Golf, and more golf

Although I haven't drawn attention to it, I've played a fair amount of golf since we've arrived.  The cost-free way is to get up early, play a quick nine holes and be back as Candee is awakening and stretching her way to consciousness.  I've done that twice, but I've been more likely to steal a quick couple of hours after we've been sitting around the house for awhile.  My dear wife has been quite indulgent.

The swing has been pretty good and I've had some success putting up a decent score or two.  The Irish way of keeping score is much more humane.  In the States, one plays stroke competitions - every stroke is counted.  You can play 15 or 16 holes perfectly, but have two or three bad holes (right Marty?) and your total score is ruined.  Here, the most dominant play would be in a Stableford format - one's score is based hole by hole.  If you get a bogey you receive a point, a par - two points, a birdie - three points.  And that's based on "net score."  Someone like me, carrying an 18 handicap, would be given a stroke a hole, so a gross bogey would count as a net par, giving me two points for the hole.  Holes in which I score a triple bogey (a net double bogey) would yield no points -  a "blank."  But it's a heck of a lot better than putting an 8 on the card.  So, a player such as myself would aim to have 36 points at the end of a round - 18 net pars.  And, like today, two pars (net birdies) in nine holes can have a nice impact on the score.

And today was the day to do it.  Despite a forecast that was not at all encouraging, Padraic and Marion carried my pitiful self to the lovely Ballinrobe Golf Club, approximately 35 km from Westport.  I had played there twice last year and it's become a favorite.  A lovely and graceful "parkland" course, the conditions are always top-notch and the natural beauty of the setting belies the "good walk spoiled" criticism so often leveled at golfing.  Even Candee enjoyed the walk, logging over 8700 steps (Fitbit) in the occasionally damp conditions.  Padraic scored a mighty par to begin the round, but, as always, it was Marion who dominated the scorecard.

BTW, some among us have scored extraordinarily well in the Stableford system.  Click on the link below, page down a little in the Irish Times article and you might see a familiar name.  Remember, scoring 36 points in a round means you're playing as well as you might hope.  Scores 50 points and above are considered remarkable. Click here

I have not carried my camera as often as I might, so I've borrowed some photos from both the Ballinrobe and Westport websites.

Ballinrobe - magnificent downhill par three over water

Ballinrobe again

The signature hole - #15 over Clew Bay

The teebox at 15 - you're aiming to the right

Aerial shot - the 11th fairway on the right, the 13th just past it.

Not bad places for a walk, huh?