Boards Golf Society (Round 2) Carton House Montgomerie Golf Course (12th March 1130 hrs.)
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just a quick point on pace of play. It was brutal but it was absolutely nothing to do with any of us. I was in the third group. At one point, I think as I was on the 10th hole I could see across to the 16th and 15th, both totally empty and nobody on the 14th green either. There was a society in front of ours and they were the problem 😫
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After my odyssean epic post on the last thread I'll try control the urge here for Monty.
After a few slight rejigs to the timesheet, ended up playing with CharlieIRL (the b0llix), A Post Punk & Kiith.
A Post Punk, always a great playing partner, and was a joy to see the improvement in his game in the last year. Driving and irons have come on big time and he putted really well. 2 loose holes ultimately cost him the win overall, but he'll be featuring for the rest of the year I reckon.
Kiith, I was playing with for the first time. I knew he was going to be able to hit a ball, given the fact he's won longest drive probably 3 times in the past 2 years or so. He didn't disappoint on that front. His scoring wasn't great on the day, but when he connected with a drive, he put a hurt on the ball. On 16 I think we clocked it at 350 yards off the tee. I said to CharlieIRL that it just sounds different when you hear a strike like that. The ball literally fizzes off the face. I think what's actually happening is though, we're just hearing the FFFFFFFFFF as the ball leaves, but the ball is actually saying 'FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF%@K!!!!'
Early in the round we got talking about how Irish mates talk to each other. It basically is a gang of lads taking the pi$$ out of each other, and can seem strange to people from other cultures. To that end, I'll start in on CharlieIRL 😀. Like last time out in Portmarnock I was playing a match as well as the comp, and it was up against CharlieIRL.
Some gentle ribbing to start the match. "I've to give you how many shots today ya b0llix". Just the 12 of them. And 3 in a row to start the round. On the first and CharlieIRL put his second into the hazard. Was thinking I'd be off to a quick start. But no, finds his ball a yard into the hazard but sitting up on some grass. Knocks it to the middle of the green and 2 putts. I also bogey the hole, so I'm one down. Yep, you're a b0llix alright.
Pars the 2nd with a stroke, and I'm 2 down. He's definitely a b0llix.
Both bogey the third and I'm 3 down thru 3.
He has 1 more point on his card than me at this point and I'm 3 down, this is a load of b0llix!
The 4th, some relief, no stroke, and I get one back with a par.
On the index 1, I hit a great drive and iron to the heart of the green, solid 2 putt par. Great, I've parred the index 1, have to get another one back. But no, a great save from CharlieIRL for a bogey means a half for me. He's some b0llix.
A miscount on the next had him concede when he had a putt for a half. His only mistake of the day.
Shared pars on the par 3 7th was another loss for me as its a stroke hole.
Won 8th with a par, and then I chipped in from off the green for birdie on 9 to finish the 9 A/S.
Maybe I was being harsh, he's not that much of a b0llix 😉
Back 9 starts similar to the first with 3 shots being given up in the opening 3 holes. Managed to battle thru them and end up only 2 down, so an improvement. I was wrong though, he is a b0llix.
Made a good par on 13 to peg him back to 1.
The rain came in on 14 hard. We halved the hole. CharlieIRL was quick over his putt to win the hole though (probably desperate to get to the cover of his umbrella)
A good par on 15 had me get back to all square and on the 16th, I finally won a stroke hole with a nice par to go 1-up for the first time in the match. He's a sound fella that CharlieIRL.
We all made a pigs ear of the NTP tee shot. Misery and cold hands probably a factor at this point with the cold and rain
CharlieIRL had a stroke and made bogey, was left with a long downhill left to right breaker for par. Couldn't make it, so all square down the last.
Great finishing matchplay hole. CharlieIRL pushed his drive a little, missed fairway but not bad. I hit my best drive of the day. A great 2nd from CharlieIRL, and OK one from me. Left with a good distance though and I hit a lovely wedge to about 10ft. CharlieIRL hit to the back edge of the green, about 20ft for him. He hit his first putt short, left with 6ft. I went looking for a break and help from the wind that wasn't there, but tapped in for par.
6ft for a half in the match from CharlieIRL and like he'd done all day, he rolled it in the middle.
A great match and a great day out with a gentleman and a good friend.
One thing is for sure though, HE'S AN ABSOLUTE B0LLIX!
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Really enjoyed the day again. Played with alanM, bohtoffee and luckycharm. AlanM is the best golfer I know. A run of three three pointers in a row early in the back nine while my game started to falter made it appear like he was going to have a good day. But playing off 2 bogies are no good. Hitting a fairway bunker is nearly always a guaranteed bogey. Bohtoffee is a strong lad. Relatively new to golf, there's some incredible shots in his arsenal. I spotted some things in his game where I think there's a lot of easy wins for him to score better etc misjudging the wind a number of times. Nonetheless, 35 points is a good result. Especially considering there was at least 2 lost balls on the day. When he learns his in his distances and understands how to play the wind and dials in iron distances there's another 46 pointer going to happen in the society for sure. I think I heard there's something like 175 bunkers on the monty, Luckycharm was unlucky enough to find about 80% of them. By the tail end of the course he started getting really good at the bunkers too with all the practice.
My own game was good, i turned 19 points (3 over) and was playing well. However as often happens me, a short missed putt soon after the turn heralded a drop in confidence and a string of poor play. I recovered and ended up with 35pts. Playing in the first group helped my score for sure as only the last 2 or 3 holes were wet. I struggled all day with mudballs. I didn't see one drive bounce all day. In most cases the ball just plopped out of the plugmark just off the fairway. There were a few that stayed embedded which were always way better as you can take the ball out of the plugmark and clean the mud off the ball. Other than this I really liked the course.
