Best wishes to Gerard Dunne and Enda Maguire who are playing in the East of Ireland in Co. Louth Golf Club next Sat 30th May, Sun 31st and Mon 1st June! Support is most welcome!
Captain Andy Maguire
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The Spindoctor's Golf Blog: Darren Clarke at Seapoint
Check out http://golfspindoctor.blogspot.com/2009/04/under-microscope-darren-clarke-birthday.html for a great write up about Darren Clarke playing Seapoint a few weeks ago....
4 Lads In A Car: Seapoint
This weeks four lads offering was a celebrity version, hosted by Seapoint Links in Termonfeckin near Drogheda, Co. Louth. The event organized by my favourite golf channel, Setanta Golf, involved a fourball with their touring pro and living legend Darren Clarke.
Of course my presence there was purely fortuitous. Regular Examiner front-man Charlie Mulqueen had a bit of a bad back and I got promoted from lowly boot scrubber just for the day. The fact that I normally keep my third, fourth and fifth vertebrae in a jar of oil by my bed between Sundays was never going to stop me missing this opportunity. No sooner had I parked the car in front of the impressive clubhouse but I spotted the Clarke-mobile; a tiny black Porsche with the number plate “DC60”, in reverence to his stunning 60 at the K Club a few years back. It reminded me of the advertising slogan they never used- “Porsche. Too small to get laid in, but you’ll get laid the minute you jump out”!
After some getting to know you banter with DC and the other guys we boarded Seapoint’s first tee. We were joined by Liam Kelly of the Indo, who is that good, he’s the only writer in Ireland to be sponsored by Cleveland, and Shay Keenan of the Irish Times who fine tunes his links touch at The Island with the pilots. Faced with a par four slight dog leg first hole, I gave the drive my Mayo Minor Sunday best and nailed it (albeit slightly right). Darren took out his new R9 and lashed at it like a Taliban teacher; sending it easily over 300 yards. To give you an idea of how far pro’s hit the ball, compare our second shots; I had a full blooded wedge to ten feet while Darren had a little drop and stop lob wedge from some 50 yards closer which finished a foot from the hole!
That’s not to say that Clarke had it all his own way at Seapoint. At just over 7,100 yards it may not be in the monster category on paper, but when wind is added into the mix, it certainly makes some holes play longer than their billing. The 18 holes play out like a crossword. Though there are a number of generous par fours and fives that can be relatively simply solved, but there are also a couple of cryptic par threes that have the potential to leave you stumped. The first is the ninth, a 200 plus yarder with silage flanking both sides of the green. A five iron for DC, hybrids and woods for the rest of us, but no-one made par despite our best efforts at Mickelson flop shots. I imagine not many do. Next is the 17th, a real examination set for the members by course designers Des Smyth and Declan Brannigan. It’s as if they are testing you to see if you are actually fit to win the competition. If you do happen to make par or better on 17, the par five 18th provides a fun finish where a good drive and second shot wont be far from the green and a birdie opportunity.
As he tapped in for yet another birdie, Clarke told me he has spent a fair share of his time off tour in the home-gym getting ready for the next tour assault. A niggling shoulder muscle tear, the kind scrumhalves get, did curtail the exercise but is now all but healed. Home of course also meant quality time with sons Tyrone and Conor which mean everything to Darren. Even though he’s only 10, Tyrone starts boarding school in the next few weeks and Darren is already plotting to get on the right side of the Principal for visiting privileges!
As we completed the round, Darren spoke of his plans for next couple of weeks. Next week he returns to the Tour in Asia where he has won in the past. He spent a few days last week in Portrush getting some links practise in before his upcoming appearance at the Irish Open and the round at Seapoint provided the ideal sparring round needed in the build up.
Seapoint sits back to back with Baltray and while the latter may have more fame, both are excellent in a Bobby and Jack Charlton way. If you’re heading to the Irish Open in a couple of weeks and fancy getting in a round in the vicinity, €60 will get you out in Seapoint on a weekday. Check out the website www.seapointgolfclub.com for booking info. How did we all do? To keep the crossword analogy going Darren completed it with relative ease while the rest of us made a creditable attempts but had the inevitable few blanks!
Of course my presence there was purely fortuitous. Regular Examiner front-man Charlie Mulqueen had a bit of a bad back and I got promoted from lowly boot scrubber just for the day. The fact that I normally keep my third, fourth and fifth vertebrae in a jar of oil by my bed between Sundays was never going to stop me missing this opportunity. No sooner had I parked the car in front of the impressive clubhouse but I spotted the Clarke-mobile; a tiny black Porsche with the number plate “DC60”, in reverence to his stunning 60 at the K Club a few years back. It reminded me of the advertising slogan they never used- “Porsche. Too small to get laid in, but you’ll get laid the minute you jump out”!
After some getting to know you banter with DC and the other guys we boarded Seapoint’s first tee. We were joined by Liam Kelly of the Indo, who is that good, he’s the only writer in Ireland to be sponsored by Cleveland, and Shay Keenan of the Irish Times who fine tunes his links touch at The Island with the pilots. Faced with a par four slight dog leg first hole, I gave the drive my Mayo Minor Sunday best and nailed it (albeit slightly right). Darren took out his new R9 and lashed at it like a Taliban teacher; sending it easily over 300 yards. To give you an idea of how far pro’s hit the ball, compare our second shots; I had a full blooded wedge to ten feet while Darren had a little drop and stop lob wedge from some 50 yards closer which finished a foot from the hole!
That’s not to say that Clarke had it all his own way at Seapoint. At just over 7,100 yards it may not be in the monster category on paper, but when wind is added into the mix, it certainly makes some holes play longer than their billing. The 18 holes play out like a crossword. Though there are a number of generous par fours and fives that can be relatively simply solved, but there are also a couple of cryptic par threes that have the potential to leave you stumped. The first is the ninth, a 200 plus yarder with silage flanking both sides of the green. A five iron for DC, hybrids and woods for the rest of us, but no-one made par despite our best efforts at Mickelson flop shots. I imagine not many do. Next is the 17th, a real examination set for the members by course designers Des Smyth and Declan Brannigan. It’s as if they are testing you to see if you are actually fit to win the competition. If you do happen to make par or better on 17, the par five 18th provides a fun finish where a good drive and second shot wont be far from the green and a birdie opportunity.
As he tapped in for yet another birdie, Clarke told me he has spent a fair share of his time off tour in the home-gym getting ready for the next tour assault. A niggling shoulder muscle tear, the kind scrumhalves get, did curtail the exercise but is now all but healed. Home of course also meant quality time with sons Tyrone and Conor which mean everything to Darren. Even though he’s only 10, Tyrone starts boarding school in the next few weeks and Darren is already plotting to get on the right side of the Principal for visiting privileges!
As we completed the round, Darren spoke of his plans for next couple of weeks. Next week he returns to the Tour in Asia where he has won in the past. He spent a few days last week in Portrush getting some links practise in before his upcoming appearance at the Irish Open and the round at Seapoint provided the ideal sparring round needed in the build up.
Seapoint sits back to back with Baltray and while the latter may have more fame, both are excellent in a Bobby and Jack Charlton way. If you’re heading to the Irish Open in a couple of weeks and fancy getting in a round in the vicinity, €60 will get you out in Seapoint on a weekday. Check out the website www.seapointgolfclub.com for booking info. How did we all do? To keep the crossword analogy going Darren completed it with relative ease while the rest of us made a creditable attempts but had the inevitable few blanks!
