - RCD (Championship) -  36
Tues - Drive towards Portrush, play Belfast area course on the way (Belvoir Park / Malone / Royal Belfast / Hollywood)
Wed - Portstewart (Strand) / Portrush (Valley)
Thurs - Portrush (Dunluce) - 36
Fri - Castlerock (Mussenden) AM / Drive to Belfast / Optional final round in Belfast
Sat - Fly back

I completely skip over Ireland in this itinerary, but the idea would be to keep driving to a relative minimum and to do an Ireland focused trip another time.

Best of luck and enjoy the trip!

[J_ Crisham]

Is it really?   It averages about 3 hours / day.    Is it easier to drive a little longer and hit every top course or make two trips?   The flight back and forth is 16 hours.   How does it make sense to spend an additional 16 hours on a plane so you cut down the driving.   All of us have busy schedules.   The choice was easy for us.

Easy Francis..... Tim has a very good point. Ireland is essentially 3 different trips to see everything- by this I mean the 30 or so courses that would rate a 6 or better in my book. The driving is not what you and I are used to in Chicago. You get up in the wild and wooly parts of Donegal and Sligo where sheep and goats outnumber people 1000 to 1. The roads have improved dramatically since my first visit in 1976 but suffice to say you wont need your IPASS!

[Garland Bayley]

I thought the trip I have planned someday for just N. Ireland courses was optimistic. This takes that to another level.

I've shared this with a couple of GCA'ers, but my itinerary would go something like:

Arrive in Belfast/Ardglass
RCD (Championship) -  36
Drive towards Portrush, play Belfast area course on the way (Belvoir Park / Malone / Royal Belfast / Hollywood)
Portstewart (Mussenden) / Portrush (Valley)
Portrush (Dunluce) - 36
Castlerock / Drive to Belfast / Optional final round in Belfast

I completely skip over Ireland in this itinerary, but the idea would be to keep driving to a relative minimum and to do an Ireland focused trip another time.

Best of luck and enjoy the trip!

I believe you mean Portstewart (Strand) and Castlerock (Mussenden)

[KMcKeown]

For our early September trip we chose the route below knowing full well that we will be doing another trip to accomplish our goal:

Saturday: Arrive 9am Dublin/Drive to and play Port Stewart with last tee time (stay at Bushmillls)
Sunday: Play 18 at Royal Portrush and drive to Belfast for RCD the next day
Monday: 11am tee times at RCD drive to Dublin
Tuesday: Portmarnock/Ardglass or Portmarnock/???
Wednesday: Depart Dublin for OKC
Thursday: Back at work

Open to ideas as well and while golf is the priority, the pub time is highly valued.

[Bill Brightly]

I was 30 and dumb once   Then I figured out that I could go to Ireland more than once. Way too much driving; your trip would be far more enjoyable if you coupled Dublin (Portmarnoch and County Louth) with Northern Ireland. Throw in Ardglass and and/or Portstewart and cut out a ton of driving. Then plan a second trip to Southwest Ireland to play BB, Waterville, Doonbeg, etc.


You did well to plan on 36 at RCD because that is one course you will definitely want to play again as you walk off the 18th green.

[Criss Titschinger]

I believe you mean Portstewart (Strand) and Castlerock (Mussenden)

Certainly. Dyslexic moment. Them frequently I have.

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