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Second stop: County Louth Golf Club/"Baltray"


Peter McCormick

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Stepping out from the clubhouse onto the grounds of County Louth Golf Club one gets the immediate impression that the expansive property is as flat as a board... but continuing on one's walk convinces you otherwise.

 

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Looks pretty flat... but looks can be deceiving.

 

Located north of Dublin near Drogheda on the eastern coast of Ireland, County Louth (or "Baltray" as it's locally known) elicited rave reviews from the TurfNet trippers as they came off the golf course after a day under a sparkling sun (with a few clouds blowing by for interest) and brisk breeze.

 

First established in 1892, the present course was laid out in 1938 by the "eccentric Englishman", Tom Simpson.  From the club website:  "The course is laid out in two loops covering some 190 acres with no two holes running in the same direction. The only exception being the 12th and 13th which run along the sea. It speaks highly for Simpson's design that he saw need to introduce only fifty bunkers in the course's defenses the rest was taken care of by the natural terrain."

 

County Louth Golf Club has agreed to host the 2016 TurfNet Intern-in-Ireland program, providing accommodation in an apartment right in the clubhouse. Whoever gets that gig will have a wonderful experience.

 

The group of non-golfers visited the Newgrange Stone Age burial grounds, the Boyne Battlefield and the town of Drogheda.

 

Some photos of the day:

 

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The rough in lower sections of the course (away from the sea) had a decidedly brown cast due to a dense population of ferns among the fescue, like in the photo below. We had not seen that elsewhere, and there were none in the higher elevations close to the sea.

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A typical green complex along the back of the course.  The Irish Sea is just over that ridge.

 

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Standing on an elevated tee box looking down and across quite undulating land.

 

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Jacobsen AR-5 trimming around bunker edges.

 

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While elsewhere bunker edges got a weedie finish. The utility vehicle is a Kubota RTV.

 

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All of the links courses we visit are heavy overseeders, either slit or Vredo dimple-type. The 'cornrows' are visible in the front of this photo.

 

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Seaside, looking south.

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Jeff Hemphill, Joan Colleran, Pete Radtke and Frank Tichenor.

 

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Joan Colleran on the tee. PGA Pro. Sweet swing. Classy lady.

 

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Stephen Neuliep, Eric Wygant and Jorge Croda.

 

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Scott Schukraft watching his ball roll. The caddies are always part of "the experience".

 

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Jeff Hemphill. Nissequogue. Guinness 4-cupper.

 

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Two husband/wife teams:  John and Maureen Gall, Matt and Cheryl Crowther.

 

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Mark and Joel Kachmarek with Matthew "Taz" Tacilauskas.

 

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Mark Fuller, Jon Kiger, Tripp Trotter (Syngenta) and Fred Gehrisch, TurfNet Superintendent of the Year.

 

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