BLOG: Men’s Golf in Ireland

Enjoy a series of blogs from the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's golf team as it travels to Ireland during the first full week of June. The Spartans are scheduled to be out in Ireland for seven days and plan to golf at six different courses across the country, including Doonbeg Golf Club, Lahinch Golf Club, Tralee Golf Club, Waterville Golf Links, Old Head Golf Links, and Ballybunion Golf Club. UNCG will also explore the beautiful landscape and history of Ireland exploring the Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, the Ring of Kerry, Cobh & Kinsale, and more.

Senior Parker Truesdale writes about the experience during days 4-6 in Ireland.

Day 4 - Waterville 

The team woke up ready for Waterville Golf Club. Although Waterville hasn’t been coined as an iconic course in Ireland, we had heard promising whispers about the layout. The whispers did not disappoint as the course was beautifully designed through the sound with great views of the sandbanks. The place did not have the views that Tralee or Old Head but made up for it with the design and architecture of Tom Fazio. It was the consensus that from a purely golf perspective, Waterville was the best course we had played thus far. The guys rounded out the day of golf with dinner in the clubhouse where we recapped our favorite holes and compared to the tracks from previous days. Afterward, we headed back to Killarney to get ready for our day off. 

Day 5 - Killarney National Park

On the first and only off day from playing golf on the trip, the group decided to check out the local National Park of Killarney. Looking back at the decision, I would’ve questioned the ambition to put our bodies through yet another hike. Nonetheless, the national park was a breathtaking piece of Irish landscape surrounding the Muckross estate. Our brilliant donor Tom Shahady, who is in the academia field of environmental science led the trek with jokes and tidbits of knowledge along the way. The group hiked to a waterfall that Head Coach Terrance Stewart decided to explore further despite the group’s better judgement. Thankfully, everyone made it back safely and we completed the trail with no casualties. The national park was breathtaking but in the back of all our minds was the Hurling Munster final that everyone in town was chattering about the day before. A once in a lifetime experience to watch a hurling match of national importance amongst the people who give their heart and soul to the game of hurling. The match was Limerick against Clare; an intense match that ended 1-23 to 1-22 in favor of Limerick. The group rounded out the day with a group back at Killarney Park Hotel before exploring the city of further. 

Day 6 - Old Head 

The much-anticipated day of the trip was finally upon us, the day we finally got to play one of the most aesthetically stunning golf courses in Ireland. Old Head was built on its own peninsula just south of Cork, with holes just feet away from the Ireland cliffs and sheared rock. Once arriving, we did what is only natural, went to the pro shop to buy souvenirs. To everyone’s shock, it was the most expensive shop we had been to by a good bit. Some went for the simple ball marker, but some decided to bite the bullet as a second trip is unlikely. We then sat down with our supportive donors and ate lunch before the round. The popular order amongst the group was the lobster roll which maximized freshness as the tank was sitting no further than 20 feet from our seats. Once we all finished our meals, we headed to the range to warm up for what was certain to be one of the most memorable rounds of our lives. The course came with a lot of buildup and anticipation which can then lead the course to become underwhelming. However, this was far from what happened at Old Head. The course truly took your breath away to the point where you would sometimes forget you were playing a round of golf. Old Head had some of the best par 5’s I had ever seen, one of which being the 12th hole. In the end, everyone was speechless over the last 5 hours of their lives and wondered how any round of golf could ever top that one. In some sense, Old Head has potentially ruined American golf for all of us. 

Stay tuned for the final blog from Symon Balbin. We will venture to one more golf course, and conclude the trip in Dublin!