June 19, 2015
DAY 4 PHOTOS: HEREÂ
Day 4: Ireland Golf Trip
By Kate Sborov and Jennifer Hahn
Today we had the opportunity to play the historic Ballybunion Golf Club in Kerry, Ireland. Filled with history and challenging holes, this links style course is ranked as Ireland’s No. 1 course and ranked No. 21 in the world.
Built in 1893, this course ran on the honor system for many of it’s early years. As described by Dennis, our bus driver, the honor system meant people took it upon themselves to regulate play. Historically, there was a small clubhouse consisting of only two bathrooms and a small pro-shop; people would show up to play without a tee time, place their green fees in an envelope, then start their round. There were no professionals to monitor the system, but it worked well until Tom Watson put Ballybunion on the map.
Watson, an eight-time major champion, brought attention to the course and drew an increase in the number of people who traveled to play it. As the course began to become more popular, a large clubhouse was erected and the course became internationally admired. Â Watson was not the only famous American who brought attention to this course. Bill Clinton was a frequent player there and praised the true test of golf that Ballybunion links offers. In fact, in the town of Kerry, stands a statue of Bill Clinton golfing to commemorate all that he did for the course.
As we arrived to the course, we knew we were going to get the full Irish, golf experience. It was very overcast, rainy, and cold; however, the fog did not falter the beauty of the course. Right off the bat, we noticed each hole was unique. With a slightly blocked shot off the first tee, your ball would end up in the graveyard, or `boneyard’ as the Irish like to call it. Each shot required precision as a number of tee shots crossed paths with the greens of other holes.
Because the course has a lot of dramatic landscape, it required many demanding shots. For example, there were narrow fairways lined with tall hills and high grass, and there were holes in which the edges of the fairways were marked with steep cliffs dropping off to a beach below. On a handful of the holes, the fairways were so close to the ocean that you could feel the mist of the ocean and hear the crashing of the waves. Needless to say, the views were spectacular.
We are packing up our hotel in Killarney tonight as we head out to play a match against an Irish club team at Tralee Golf Club tomorrow.