All in all a class day which I really enjoyed. As always many thanks to fix and the committee.
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I'll do 2 posts - first post - did anyone find my 9-iron "Callaway X-20" on the course? If so can you PM me? If not I'll call the course in the morning - thing is I only realised today when cleaning and drying the gear I was missing it 😐️
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Another long drive for those of us from the real capital, but with the quality of course on offer, it was hard to turn down. the group I played with would have had a brilliant scramble score, Golfhead rolled in a 60 feet for par on the first - WOW!!! Seve with the 4 iron to the green on the 8th hole - again WOW!! My 3 playing partners birdied that hole (me with a 6 after being just in front in 2) Paksman has a decent short game, but I am afraid his whiskey tasting Friday night got the better of him early in the round ;-) Thanks guys for the round - probably 30 minutes longer than we hoped for.
I echo comments above, this course suited me off the tee as I can get away with some wayward drives, and while I was happier with my long game than I have been in about 9 months, my short game is going backwards - 35 points was poor considering I had 2 birdies on the front 9 which both gave me 4 pointers - turning on the back 9 into the wind I went 6,6,6,6,6 - before the heavy stuff came down and I think that woke me up to go 5,5,5,5 which could and should have been 4,4,4,4 :-)
Unlikely I will make Nenagh as I am travelling with work but looking forward to playing later in the year.
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Great post Fixde on the reason for selecting the Monty course and the reason why we all love golf for the ups and downs on the fairways and the headspace……
Played In a great fourball yesterday with Space ( thanks for the kind words on my game improving ) Charlie and Kiith. All sound lads
It was my first time playing with Kiith and some of the drives he hit were spectacular , I’m sure I saw snow on his golf ball several times when it eventually dropped out of the sky. It took me 2 strokes to get as far as his drive on the 16th and my own Drive was 225 yards when I checked on shotscope. He had a bad day with the bunkers but is most definitely going to feature in an outing this year.
Charlie and Space had their own Matchplay game going on the side so I left them slag each other and watched the game go down to the last. Both played some good golf as usual and it’s always good to watch 2 consistent players plot the way around a tough course.
Absolutely delighted with my own 3rd place finish. I made a right balls of 15 pulling 2 drives into the trees meaning a scratch. I said to Charlie if I can manage 3 x 2 pointers on the last 3 holes I’ll have 40 points. So I got the 2x 2 points on 16 & 17 and hit a great drive and 3 wood to roughly 70 yards on 18….. it was in the rough on an upslope and I sliced it straight into the water🤦🏻♂️Disaster…. I didn’t manage to get up and down but that’s golf. Finished with 38 , I would have paid a nice sum for that score starting out. Overall I played good on the day and seeing massive improvement in my game this is the year I hope to drop the handicap a nice bit.
On the course itself it held up great to awful recent weather. I loved the greens , the speed and breaks were true. I hit a few bunkers myself but actually enjoyed getting out of them ,it’s totally different to most courses when you can’t actually see out of them !! It really wasn’t any penalty off the tee unless you hit the bunker so if that rain didn’t come in a 40 plus score was out there.
One last note I had a thought of naming this post as THE CORK HEIST … with 3 out of the 4 on the podium from the Banks of the Lee …… Well done Break80 on the win the Ryder jug race is out of the traps and heating up already!!
PP
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I’m tears laughing reading this!! A brilliant fun day out on the course yesterday and this is what this society is all about, I’ve made some very very decent friends here and really look forward to each month and off for the day to play the round. Thanks lads.
I’ll do a proper write up later on the round when I’m at my computer, was up and down and all over the place but was still great to be back at the Monty.
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I actually pulled the curtains yesterday and laughed! Pure blue skies and not a cloud in sight! These guys have little faith.. But having said that! The monthly meeting didn't go to great with the weather gods! They said Benny whats the story with these internet weirdos! They are more obsessed with the weather than we are! Are they looking for our Jobs! have they no faith in the power we process.. So much negatively... well if its rain they want, Rain they shall have!!... I try but its hard when you have know one backing you up! But I taught the lads were only pulling my chain when I pulled the curtains as they are normally sound. I even contemplated wearing shorts!..lol.. Thankfully I didnt but I did come a bit under prepared weather wise and it did cost me..
Onto the golf played with Kieran, snackbox and Rainbow warrior. Im glad my intervention worked snackbox as you had a super back 9 especially considering the weather! Hopefully helps you going forward dont worry my invoice is in the post 😉 My game - I scratched the first after hitting a slice of the tee 🙄 my own fault as I was kinda rushing as the lads ahead were already on the Green. My tactics were simple avoid the bunkers at all costs and ill score well. Done just that until the par 3 12th. beautiful 5i just pushed it into the far right greenside bunker and by god what a bunker it was! I needed to absail down into it! took me 6 shots to get out! ha.. i was determined ..lol.. Im playing the best golf of my life hitting bombs with my drives. I was 20 yds past Golfgaffixs LD only to be 4 inches of the fairway.. striking the ball beautifully with my blades 😁 I was getting some backspin with wedges on the greens it was mad! As I never get backspin. I actually hit 2 or 3 greens were it spinned right back off them! mad. Not 1 duff chip either. The first and 12th were only scratches I had. I only hit 1 back shot all day after hitting a monster drive on 16 past all the bunkers I had a 9i in hand and thinned it. But the weather done me. I was so cold and couldn't get the heat into me and then the rain killed me, costly mistake. I normally always have my fleece in the bag!
