Golfing in Ireland…bring your umbrella! Lahinch #6, Lahinch, Ireland
This is one of the great holes in all of Irish golf. A blind tee shot in the driving rain with no caddie to tell me where to hit it…or where NOT to hit it. Once you crest the hill, you see a 30ft deep bunker in the middle of the fairway…I barely missed this bunker and had I been in it, I’d have proabably killed someone. I’d already lost a couple of balls at this point and that’s after thinking I hit the fairway off the Tee. Nope. Lost balls everywhere…nothing but pain and more pain waiting for you…hole after hole. You’d think I had a bad time right? Wrong…one of the great golf days of my life. Put it this way, on the first hole it was sunny and hot. On the 2nd hole, it was dark and very windy. On the 3rd hole, a driving rain and totally grey skies. On the 4th hole, Sun again. On the 5th hole…the sky turned black and it didn’t stop raining for 239 hours. I changed clothes on every hole…jacket on, jacket off, rain pants on, rain pants off…you get the picture.
I wish I were kidding. On the 14th hole(after a birdie on 13…I kid you not) a hear a cart pull up to me. I couldn’t see it considering the rain was pelting my eyeballs like they were angry wet darts. I hear the words “Young Man, please come inside…Americans don’t float very well” I couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me, but I paid 175 bones to play and dammit, I’m going to play. But I took the advice and came in and had a Guinness at the bar and was 8 over after 13 holes. Which by the way, if you’ve ever played Lahinch isn’t bad at all. I hope to go back one day, and I hope its sunny…but I’m not counting on it.
Here is the 6th hole in all it’s grey, gloomy glory. I made a par, and couldn’t have been happier. By the way, teeing off on #7 (which you can see the Tee off to the right) I turned towards the beach and saw a bunch of pale, redhaired teenagers surfing…in 40 degree, cold, miserable wet weather. Ahh…the Irish.
Lahinch #6
Ken Bloch Photography 