Arrive in Dublin, hotel check in and grab the first Guinness at Oliver St John Gogarty’s. Street pints!! Our next stop was the Guinness tour. Cat, Hammer, Tort and Harry headed straight to the circle bar for the free Guinness. Vibe was real high and we enjoyed a couple other pints with Condo, Eag, Mole and York. From there we headed to the Brazen Head for some Irish eats and another drink. After the Brazen Head we headed back to the Temple Bar and after stepping foot into the Palace Bar, Hammer proclaimed the energy too low so we looked for another spot and found the Auld Dubliner.

We found big energy there!! A young boy put on a massive show as he danced his Irish gig to a few songs from a couple of awesome performers. Having not slept on the flight, a few of us were ready to head to bed but the energy kept us. Eag, Cat, Mole and Condo were the last to retire and enjoyed dancing with some German fellows. Cat getting annoyed the musician who only played the first 30 seconds of songs was quite funny. It turned into a long night followed by an early wake up call to meet Richie boi and the bus.

Everyone loaded up on some coffee, food a juices as we met Richie boi and our 16 passenger van! We headed up to County Louth for round 1. Matchups were as follows:

York & Cat vs Condo & Hammer

Mole & Harry vs Eag & Tort

LD – Bobcat 2-0 75 76
2. York 2-0 76 80
3. Mole 2-0 80 79
4. Eag 1-1 80 75
5. Prince 1-1 78 81
6. Condo 0-2 73 74
7. Hammer 0-2 81 86
8. Tort 0-2 91 94

Saturday night was a fairly big night. A great dinner at Coach Lane where everyone enjoyed their meal. Maybe the best of the trip for some! After dinner we walked down along the river and saw some strutting down Wine St, followed by what seemed like 100 pints of Guinness at the Snug Pub, a run in with a crazy Russian at the Bourbon Bar, which ended the night and we all headed back to the hotel. Cat placed a clutch order of Chicken Strips and Fries while Hammer tried to convince everyone he would blow 00’s if he had a breathalyzer right now!

County Sligo was up next on Sunday and the matchups were as follows:

need a group pic

LD – Bobcat 3-0 75 76 75
2. Mole 3-0 80 79 88
3. York 2-1 76 80 82
4. Condo 1-2 73 74 75
5. Eag 1-2 80 75 78
6. Prince 1-2 78 81 82
7. Hammer 1-2 81 86 82
8. Tort 0-3 91 94 94

Canada Day back home and we were off to Donegal AKA Murvagh. After a big night on Saturday, it was a smaller tame crew on Sunday night that dined at an Italian restaurant. Prince and York took it easy and stayed in as they contemplated switching putters and putting opposite hands as parties the next day!

Matchups were as follows:

Cat & Tort vs York & Prince

Eag and Mole vs Condo & Hammer

LD- bobcat 3-1 75 76 75 80
2. York 3-1 76 80 82 80
3. Mole 3-1 80 79 88 80
4. Condo 2-2 73 74 75 70
5. Prince 2-2 78 81 82 80
6. Hammer 2-2 81 86 82 82
7. Eag 1-3 80 75 78 75
IM. Tort – 0-4 91 94 94 91

After a quick bite we headed back east again towards Newcastle and the Slieve Donard which was a real treat.

Shoutout to Eag for the recon and booking this well in advance. That night we headed to Quinns pub and pool. But with 36 on the slate the next day at RCD, it was an early night.

Matchups as follows:

Cat & Hammer vs Prince & Tort

Eag & Mole vs Condo & York

Cat & Hammer over Prince & Tort

Condo & York over Eag & Mole

LD- bobcat 4-1 75 76 75 80 77
2. York 4-1 76 80 82 80 77
3. Condo 3-2 73 74 75 70 67
4. Mole 3-2 80 79 88 80 78
5. Hammer 3-2 81 86 82 82 88
6. Prince 2-3 78 81 82 80 74
7. Eag 1-4 80 75 78 75 77
IM. Tort – 0-5 91 94 94 91 95

We popped into the clubhouse for some food and drinks then headed back out for another 18. Ball toss was done on the putting green walking to the first tee and matchups were as follows:

Cat & Prince vs Mole & Tort

York & Eag vs Condo & Hammer

No groups shots taken for these matches.