Congrats to Break80 and a super 39 pts especially as he was just ahead of me in the worse of the weather! and the Fiver! B@stard 😂
And remember guys THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES AT BOARDS OUTINGS 😉
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What to say after reading all these great posts?
I was never the longest hitter of a ball at the best of times and a few back operations over the last number of years leading to playing about 6 times in 4 years hasnt helped, especially on real championship courses where you need to be solid instead of watching your back...literally
Just trying too hard instead of enjoying the day, frustrating when the shots you were once decent at ain't biting any more.....YET!!!
Of course, putting a side bet on with your playing partners when your game is crap doesn't help either. Thought it might get some fire going in the belly..it didnt.
But it fired up the Tiger and boy did he roar. His game was so consistent it was boring 😁..just joking pal, great game.
Richie played solid throughout, great striker of the ball.
Swededmonkey contested with me for the lowest points on the front 9..I won..yahay..and nearly had as many bunker shots as me too. Nice striker and will score well when he is married and learns to love the mother in law 😁..location joke, you had to be there.
Only decent shot I had all day landed me the nearest the pin prize and then I try to guide a little putt in for birdie just to watch it roll by..ah well.
Overall, crap golf, great course, even better craic.
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Another great Boards outing and a very impressive turnout. Thanks to Golfgraffix for organising this one and of course our captain fantastic Fix. It was a pleasure to play with Golfhead65 for the first time even though I’ve gotten to k ow him over the years we had never played together before and a first game for me also with Pakman and it’s been a fair few years since I played with ssbob and it’s great to see him return to the society always a pleasure. The three lads all played quite well and all had special moments. Golfhead65 kept us entertained with a story about everyone/everywhere/everything you can care to imagine and as we waited to hit our tee shorts on 12 he recalled his days of playing in goal for Coventry in the top flight back in the 80’s. It brought out the competitive sportsman in him as he hit a cracker to about 12 and slotted the putt for a nice few quid. ssbob was flushing his shots all day but a few bad holes on the back 9 ultimately cost him, Pakman will be one to watch, he was close this time but his day will come as he is a very good solid golfer.
My round was very solid and although I’ve got loads more shots than I realistically should have (thanks to WHS) I didn’t take advantage of them. I’ve been hitting the ball well but waiting around on nearly every shot just gets to me (and I let it) and I definitely felt my swing quite restricted wearing all the layers. I didn’t really enjoy my game yesterday as result of the waiting around and weather. I rushed myself also, for no reason, I let the hold up get to me, then I just got cold and wet and wanted to go home 😩 I love the course, but feel it’s a bit to soft off the green tees. It was quite annoying the mud balls, sorry Captain I know you say keep it on the fairways and you can clean them, but we are amateurs after all and that is easier said than done. We should have been placing everywhere, but it was the same for everyone so I’m not complaining. My round went like this
- Fairway, short right chip and 2 putts
- Right rough bladed approach long, duffed chip to edge of green, sunk moonraker of a putt for par
- Short but opted to putt through fairway to 6 foot left, missed putt
- Nice drive, knocked down second into bunker, 3 to get out, took 8
- Right rough, mud ball, Fix said it will be fine and I can clean it when I get back to fairway, second to right rough, third to bunker, can barely see the ball now so much mud on it 😂, good out and now I can clean it 😃 2 putts for 6
- Nice drive down centre and wedge to middle of green for a 2 putt par
- Pin high left, another duffed chip and 2 putts from the rough
- Long drive but in rough left. 4 iron from 185 yards to about 12 foot for one of my best ever looks at eagle. Read to much into the putt and missed left to leave tap in birdie.
- Pulled drive left, wasn’t sure I’d find it as was heading at gorse bush so had to hit provo. Got lucky with the first but another one covered in mud. Straight into the greenside bunker but got out well and a good 2 putt to turn with 19 points.
- Drive down left side and another mud ball took the sting out of my second shot to come up short. A decent chip but still left myself 20 foot but gave it a good look……….missed the feckin 2 footer back 😩
- Tried to carry the right side bunkers with the driver but didn’t catch all of it and found the last one. Got out well with 7 iron to get close to green and walked away with another bogey
- Knocked down tee shot but she ran all the way to green side and not far from the front hole, but a poor chip and another bogey when I didn’t make the 6 footer.
- Great drive just short of the green, duffed the 50 yard approach shot to the front of the green but a good chip left me 3 foot for par…….missed it 🥺
- Best drive of the day, 70 yards to hole and hit it to about 8 foot….. guess what?……. Yep I missed the put, still a par and now I’m 1 up on 2’s
- Rain started getting heavy now, waiting for ages on tee box, then first bad drive sliced right and possible trouble so a reload. Didn’t find my first one, should have, but there was a lot of cut grass that it probably nestled under. Rain was pi55ing me off now along with the waiting and I just wanted to go home. Another knocked down shot when I was only playing a 6 iron into the green. Came up short with approach and managed to get up and down to save a point.
- Second bad tee shot and a snap hook but luckily I was aiming way right to take short cut on so actually just finished off fairway but a long way out. Knocked down another but she ran and ran. A great chip to a foot and tapped in for par
- Another long wait on the tee and I just let it get to me. I hit a terrible tee shot way left, nearly didn’t find it but it was plugged so could take a drop but not a great chip spun back off the green, 2 putts and I walked to the last with 35 points
- I was cold, tired and struggling to swing the club properly with all the layers. Wasn’t trying to murder this one, so a gentle hit and just in the left rough, in range for the green but with tree in the way it wasn’t going to happen. 7 iron will do me over the tree and probably no more that 30 yards short. Another knock down, I think most of these were with the weather, wet clubs, cold hands slipping etc. but of course I found my fifth and final bunker and took 2 to get out. Now I’m under the tree in 4 shots, club slipped and I’m off the right of the green in 5. Got up well but couldn’t roll in the putt so a scratch to finish.
