Yesterday I was fortunate to hit the ground running thanks to the itinerary that Jon Kiger put together. We visited three links courses in 9 hours! Immediately after landing we drove to Rush Golf Club to meet course manager Eddie Donlon.

Eddie is very enthusiastic and passionate about the turf industry. Rush Golf Club is the first links course that I have ever seen and what a sight it is. I love how open the links course is and how it has blends of natural and maintained growth to create a quick course. Another thing I noticed was the wind, it never stopped. Rush is a small course with only 9 holes, but 18 tees so each hole can be played twice to make a full round of golf. Eddie said because of the changing wind, holes can be played differently the second time around, making for a 9 hole course that can play like a 18 different holes. 

Eddie Donlon gives me some pointers on operating a Greens King IV.

Following the visit with Eddie Donlon, Jon and I headed to Donabate to meet head superintendent Dave Edmondson at The Island Golf Club. Dave, a native of England, gets to manage a course with great history and character. At one time the course was only accessible by boat that could only take over a few people at a time. Being another links course the views are great and the scenery is awesome. I was captivated by the large dunes that surround greens and fairways. We were able to see the new maintenance facility that will expand the amount of room that the shop has. It was interesting that this new building is so large that the golfers did not like the view coming down 18 fairway so Dave, along with the course architect, decided to put in a man made dune behind the 18^th green. This takes away the view of the new building and created a magnificent hole. 

Finally we stopped for a quick visit at Portmarnock Golf Club. We spoke with course superintendent Gary Johnstone, a native of Scotland. Portmarnock has 27  holes of championship golf that takes a keen eye to maintain. Gary gets the most out of his resources, even recycling his grass clippings and screening it after a 12 month program to get a divot mix used on the course. One of the key points that was made is the lack of quality water. Having salt water around makes it hard to find water that can be used so he has devised a system that draws water out of the ground but does not touch the salt water. 

Me with Gary Johnstone in the Portmarnock Golf Club maintenance facility.

In just my first day in Ireland I was able to meet three superintendents, an Irishman, an Englishman, and a Scotsman. To finish out the day Jon and I met Dave and Eddie for food at a local pub in the seaside village of Malahide.