Royal County Down is widely considered one of top 5 golf courses in the world, with many saying it is the best. It is located on the eastern shore of Ireland near the town of Newcastle, between Dublin and Belfast. We arrived the night before and checked into the nearby Slieve Donard Hotel, which looked like a renovated medieval castle. Everything was settling into place for the most anticipated round on this trip–until I woke up the next morning to flags starched by a steady 25 mph breeze out of the south with gusts up to 40mph.
Our hosts today would be two touring professionals. Olivia Mahaffey, who finished 2nd in the Augusta Women’s Amateur, won a National Championship at Arizona State, and currently plays on the Ladies European Tour. She spends half her year in her homeland of Ireland and half in Scottsdale, Arizona. The other was Fredrik Lindblom, a Swede who has been touring for over 10 years around the world. To just add a little bit more value to our experience, Hannah Gregg, also an LET touring professional, social media force, and new wife of Fredrik would be following along and recording the action. I am fairly sure any footage of me ended up on the cutting room floor.
Fredrik said he was playing the tips. At that moment, I was going to play the one up tees, or “whites,” but when Olivia said she was playing the “yellows,” I agreed immediately. I had done some stat research the night before and Olivia averages 258 yards off the tee and most of the folks following this journey know I max out at 250.
The round opened in a promising fashion, with the first playing straight downwind. A par 5, I slapped a wind-aided 300 yard seed and a slightly thin 7 iron to about 25 feet. I successfully navigated that distance in two putts and I had already hit my quota of one birdie. The second was also downwind and I hit driver-lob wedge to about 4 feet. 2 under after 2 holes? Not at all expected. but then I made a quick double at the third to fall back to level for the day. Then, sadly and abruptly, we turned into the wind.
Being from the Monterey Peninsula, I have some experience playing in wind. But an Irish wind is a little bit different. It’s like being punched by a heavyweight, and today we were in the ring with George Foreman. Big George slugged us in the face for 5 of the next 6 holes. I turned in 41 (with an asterisk) because I took a “Gentleman’s Double” on the 4th after blading my pitch into the hillside. Otherwise, I still might be up there.
I made a nice two putt birdie at the 12th, but I climbed aboard the Bogey Train and didn’t exit until the 18th hole, where I finished with par. Earlier in the round, Olivia said it was a common occurrence for members to ask her what she shot when she comes off the course. Her stock answer? “I don’t know; I am just trying to survive.” Fredrik had a rough front nine but recovered nicely on the back. I know Hannah wanted to play, but she was a real sport watching us hack it around. My man, Richard, really struggled. But this man has been shooting in the high 70’s all week. At RCD, he did not make one single par, which gives the reader some insight into the difficulty of this particular day.
I saw some exceptional short game shots by Olivia and Fredrik. When you see a world class player hit pitches and chips, the first thing that surprises you is the sound of contact. It almost sounds like a full shot. The second thing is the amount of speed they use on shots inside 20 yards. Finally, the spin control is unreal. They can stop it after one bounce, two bounces, or let it roll out. It is like watching a Yo-Yo Master–they have their balls on a string. And they are also longer, hit the ball higher, and control the trajectories/spins of their full shots as well. There are levels to this game, and it was a real privilege to watch a couple of “real” professionals demonstrate their crafts.
My impression of Royal County Down? I am just not a good enough player to really appreciate it as I just have too many deficiencies in my game. When the course and the conditions are that difficult, your flaws get exposed. I absolutely loved the manicured pathways that led from greens to tees and from tees to greens. I thought there were some unnecessary shaved areas that over-punished shots that were not perfect, but would have normally been acceptable. But how much of my opinion was due to the course and how much did the wind play a part? I just know I was completely overmatched with the challenge presented. But I also know how privileged I was to have been there on that day with four wonderful people.
Next up, we work south towards Dublin with a stop at County Louth (pronounced mouth) tomorrow. Richard and I are looking forward to playing a course that better suits our skill sets!
