Sunday warmup at Portmarnock Hotel and Links...
The group shook off any jet lag on Sunday with a warmup round at Portmarnock Hotel & Golf LInks, joined by course manager Fintan Brennan and his son/assistant Mike.
Not to be confused with Portmarnock Golf Club ("old Portmarnock", founded 1894, which we will play on Tuesday), the Links Portmarnock as it is called is a 1994 Bernhard Langer design. The old Jameson family (of Jameson whiskey renown) estate was expanded to hotel size, and portions of their 12-hole private golf course were incorporated into the current Langer design.
A true links layout, the course hugs the shoreline of a peninsula that juts out into the Irish Sea.
Our host Fintan Brennan shows how it's done, teeing off toward the Portmarnock Hotel.
The staff of seven (typical for many Irish courses) rebuilt 40 of these revetted bunkers two years ago and another 20 this year, with some left to do. The thick-cut sod is harvested on-property.
The mounding along the 16th fairway is "moved earth", and was created to provide a windbreak for neighboring holes. Not sure how that perimeter cut is accomplished.
Panoramic view of the 8th tee complex, which plays left to right.
Peeking over the dunes that separate the course from the Irish Sea.
Mark Fuller CGCS (Connecticut Golf Club), John Gall (Cherry Hill Club, Ontario) and his wife Maureen, with Fintan Brennan and Jon Kiger.
Cheryl and Matt Crowther, CGCS (Mink Meadows Golf Club, Martha's Vineyard) with Joan Colleran (wife of the late Paul Colleran, a TurfNet Supt of the Year finalist) and Eric Wygant (another SOY finalist) of Shannopin Country Club, Pittsburgh, PA.
Matt and Eric both found a few of the bunkers. No comment on how many Cheryl found her way into. Sometimes the best way out was not forward.
Frank Tichenor (Forest Hill Field Club, NJ) with Steven Neuliep (Asheville, NC), Mike Brennan (assistant supt at Links Portmarnock, and Pete Radtke, guest of Frank Tichenor.
Seems like every course has an idiot who doesn't know his way out of a bunker.
The Brothers Gosselin (Tom, left, from Overbrook Country Club, and John, of Aronimink Golf Club, both in the Philadelphia area), enjoy a pint after their round.
Fintan Brennan compares notes with Doug Ayres, who won his place on the trip by submitting the winning video in the Aquatrols Smart Water Video Challenge.
0 Comments
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.