Lahinch- A special place to me

When I was 10 years old, I got to go to Lahich for the first time. It was the first great golf course I had ever played. It was a glorious sun filled Irish afternoon and spending that day with my dad was one of the most special days of my life.

Me on the back bank of the par 3 5th, the Dell hole. I got up and down for a par from there :)

I was lucky enough to return this summer. It was the same special palce to me.

Lahinch is an undervalued and underrated golf course and is a must see on any first time Irish golfing vacation.

I urge you to explore the links of Lahinch and let Bradley Golf Travel plan the trip for you!

Matt

Golf... A walking game

From its very inception, golf has been a walking game. Golf should be pleasurable excerise in the outdoors. My dad and I try to walk and carry as much as possible, we really enjoy it.

 

I would like to challenge you to carry for one round this year, I believe it is possible that you will love it and want to do it quite often. If not, it was good exercise for a couple hours ;-)



Matt.

The beauty of a rain suit

No matter what the venue might be, especially if you are playing on one of your memorable vacations, don't forget the wet gear!

 

The 18th at Royal Dornoch as another storm approaches.

And you might enjoy playing in the elements! I know I certainly do.



Connemara Golf Club, Connemara Ireland

The weather can even be inspirational! I have been the witness to a certain round in my dad's lifetime in which he cooly fired a 77 at Ballybunion during a monsoon ;-)

Let Bradley Golf Travel plan youre next trip and never under estimate the value of a good rain suit!

 

Matt

What is your favorite golf memory?

Getting to play and enjoy the game of golf growing up, and being able to share this with my dad is one of the things I cherish greatly in my life.



From being a small kid, to the teenager I am now, I love playing golf no matter the venue.



These are memories that will last as long as I live.



So contact Bradley Golf Travel now and let us plan the trip that will create your memory that will last a life time!


Thanks Dad,
I love you.
--Matt

Where do you want to go?

It's a simple yet complex question.. Whether its...

Traveling the world with your dad...

Or playing a major champioship site...

Or just having to play in some goofy looking socks!

Whatever it is,

Bradley Golf Travel will get you there and enjoying the trip of a lifetime!!

http://www.bradleygofltravel.com/

What's the Deal with Royal Cinque Ports?

Just a few miles down the coast from Royal St. George's, lies Royal Cinque Ports (also affectionately known as Deal)

 

Deal's greens and their wild undulations make them by far Deal's most outstanding feature.

 

I had a fantastic time with my dad at Deal and I'm sure that anyone that who plays Deal will enjoy there time as well. Let Bradley Golf Travel book your next trip to England.

The Sacred Nine...

Bernard Darwin christened Royal Worlington and Newmarket "The Sacred Nine":

(upon entering the clubhouse, you can see the Darwin article on display on your right)

With a wild set of greens, and charming sense of stepping back in time, Royal Worlington is largely considered the best nine hole course in the world. Despite its lack of space, Royal Worlington requires a plethora of interesting shots, including teeing off over previous greens.

With a 220 yard par 3, a 450 par 4 and a 475 par 5, Royal Worlington provides the ultimate 9 hole variety.

Let Bradley Golf Travel book Royal Worlington for you on your next trip to England!

Some pictures were used with permission from http://www.golfclubatlas.com/

Matt

The Dreaded Ice Plant incident….and the Redemption

In 1997, I first traveled to the Monterey Peninsula.  Following a beautiful day at Pebble, my close friends Pat and Dave, and I set out on Spyglass Hill.  The first few holes at Spyglass are absolutely magical-- quirky, exposed sand, crashing waves--golfers’ heaven, and despite being stung by a wasp between the shoulder blades on the first tee, I was playing well.  In fact, I arrived at the 5^th tee even par. 

(tee shot on the par 3 5th at Spyglass Hill as it looks now)