From about the 15th I was looking forward to the showers, it’s great to have them back now after Covid kept us out of them for so long and yesterday it was well needed.
well done to all the prize winners, it’s good to see the cork lads filling their boots, I hope they took a picture cause it’s won’t be like that very often 🤣
that’s my golf done now till probably May, family duty takes over with confirmations and communions to prepare for and a little holiday to the sun over Easter so it’s unlikely I’ll make Nenagh.
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Well Golfers.
I did it and I am absolutely delighted to get only my 2nd win with this wonderful society.
I stayed the night with my better half in the hotel last night. Nice dinner in The Kitchen Restaurant; bottle of Pinot Grigio. French Coffee dessert and a few too many whiskey sours to finish off a great day. Life is good lads.
After the muck I played in Portmarnock and following weeks depression I decided to have a game plan for this round of golf instead of my usual rocking up and come what may. I figured I was long enough to carry the fairway bunkers off the greens with my drive. Stay short of the greenside bunkers with my approach and depend on my short game for 2 point bogeys. If I had an up and down that was a bonus par 3 points. Happy days.
Of course this plan needed a dependable swing to hit the ball in the general direction I was aiming and the wind not to be taking 20 yards off your drive which I'm glad to say worked out on most holes with a fair helping of Lady Luck as well. On at least 3 drives on the front 9 I landed on little slivers of land between fairway bunkers and stayed above ground allowing me to stick with the plan.
Bogey 1/2/3, double 4, bogey 5/6/7, double 8 and bonus par 9 17 points almost to plan. Don't get down on yourself bogey golf is good today 35/36 points is the target, won't win you anything but at least it is what you are trying to achieve and shows you can play to your ambitions. STICK TO THE PLAN.
Bogey 10 and Lads then it happened, rain was coming down hard and we were heading back to the clubhouse with wind finally at our backs. Following Roadrunners advice before Portmarnock I was actually prepared for this. I had dry rain gloves and dry rain pants in the bag and put them on on the 11th tee box.
THEN THE MAGIC HAPPENED. I have a fear of the club slipping out of my hands when wet so I tried to shorten my backswing ala John Rahm and it worked a treat. In my minds eye I had the mans swing to perfection. In reality it was probably the ugliest swing out there but it worked for me.
Hit a cracking drive on 11, had 170 yards to the pin. Wind at your back, Do I stick to my plan to avoid the bunkers or do I take it on. OF COURSE I TOOK IT ON. Hit a 7 iron to 10 ft above the hole with my John Rahm swing. Of course 3 putted for a bogey, bummer but I felt something in my last 2 swings that made me feel good.
Par 12 another solid iron, bogey 13 after 2 solid hits again but a brain fart with the putter. At this stage I was stitching my approach shots and feeling good. Pars on 14/15 which I felt were genuine birdie chances.
Finally made the birdie on 16. Walking down the slope from the green to the path I got a slip and ended up on my back like an upturned tortoise even my hat was covered in mud. I was walking on air at this stage so can't make out how I slipped in the first place.
Another solid iron to 17 gave me a par and standing on 18 with 22 pts back 9. No shot on this hole but only needing a point to reach the magic 40 pts.
I was hitting a nice fade so I aimed at the bunker on the left and of course hit my straight drive right into it. Not to worry I can get over the lip and carry the next set of bunkers with a good wedge. I managed to clear the lip but not the next set of bunkers. 2 bunkers in 1 hole not good at this point the plan was unravelling, 7 iron should clear the lip of this bunker and get me close I was thinking, Think again after hitting the first 7 iron into the bank and going with wedge just to get out, with fix's advice about the bunkers ringing in my ears and my tail between my legs I needed an up and down for a point from about 160 yds. hit a solid shot to the middle of the green but left myself too much of a putt and had my only scratch of the day.
Had some great company in 3 new members Cedar, scottygolf9 and ciano15 who made the day all the more enjoyable.
I apologise for the long post lads but ye will have to indulge on this one. It will more than likely be another 3 years before I can the chance to be able to post from the winner's circle again.
BREAK80
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Pretty much sums up my round 😯
Was really looking forward to the round, but wasn't too optimistic given some recent form. Unlucky enough on the 1st to drive directly into the fairway bunker, and took me two to get out, the 2nd of which went straight into the water. Never a good start to scratch the 1st, but onto the 2nd...and pretty much the same thing happened. Drove the ball fairly well most of the day, but my game around the greens was shockingly bad at times. Either 4 or 5 times i was around 20-30 yards short of the green, with a bunker in front of me, and i'd chunk it directly in. Found it really hard to play on the muddy, yet hard, surface. Ended up scratching 3 of the first 4 holes, then managed a few pars and bogies till after the rain started, and scratched a few more. 24 points overall, very disappointing.
Played with CharlieIRL, A Post Punk & spacecoyote...bunch of bollix's the lot of them. Told them at the start I'd never played there before, and they wouldn't even give me any tips. Disgraceful carry on 🤣 In all seriousness, had a very enjoyable time with them all. CharlieIRL is fantastic around the greens, and i lost count the times he sank a putt from 10-15 feet. spacecoyote was excellent off the tee, and was striking it really well for most of the day. A Post Punk was also playing some excellent golf, and only for one of two unlucky holes, he'd have gotten the win. Plenty of good natured ribbing, and a great bunch to play a round with. I don't think the conditions helped anyone, after the heavens opened up on the 14th. My hands were freezing, and really struggled gripping the club properly. Time to buy a few handwarmers and leave them in the bag i think.
