Traveling Back in Time: Golf at Ballybunion

We set off this morning on some more Irish country back roads, heading to Ballybunion to play golf on a traditional links course; in this case, the Old Course, dating from 1893.

It was a great experience and lots of fun to walk the 18 holes with a caddy. Let me tell you with some of the positions my balls landed, it was a pretty rugged walk. It was a bit chilly, but we were prepared; windy, but beautiful.  Our caddy was the second person to tell us it has been a particularly bad summer here with just five decent days, this was number six.

Shockingly, walking the course made me at least feel like a better golfer.

The course was spectacularly beautiful and the views on the ocean holes amazing; we were along the water for quite a few. A bonus was the adjacent cemetery along the first hole with its array of Celtic crosses. Those who have played golf with Fred will not be surprised to hear that his first ball hit a tombstone and bounced back into the fairway for an eventual par.

Other bonuses were en route was stopping for cows to cross the road on the way to their milking. When we left Ballybunion for our drive to Newmarket on Fergus and Dromoland Castle, we found ourselves at a ferry landing, with a ferry actually arriving, so we unexpectedly took the ferry across the River Shannon and saved some time. We are really enjoying the country roads and are finding road conditions and signage much better than we expected.

More on life as royalty next post.

Tip: Great book for driving around Ireland is: Eyewitness Travel’s Back Roads Ireland.  That book and a Michelin map are all you need. For any unanswered questions, everyone here is friendly and very happy to help.