 Young and inexperienced, I suffered from the card-and-pencil mentality:  My score was important to me.  The 5^th is a medium-length par 3, but on that day it was playing into a strong wind.  I chose to hit a 5-iron.  I made great contact and was able to keep the ball low.  The ball sailed directly toward the green.  I felt great.   But the ball was unaffected by the wind and carried over the green.   Oh well, I thought, I’ll get it up and down from there.  I walked up to find my ball sitting beautifully on top of a plant I’d never seen before.  Ice plant.  It looked like a great lie, some 15 yards beyond the green.  Looked.   I took out my 56 degree wedge (60 degree wedges were not yet in vogue) and calmly swung at the ball.  My club went directly under the ball, causing it to fall straight down and settle between the stems of the plant.  Hmmm.  I swung harder this time and the ball moved a few inches into an even worse lie.  Some 5 swings later, I had moved the ball within a foot of the edge of the ice plant.  Now swinging with all my might, I finally extracted (shot) the ball from(out of) the dastardly plant, but unfortunately sent the it halfway back to the tee.  Turning around I realized that I had probably removed 15 pounds of ice plant from the hillside….a crime scene might have been less of a mess.  I don’t have a picture of the carnage, but if I did, you’d probably say that it looked like an ATV had gotten stuck in the ice plant and spun its wheels for a few minutes trying to get out.  I finished the hole with a 12.  I never recovered.  The event became forever known as “the dreaded ice plant incident”.

 (special attention to the area directly behind the pin, now sand and bushes--all of the ice plant has been removed)

(close up of the green and former ice plant area)

(a re-creation of the original lie in flowering iceplant)

Well, I finally returned to Spyglass last week.  I got to the 5^th tee having birdied the 4^th to go back to +1.  My score is no longer so important to me.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like to make pars and birdies--who doesn’t?  But since my multiple orthopedic problems, I am just grateful to be able to enjoy the game at all.  And now, much of the time, I get to enjoy it with my son.  I doubt there are many things as pleasurable as sharing your passion with your child.   Here I was, on a spectacular Monterey afternoon, playing Spyglass with my son.  We have had more than our share of these days--strolling the fairways, seeing the great places in golf, chatting about the architecture.  I am surely blessed. 

Less wind this time.  I certainly didn’t want to go long; I had learned that lesson 14 years ago.  The tees were up.   I decided to punch an 8 iron.  A bit over the top, I hit a slight pull.  The ball settled happily on the left side of the putting surface about pin high.  Two putts later, I had made my par.  Redemption.

  The dreaded ice plant no longer surrounded that hole—it had been removed and replaced by bushes. (Had I really done that much damage? But they’ve removed ice plant from all over the course, so maybe I wasn’t solely responsible.) This time I had my conniption on the 6^th hole, making triple bogey (I am sure I had an emotional letdown after the 5^th J).   I didn’t mind.  I returned to Spyglass a worse golfer but better person.  I will remember both trips for the 5^th hole, but mostly for sharing the experience with my son and close friends.

check out my golfclubatlas post about Spyglass Hill's first 5 holes with some pretty good photos:  http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=48571.msg1094942;topicseen#msg1094942

Bart

A true legend..

Well, believe it or not, I met Arnold Palmer this weekend at Bay Hill.  We were warming up on the range before our round when our magnificent host waved his hand asking us to come closer.  Our host was standing and chatting with the King!  We were introduced with a hankshake and Mr. Palmer was as kind and cordial as a man could be.  He was incredibly nice to us.. After meeting him, it got me thinking about Arnold Palmer designed golf courses.....

My favorite of all Palmer designs is Tralee, a fantastic links in southwestern Ireland.

The back nine, in particular, weaves in and out of huge dunes.

Tralee is the sort of place that makes you want to come back to enjoy the spectacular setting and fun golf. On your next trip to Ireland, don't miss Tralee.

One Special Day..

Lahinch, Ireland... 2 words that carry so much meaning for me. I spent a lovely day on the western coast of Ireland with my father.  It was here that I played my first great golf course.

Opened in 1893, and later changed in 1927 by Alister Mackenzie, the architect of Augusta National, this specatuclar course winds in and out of wind-swept sand dunes. This course has a mystical feeling and the magic of never knowing what lies just around the corner.

The most famous hole at Lahinch is the Dell, par 3 5th. The green is situated in a natural depression in the dunes. My shot ended up long and on the dune, as you can see here.  I did make a specatucalar 3 from this spot.

Neither my dad nor I will forget this afternoon, for Lahinch is truly special.  No golfing life is complete without a visit to Lahinch.  Don't miss it.

My First Eagle...

It was a gorgeous Scottish afternoon with my dad at North Berwick West Links. Here is where I had my first ever eagle, by knocking it in the hole at the 1st from about 165 out. That afternoon was a fantastic time, and North Berwick is a cool, quirky course where you actually play over a 400 year old stone wall!

The original redan is also here at North Berwick and some of the most famous holes in all of golf try to copy the stategies found here.

My day at North Berwick is truly something that I will never forget and to have shared that afternoon with my dad is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. You should want to give your son a day to remember like this so contact Bradley Golf Travel at inquiry@bradleygolftravel.com to get your trip planned today.