Sorry i fled the scene of the crime so quickly, after i got changed all i wanted to do was hit the road, and glad i did as it was after 11pm before i got home. Crazy driving rain for around 4 hours, and there was some serious traffic along the m7. Looked like there was a major accident at some point earlier, and a few smashed up cars on the back of a truck along with multiple fire engines. Was shattered the next day, and definitely need a few more days recovery.
Anyway, poor golf, great company, and **** those bunkers.
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It was a very enjoyable round with ssbob , Seve, who I was yet to play with in the society, and Golfhead65 who I last played with on my maiden round out in Portmarnock a few years back. The monty is only a stones throw away from me in Kilcock and its always a pleasure to play. The greens were fantastic and maybe the undoing of me on the day, as I couldn't get a feel for the pace of them. Solid 18 points on the front, and 18 on the back left me leaving happy, but there were shots left out there. I must have found a half dozen bunkers but managed to get out of them all in one, except for the 17th which left me with an unfortunate scratch to end my hopes. The lads all played really well with ssbob and Seve both killing the ball off the tee, and Golfhead had some terrific drives that didn't get what they deserved with two not findable. All three are really solid golfers and one to watch is definitely ssbob once he gets over his chipping woes.
It was a great day, but a long day. Its a long time to be out on the course and not have your swing fall apart but luckily the company was good enough to make up for it. Highlight for me was on the 7th where I hit a lovely draw to about 15 ft right of the hole. Left the putt short by about an inch however. Story of my day, either an inch short or 20 ft past 😀
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Finally getting around to put some thoughts on (virtual) paper. Wow, what a day Saturday was! From bright sunshine with little wind to getting soaked and the bag being blown over multiple times. It had everything. All topped off with a Cork win and Ireland winning.
Arrived and met Rainbow Warrior in the car park. Nice to meet familiar faces at all these Boards outings. Met with our captain and got our cards. I had the pleasure of paying with our esteemed captain Fixdepitchmark and a fellow Cork man, Rally23. It shows the strength of the society that Rally and other guys are willing to travel such long distances to play golf with a bunch of randomers, especially with the price of fuel these days.
On to the first and the captain gave us the honour. After topping my first drive in Portmarnock, all I was hoping was to get it off the tee and over the water. I would love to be good enough to say I was capable to a side of the fairway away from the bunkers. I kept telling myself - Keep your eye on the ball and swing steady! Well that's what I did. Nice drive down the right hand side. Got lucky between 2 bunkers. Not sure what would have happened without all the rain. I was about 40 yards short of the two lads. This was to be a theme for the day! Rally has a beautiful left handed fade drive. Struggled a little to control it for the first 9, but definitely had it flowing on the second 9. Fix is the opposite and I could see his links DNA coming out. Every drive was drilled. Straight and long. Second was 5-iron from a slight upslope and looking at the green complex, this looked awfully small. Deep bunker left and right and heavy rough / water further right. Hit the shot a bit on the thin side, but came up at the front of the green between the bunkers. Pitch on and 2 putts, nice start.
Onto the second. An ok drive, topped second and third which held up on the wind. That's ok, up and down for a nett par. Short game turned out to be rubbish all day. Another theme was pitching from very tight muddy lies with the green significantly above you and a bunker awaiting for anything overhit or thinned. Bottled the chip, so it only reached about half way. Rally's short game was special and on another day, he would have scored very heavily. He has a lovely action with his wedges. For me I have a brain fart of a putt and drove it as far past the hole and hit the flag which Fix has taken out. Scratch. So after a nice start, I was now questioning whether I could even putt!
Third, and all par 3s in fact, is a beautifully framed hole. Fix went first and hit his a bit long. Wind was behind and getting stronger. Not a 4-iron then so back I went for a 5-iron. Nice strike and came up about 10 feet short to trickle back off the front of the green. Dame, should have stuck to the 4-iron. Could not afford to leave the pitch short, so went 20 feet past. I don't have that high lob in my skillset which was what was really needed around the Monty. But 2-putts, 2 points, back on track.
Fourth was the gorgeous Par 5. Good drive, 4-iron to 140 yards. 7-iron into the wind onto the front of the green. 3-putts and another 2 points. Feeling better now and settling into this challenge. The pace was slow, but Fix & Rally meant I was never annoyed about the holdups as there was always a good chat going on.
Fifth and the Index 1. We were probably lucky that the wind was behind. Good drive had me between the bunkers on the right hand side. A 4-iron was pulled. Good hit if a bit thinny. Straight as a dye and a big bounce meant it reached the front of the green. 2 putts for a par, nett eagle - 4 points. Wow, having 2 shots on SI1 really felt good. The 4 pointer really had me back on track.
Sixth was when the hold ups really started and I started to feel cold. I had a yellow top which I put a blue sleeveless over. Fix asked me if I was supporting the Ukraine with my choice of colours. 😀 Not really that well planned! A poor drive, a low hook into the wind. Again, this was to become a theme for a good few holes as we were now playing down towards Leixlip and into the teeth of the wind. A strange slicing 5-iron came up at the front of the green. Chip on and 2-putts, nett par.
The short seventh. Wow what a hole?! That green complex and the gorse behind the hole. A nice shot to the right hand side of the green. Rally hit another towering iron which found the front right bunker. What followed was probably the best shot I have seen out a bunker. Full swing and out flew the ball to about 15 feet. He hit it that hard, he shouted "Am I long". The bunker face must have been 20 feet! Brilliant. The putt lipped out which would have been the best up and down ever. I had to putt across hoof marks of deer which obviously roam the estate. Hit it a bit hard and missed the one back. Still nett par, move on!
