June 17, 2015
Old Head Course, Day Two PhotosAfter a traditional Irish breakfast at our hotel, The Killarney Plaza, we loaded up our bus and headed to our first destination golf course of the trip. On the two hour drive to Old Head Golf Links, we passed through the beautiful Irish countryside and a few small towns including Kinsale, a scenic port town right on the coast. We’ve grown to love our bus driver, Dennis (he even joined us to play golf today!), and as we approached the Old Head course, he told us all to close our eyes until we got over a hill. Once he drove over the hill and the course was in view, we all opened our eyes at the same time for a stunning first impression of this island course.
Wow! This course was everything we thought it would be and more! Unlike some courses that have one or two specialty holes, each hole on this course was unique and picturesque. Imagine this: a 400-yard par four… the entire left side lined by a cliff that drops off 100 feet, straight down to crystal clear ocean… behind the green you see a lighthouse built in 1853 which has guided travelers for over 150 years… well, that was just hole #4! We had eighteen holes worth of experiences just like that. If you don’t believe us, check out some of our pictures! Our bus driver told us that today was the first time he had seen weather this perfect. Usually, the flags on the green are blowing almost horizontally due to extreme winds and rarely do you see players without multiple layers of clothing. Today, however, we had sunny skies, a light breeze, and warm weather.
In addition to the incredible views, this golf course provided us with a look back into some Irish history. Throughout the course, there were stones that marked historical events that happened on and around this island. For example, a sister passenger ship of the Titanic, The RMS Lusitania, was torpedoed and sunk here by the Germans in World War I, killing 1,200 passengers, 128 of which were Americans. This event shifted the public opinion of the United States against Germany and influenced America’s declaration of war two years later.
After a long day of golf, we got back to our hotel in Killarney around 8pm and set out to get some dinner downtown. The streets here are lined with small Irish pubs and restaurants, as well as specialty shops selling almost anything you can think of. We ate at Quinlan’s, a restaurant specializing in fish and chips, and then followed it up with our new favorite, Murphy’s Homemade Ice Cream. At dinner, we all crowded around an iPhone, just in time for Vanderbilt Baseball’s clutch 9th inning. Everyone was staring at us as we screamed and cheered for Jeren’s walk-off home run to win the game. We couldn’t think of a better way to end the day!