A Golfers Diary, this is a day post by one of our customers during his trip to Ireland last 2013.

Day 9: The European Club

The background to this post is that one of our customers kept a daily dairy of where he played, where he stayed and what he did for fun in the evening. He just wanted to let his buddies know what they were missing as a result of not been able to come on his trip. 

Accommodation: 4* O’Callaghan Hotel, Stephen’s Green Dublin City Centre

A brief note about The European Club:  http://www.theeuropeanclub.com

The links of The European Club was designed by Pat Ruddy and is owned and operated by the Ruddy family. Pat Ruddy is a golf-writer and golf course designer whose work will be found also at such highly regarded venues as Ballyliffin, Druids Glen, Druids Heath, Rosapenna, Portsalon, St. Margaret's, Donegal (Murvagh) and Montreal Island Golf Club. Ruddy discovered the property when he surveyed Ireland's coastline by helicopter in search for a classic golf location. The result is a magnificent addition to the world's short supply of approximately 160 true links (51 of these are in Ireland). Champions from all over the world have discovered The European Club and Tiger Woods currently holds the course record of 67. The European Club hosted the Irish PGA Championship in 2007 and 2008 specifically to prepare Padraig Harrington for the British Open in the following weeks. It worked so well he won both the Irish and British titles both years!

10th Hole at the European Club

Day Itinerary 9, Irish Golf Tour with Concierge Golf 

9.00am picked up at the hotel, followed by a 40 minute drive trip to the European Club

Tee time: 11am tee time at the European Club with PGA Pro John Dooley. (on going working on my swing)

Weather: – mid to low 60s, clam day, started off sunny, windy, then overcast, then sunny to finish, but perfect for golf and no rain!

Dinner: 8pm Peploes, Dublin city centre and I will be dancing with all the nice ladies in Dublin around the pubs in Grafton street again! My favourite pub is Bruxcelles.  

Golf lesson notes: Keep working on my swing sequence, work and keep working on a good warm routine before you play. A good warm up can make a great impact on your score and your ball striking.

My diary thoughts: 

This course was quite tough and I found the rough very difficult to manage for my 13 handicap. Hitting the ball from the turf on the various Irish Golf Links I have played to date is very different to what I am use hitting from back home in the USA. As the turf is harder in places I find the club is bouncing a little bit more, I don't take as much divot and my iron shots are not as accurate. 

I did figure out midway through this golf course; that the best way for me to play was to hit my ball into the bigger landing areas, which were about 150 - 170 yards from the hole for my second shots on par 4s and play from a 100 yards for my 3rd shot on the par 5s. The hotel is great and good location to the centre of town and dinner was fine too! Look forward to tomorrow's round at Portmarnock and we are playing with a member that played on a winning walker cup team. 

12th Hole at the European Club

John Dooley PGA
Concierge Golf, Ireland
Email: info@conciergegolf.ie
Web: www.conciergegolf.ie