The 8 was the long drive hole. Not of real interest for a shot hitter such as myself but Fix and Rally opened their shoulders. Fix would have gotten there had he just crept on the left hand side of the fairway. Unfortunately for Rally, it was wide right. And a long way. He ended up in the golden stuff and we could find it. I was on the right hand side. I hit a low running 5 wood to about 100 yards short. Strange PW to the front edge and an up and down gave me a par, 3-points.
A drilled drive into the wind worked on the ninth. A nice 7-iron from 135 yards into the wind onto the front half of the green. A long way from the hole and first putt was woefully short of climbing the step. Still a nett par and 2 points. So 19 points out. Very happy, especially after the debacle on the second.
The tenth was a brute. Exposed tee box and a vicious wind at that stage. Poor low hooky drive left me well over 200 yards to go. Hit a 4-iron to about 130 yards in the left rough. The ball was above my feet and the wind was whipping across. Aim right and the wind / lie will hook it back in. Couldn't aim far enough and missed the green wide left. Still, up and down time. Horrible bare muddy downhill lie with a huge bunker direct in front and another over the green. Thinned the wedge and the ball slams into the face of the bunker. Stays there. I could have played it, but the outcome was either going to be a broken ankle or falling 15 feet into the bunker. So valour won out over bravery and I picked up. An inauspicious start to he back 9.
11th was SI2 so I had 2 strokes again. Use it says I. Avoid the large gaping bunkers right on the fairway. Well a low hooking drive meant that was not the issue! Problem was I still have about 260 yards to go. A good 4-iron had me on the left rough with 120 yards in. It was a brutal wind into a very shallow green. 2 huge bunkers facing me. Take enough club says I, so I take an 8-iron. The rough was very mossy and the club just stopped when I hit it. The ball just stopped in the air and came up short of the 2 bunkers. Ok, we're still in this with 2 strokes. Thinned the wedge through the green, slammed a putter back up the slope. 25 feet away and then the rain starts. I need 2-putts to make a score. Good putt ran up to the side of the hole and I escape with a point.
Par 3 12th was next and the rain really started to come down. Fix asked what time it was because his weather app said 4 o'clock rain. It was five to 4. Incredible accuracy says he! We all were unsure what the wind would do and the rain here and we all came up short. It was here I think that Fix started playing better and he made par. I had a nett par, so settled down again.
Fix says the next, the 13th of a driveable par 4. Well I nearly fell over. I didn't the best of drive and couldn't see the green at all. I could barely see the top of the flag from where I was! I hit a 7-iron more in hope than expectation and it came up in the throat of the green. Poor chip again (see a trend here) and two putts. But all was ok as we were turning now and we would get better. Fix had a lovely iron shot here into about 20 feet and rolled in the putt for birdie.
On the 14th tee I said relax and let the wind do it's stuff. Simply creamed the drive, middle of the face. Fix was beginning to understand my strange hurling grip swing at that stage and said he could see it was going to be a good one. And it was. Carried the bunkers to the left hand side of the fairway. I was only about 10 yards shy of Fix which was as close as I got to him all day! I had a nice uphill lie, so pulled a 9-iron. Beautiful arrow straight to 1o feet right of the pin. Rolled the putt down the hill and damn, it stopped in the jaws! Still a par. Nice. Fix had hit a lovely wedge in here and drained the putt. Back to back for our esteemed captain!
The 15th being a par 5, I said lets keep it left and out of the bunkers. Lovely drive again now that I had found my rhythm and carried the left hand bunkers into the fairway. Fix and Rally were left side both long enough to wait for the green to clear. I didn't need to worry. 5-wood to about 60 yards short in the throat of the green. Lovely! Rally didn't wait in the end and played just next to me. Fix was very unlucky with his 3-wood and it ran around the front bunker but fell in at the last second. I played a 52° and I was trying to gauge how hard to hit. 10 o'clock swing I says. So off I go, came out nice but seemed to be well short. Rally saw mine and gave his a little bit more. Well, when we got up there I had a kick-in birdie and Rally went long. But he finally got his reward for his excellent short game and his first par of the day. But I had a birdie on the Monty! I was ecstatic.
The 16th is a beautiful hole off the tee. Rally was striping his drives at the stage and took on and cleared all of the bunkers into the middle of the fairway. He said he changed his grip slightly during the round. Not sure what he did, but he drives the ball a mile and with such a height. A lower loft was mentioned by Fix and it could really work. I was 50 yards short of Rally in the fairway but it was a long way. 5-iron but not one of my better ones. heading for the front left bunker. Ah well, i hadn't played out of one yet, so I would now get a chance. But when I walked up, it had stopped just short. Pitch on and 2-putts, 2 points.
We sought some shelter in the gorse while waiting for the 17th to clear. It was most welcome! Again, such a picturesque hole. I pulled a 7-iron, hit it well and it was heading for the pin, until the win caught it. Ended up off the left side of the green. Good pitch but missed the 5 footer. Disappointed. Fix played an exquisite iron to about 4" outside of Bobster's closest to the pin. A bit like his drive on the 7th, so close and yet so far.
Onto the last and while I was wet, cold and tired, i certainly was not longing for the sanctuary of the clubhouse. Drive down the right hand side was a bit too close to the river for comfort. Hit a provo but easily found both. It was one of the features of the day, that we could see every drive down all the time and no time is lost wondering where the ball may have ended up. I liked that. 5 wood to 100 yards shy on the left hand side of the fairway. A slight brain fade and took a 9-iron when all I needed was a wedge. Pitched hole side but didn't hold the green. Landed where everyone walked off the green. Muddy **** lie. Took my medicine and chopped it onto the green. 2 putts had me finish with another nett par. 18 points home and 37 overall. Delighted.
