Saturday, May 5, 2012

2012 Ireland trip

This years trip to the Emerald Isle is now in the late planning stage. I will arrive in Dublin on the 9th of May and proceed directly to Pat Ruddy's highly acclaimed links course, The European Club. From there I will travel South to the stunning Old Head and West to the Lahinch area and return back to Dublin with the final round at Laytown and Bettystown on the 21st. In between I hope to play another 10 rounds. Not nearly close to the 23 rounds I played last year, but I am another year older and still not 100% back in playing shape.

After my return I will post all the pictures ASAP and do a comprehensive rating of the three dozen courses, accommodations and restaurants I have experienced the past two Springs. There are a few courses that I still want to see, but have been unable to schedule, which will give me a good excuse to return once again to Ireland.

Course schedule:
The European Club 5/09
Rosslare-Old (rained out)
Cork GC 5/11
Old Head 5/12
Waterville 5/14
Dooks 5/15
Tralee 5/16
Ballybunion-Old 5/17
Ballybunion-Cashen 5/17
Doonbeg 5/18
Lahinch-Old 5/19
Sutton 5/20
Laytown and Bettystown 5/21

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Senior Golf Rules

Rule 1.a.5
A ball sliced or hooked into the rough shall be lifted and placed
on the fairway at a point equal to the distance it carried or
rolled into the rough with no penalty. The senior should not be
penalized for tall grass which ground keepers failed to mow.
Rule 2.d.6 (b)
A ball hitting a tree shall be deemed not to have hit the tree.
This is simply bad luck and luck has no place in a scientific
game. The senior player must estimate the distance the ball
would have traveled if it had not hit the tree and play the ball
from there.
Rule 3.b.3(g)
There shall be no such thing as a lost ball. The missing ball is on or
near the course and will eventually be found and pocketed by
someone else, making it a stolen ball. The player is not to
compound the felony by charging himself or herself with a penalty.
Rule 4.c.7(h)
If a putt passes over a hole without dropping, it is deemed to have
dropped. The law of gravity supersedes the Rules of Golf.
Rule 5.
Putts that stop close enough to the cup that they could be blown in,
may be blown in. This does not apply to balls more than three
inches from the hole. No one wants to make a travesty of the game.
Rule 6.a.9(k)
There is no penalty for so-called "out of bounds." If penny-pinching
golf course owners bought sufficient land, this would not occur.
The senior golfer deserves an apology, not a penalty.
Rule 7.g.15(z)
There is no penalty for a ball in a water hazard, as golf balls should
float. Senior golfers should not be penalized for manufacturers' shortcomings.
Rule 8.k.9(s)
Advertisements claim that golf scores can be improved by purchasing new
golf equipment.  Since this may be financially impractical for many senior
golfers, one-half stroke per hole may be subtracted for using old equipment.