This marked our first trip to the Republic of Ireland and to the magical Atlantic Coast.

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We flew into Knock (sideways and holding on tight) and stayed right next to the course in a very lively hotel.   We warmed up at Rosses Point just outside of Sligo and it lived up to its reputation as one of the best tracks in the country. Flex’s singing on the mini-bus will live long in the memory. Apparently, he once knew a lady in blue...and one in red as well. 

We weren’t blessed with the best weather but the squalls seemed to pass over us quickly, leaving us to the mercy of the prevailing westerly winds. Enniscrone revealed itself as an absolute gem of a course, more than living up to the top-billing afforded by Ant who had visited years before. 
 

The first round ended with nothing to separate Ant, Bryn as Gaz and this continued deep into the second round. Just when one player looked like securing a lead, one of the others came back with a counterpunch.

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Eventually, Ant faltered on 15 and 16 (his fine birdie down the 36th was too little too late) leaving Bryn and Gaz to battle it out. Bryn had a one-shot lead going down the last but succumbed to the pressure, making double and letting in Gaz for a play-off. Both players struggled on the 1st hole (both missing putts they’d expect to make – well, Gaz certainly). They then made fine pars on the 2nd and 3rd extra holes, before Bryn at last managed to break his duck down the long par-5 4th hole, albeit with a fair bit of help from Gaz.

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It was a war of attrition and the gallery left shell-shocked. By the time the protagonists got back to the clubhouse the Guinness was luke-warm.   We headed off to Sligo town but got waylaid stopping at a pub about 5 minutes into the 1-hour
journey. In fact we got waylaid for about 4 hours and Sligo was shut by time we got there. A classic case of making your own fun, proving that all you really need is good beer and mates (and if it happens to be Guinness then so much the better). The pool table was the main focus (to the extent that anyone could focus); Rolfey introduced us to the darts equivalent of Russian Roulette; and Barry did more pull-ups than Woodsy outside. In short, it had everything.
 

 

Scores:
1. Bryn (8): 33, 31: 64
2. Gaz (4): 33, 31:  64
3. Ant (13): 33, 29: 62
4. Andy (20): 29, 26: 57
5. Beast (5): 25, 28: 53
6. Rolfey (11): 25, 28: 53
7. Bazza (13): 23, 27: 50
8. Richie (20): 17, 27: 44
9. Flex (18): 17, 18: 35
10. Woodsy (17): 21, DNF (retired hurt)