Made the long walk up the hill with Fix and Rally where we discussed how much we liked the course, how conditions were very fair and how the pace of play was strangely slow. But it sure is a class course. The raised greens bring an exam of your short game which you don't get that often on other courses. Or definitely not as much as on the Monty. The greens were excellent considering the amount of rain we had on Friday. I think Fix and Rally missed mark and clean options as they are not as used to it as I am at my local course.
Thanks for much to Fix and the committee for getting us out there as it shows what the country offers to us golfers and how even in the middle of Kildare, there is a unique offering.
Thanks again to Rally23 and Fixdepitchmark for their great company. Thanks to the Boards Golf Society for the organisation. And I apologise for the extremely long post. I do this in my head after each round and generally annoy my family with an abbreviated version of the above. So I don't expect anyone to actually read this. I think it is just for therapeutical purposes for myself.
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had a great day out with VW1, Spuddy and Concerned2 (even if we did give him a bit of abuse about his well done steak 😁)
Started off playing decent and put together a good few holes. Driving was ok, if unspectacular. Never left myself in grave danger off the tee which is always a positive when you're playing a course with so many fairway bunkers. Irons we're playing ok and was decent around the greens. Hit the turn with 19 points and couldn't have been happier.
Back 9 into the fierce wind was just tough. Every hole felt like it got 100 yds longer, and scoring started to become more difficult. Still, with 25 points and starting the final stretch with the wind i thought a good score could be on the cards with some solid, clever play.
and then came the waterworks. Standing on the 14th tee and VW1 commented about feeling a few light drops. I refused to acknowledge and just prayed it would go away. Got our tee shots off and mere seconds later we were hit with the deluge. Single pointers on both 14 and 15 left me a bit too far adrift. Struggled to find my drive on the index 4 16th (my last hole with an extra shot). When i did eventually find the drive it was buried in a heap of straw grass. hit the shot and neither me nor the lads had any idea where it went which led to the first scratch of the day. Ended up sliding down the side of the 18th green on my ar5e which left me looking like i'd had a rather bad accident. Ended the day with 31 points. 7 points over the last 7 holes really let me down
All in all i was delighted with how i played. probably some of my most consistent golf, with nothing spectacular thrown in. A great day all round though, and a big thanks to everyone involved in setting it all up
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Thanks to the committee for organizing yet another great outing.
Myself and MarkPatrick travelled together and after some traffic congestion in Maynooth and google maps
taking some interesting route choices we arrived to the first tee with 5 minutes to spare much to
the relief of BakerBhoy who was getting worried and had posted above just 2 minutes before we arrived.
We were joined by BallyK and set out to battle this very challenging course.
I shanked my first Tee shot into the rough and that set the tone for my day.
I managed to find a lot of the bunkers and that inevitably meant a scratch as they were bloody hard to get out of :-)
By the 10th or 11th the weather had really changed on us and I was woefully ill prepared, I had neglected to bring a change of clothes and my waterproof trousers had escaped from my bag some previous outing and I didnt even have a wooly hat unlike my playing partners who seemed to have layers and layers ofprotective clothing including an astonishing collection of hats.
By the 14th Tee, I was miserable and freezing and soaked and I wont deny that the rugby starting also influnced my decision to bail.
It was a long walk in the rain back to the Carriage house but it was sooo worth it as I arrived just in time to see James Lowe run in that first try.
BakerBhoy, BallyK and Mark were all great company on the round and great golfers and I especially appreciated BallyK's tips on improving my grip.
If I am honest I would say I did not enjoy that course so much, I think it is too difficult for my standard of golf. Still a good experience to have played it and maybe I will return some day in the summer
The Carriage House on the other hand is fabulous and the Wagyu burger lived up to expectations and they do a lovely pint of Guinness.
Enjoyed watching the game with LuckyCharm, BallyK, BakerBhoy and Mark but unfortunately we had to dash off before the presentation.
Thanks again for organizing a great day out and looking forward to Nenagh
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^^^ This is exactly why I don't like to give out advice too much 😀
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I don't know how some of you guys remember in detail how you played each hole! When you get to my age I'm lucky if I can recall what I had for breakfast that day! So all I can say is that the tee shot on the first went in the right direction and over the river and onto the fairway. I made a par on the 18th in the lashing rain. What happened in between god knows!. My thanks to my playing partners Benny79, Snackbox and Kieran. Great company and some great golf although not by me!
Thanks very much to Captain and all the committee for organizing a great day. Carton House is such a beautiful place and I'm so glad to have played the Monty.
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Easy to remember when you end up in every bunker 🤣
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I get a little bit of help remembering :)
My watch does a great job here.
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Thanks Roadrunner but some things are best forgotten!
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Finally getting around to posting about another great outing with the boards society! Thanks Fix and all for organising. Was a shame the weather turned, but at least we got out - I'd imagine a fair few courses would've been unplayable/closed due to volume of rain lately. Great choice of course for this time of year.
Being out first with RoadRunner, bohtoffee and luckycharm we had the benefit of only having rain for the last three holes. I can't add a lot to what RR said about the two guys, luckycharm found way too much sand and it really isn't the course to be doing that on. I'd be very surprised if bohtoffee's hcap doesn't drop signficantly, there was some very impressive strikes on show! Roadrunner played some lovely golf and probably would've won if that short putt (somewhere around 10?) went in.
I didn't have the best day myself, hit a few too many bunkers which cost me shots nearly every time. Had a couple of memorable/interesting holes - one was the 5th (index 1), I hit a lovely 7 iron in which landed on the upslope just right of the green, looked perfect in the air and I thought it was going to run right down beside the flag. Nope, rolled right and caught the deep greenside bunker. Hit a lovely bunker shot - about as good as I could hit it, I think there was a shout of get in, followed all too quickly with 'sit' (I couldn't see any of it being about 200 feet down in the bunker still). Turns out it rolled past the hole and just kept on going, off into the other greenside bunker! Hit my best bunker shot of the day to about 6 inches and tapped in for bogey.
As Roadrunner mentioned, the other very memorable stretch was 11/12/13 - was in the bunker in front of 11 (index 2), did pretty well to get out of it and rolled in a 20' putt for par. Then birdied 12 with a good 8 ish foot putt and another nice up and down from about 80yds on 13 for 3*3 pointers in a row - not something that happens to me very often.
Unfortunatly, that run didn't continue and I limped home with a bad scratch on the par 5 (In fact I was 5 over on the par 5's for the day which is both unusual and cost me quite a few jug points 😥), and a bunch of 1 pointers when the rain came in. Oh, and that reminds me - one other odd hole.. came up short on 17 (NTP hole), really bare lie so out comes the 9 iron and I'll bump it up close. Nope, hit it waayyy too hard and it clattered the flag - really lucky to end about 20 feet from the hole (was off the back of the green otherwise). Rolled a lovely putt straight in the middle, but it too bounced off the flag and stayed out! Not sure I've ever hit the flag twice on one hole before!
Anyway, enough rambling! Thanks again all and see you in nenagh hopefully
Edit to add: Congrats @Break80, great win!
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Only getting to post now really enjoyed playing with Alanm, Roadrunner and Bohstoffee. We were in the 1st group and were getting held up by the society in front.
Alanm is a great golfer so much control of the ball very impressed with his long irons/woods. Every putt if it didn't drop shaded the hole or finished dead.
Roadrunner really smashes the ball he was often 30 yards ahead of rest of us and if wasn't for a few unlucky shots could easily have won so consistent. As he said alot of mudballs. I had a good chat with a few Carton members after the round and they said it has been placing there all winter and I could see why.
Bohstoffee is a huge score waiting to happen, he strikes the ball as good as anyone hit an 8 iron as far the rest of us hit a 6 iron. A few loose shots cost him.
As for myself, I will admit I am not a big fan of the course and after hitting every 10ft deep fairway bunker on the course it didn't help. Played very average. Towards the end the weather changed and was more interested in making sure I got back in time for the match (a game Roadrunner didn't even know who was playing 😅)
Thanks to committee for organising another great day!
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I am just sitting down to finalise the post mortem of my round and read the very high praise from my playing partners, thank you men. So now I'm rewriting and leaving out the shot by shot breakdown nobody needs to see that 🤣.
As roadrunner says I need to figure out my distances, I'll add that I need to figure out how to get consistent distance, shotscope tells me I hit an 8i anywhere from 121 to 183 yards, all in the same direction on Saturday so I can't even blame the wind.
Highlights of my round, the company, having the longest drive (on the fairway) by 5cm from Alanm, roadrunner was about 30yards further along but rolled off the fairway. 2 pars in a row on 8&9 both from greenside bunkers. Finishing with a par. Almost made a 2 from off the green on 12, eventually made 4. Hitting my longest tee shot of the day with a 3wood.
Low points, followed the longest tee shot with the shortest tee shot, both with the same club. Hooking and losing 2 balls with a 5 wood, the only really poor shots leading to scratches after putting my first in the drink 20yds in front of me. Far too many 3 putts matched with not enough GIR.
Take away is to putt with the flag in, seems to draw my ball closer to the hole, as I said to RR mid round the bigger the target the bigger, the miss for me. 😄
My golfing plan for the year was to get under 20 on the WHS, Saturday gave me renewed hope of reaching that level, a few little tweaks here and there, reduce the really bad shots and I should be there or thereabouts. As our local musician says, better days are coming.
Looking forward to hopefully making it to North Tipp for the next outing and meeting more boards members.
Thanks again to captain fix and the committee for all your hard work and arranging another course that was playable on an outing weekend.
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Ok folks, the bank holidays have thrown us all and my own non-involvement at the outing has disconnected me a little but I still enjoyed reading through the posts, even if the blow by blows were not as interesting from a course I hadn't just played.
So, on to the prizes, the winner of the Stinger Golf Post of the Outing is @Break80
The right mix of information, humour and detail. Everyone is rightly pleased for one of the society stalwarts and a past captain to pick up only his second win from all those trips from Cork, fair play! He can add a lovely Stinger golf polo to his haul of prizes from the Monty outing. With the weather picking up you won't be covering it in mud anytime soon please God.
One and only first runner up on this occasion for Stinger Golf post of Merit is @boccy23 for his colourful blow by blow
Wagyu burger for me please almost took home the spoils, but we'll be back again in Nenagh with more prizes, so keep posting!!
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Great stuff guys - great posts from the lads. I seen a modeling of the tee shirt recently and they look the part. Very sexy 😉
Must be tough to pick a 1st and 2nd - never min picking 2 out.
Thanks The Big Easy.
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Thank you so very much Big Easy.
I am still walking on air after my win in Monty and this prize is just the icing on the cake for me.
I always love the build up and finally attending every outing with this society and while the golf is important to us all, I've realised the friendships I have made with people old and new who might be considered polar opposite's is incredible.
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Congrats, enjoy the polo! These bamboo ones are something else you'll see when you get it!
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