Results After Round 2 @ Royal County Down

Cat & Prince over Mole & Tort

York & Eag over Condo & Hammer

LD- bobcat 5-1 75 76 75 80 77 80
2. York 5-1 76 80 82 80 77 75
3. Condo 3-3 73 74 75 70 67 73
4. Prince 3-3 78 81 82 80 74 84
5. Mole 3-3 80 79 88 80 78 85
6. Hammer 3-3 81 86 82 82 88 83
7. Eag 2-4 80 75 78 75 77 80
IM. Tort – 0-6 91 94 94 91 95 93

Let it be known that during this second round, the nickname of Antsy boi came to be!!! Cat and Mole were in the first group and after the sky’s opening up around the 8th hole, the sun came out and warmed us up. After finishing the 9th and not seeing the group behind, Mole decided he needed his Peaky Blinders hat which was back at the Slieve. So we walked back while Prince grabbed some to go pints. After about 10 minutes and another group playing through, we finally teed off. We didn’t know at the time but if you let a group play through you can’t tee off 10 (which is a par 3) until they tee off on 11.

Cat was antsy to go before the group we let play through got to 11 tee but Mole wasn’t back. Tort’s caddie told us about this but and was a little on edge but we didn’t think too much. So the Cat was a little annoyed at the Mole for slowing us down. After we teed off on 10, we got to the green and the Mole was first to play but Cat wanted to speed it up and get back into position. The Mole piped up and said “Easy Antsy boi!!!”.

Wednesday July 3rd

After 36, all of us headed to Quinn’s again for some food and drinks before it turned into an underage club! The remanning few headed back to the Slieve for a few end of the night bevvies. With the next day off it turned into a real fun night with some of us staying later in the Slive Lobby bar as York held court!

With a late departure it was perfect for everyone to sleep in, enjoy the amazing pool, sauna, steam room and hot tub at the Slieve before embarking on another long drive towards Ballyliffin. We stopped in at Royal Portrush thanks to Richie Boi’s connections and grabbed some gear. After that it was over we headed into Bushmills to check out the distillery which was closed. So we dropped into the Bushmills Inn which was unreal despite the weird room we were in.

After leaving Bushmills we did the epic Giants Causeway toss which was huge in many ways. The matchups for round 1 at Ballyliffin Old Links. Matchups as follows:

Cat & Eag Vs Tort & Mole

Condo & Prince vs York & Hammer

Thursday July 4th

Results After Ballyliffin Round 1 @ Old Links

Condo & Prince over York & Hammer

Cat & Eag over Mole & Tort

LD- bobcat 6-1 75 76 75 80 77 80 73
2. York 5-2 76 80 82 80 77 75 72
3. Condo 4-3 73 74 75 70 67 73 73
4. Prince 4-3 78 81 82 80 74 84 80
5. Eag 3-4 80 75 78 75 77 80 67
6. Mole 3-4 80 79 88 80 78 85 81
7. Hammer 3-4 81 86 82 82 88 83 87
IM. Tort – 0-7 91 94 94 91 95 93 90

A quick bite to eat with a few beers was a nice change to relax before our last round which was huge for the overall. A putting green Brent yielded these matchups:

Cat & Price vs Condo & York

Eag & Hammer vs Mole & Tort

Not many pictures were taken on the Ballyliffin Glashedy so….

Results After Ballyliffin Round 2 @ Old Links

Cat & Prince over Condo & York

Eag & Hammer tie vs Mole & Tort (Tort making a clutch 12′ on 18 for the tie!!!)

LD- bobcat 7-1 75 76 75 80 77 80 73 77
2. York 5-3 76 80 82 80 77 75 72 76
3. Prince 5-3 78 81 82 80 74 84 80 75
4. Condo 4-4 73 74 75 70 67 73 73 74
5. Eag 3-4-1 80 75 78 75 77 80 67 77
6. Mole 3-4-1 80 79 88 80 78 85 81 86
7. Hammer 3-4-1 81 86 82 82 88 83 87 81
IM. Tort – 0-7-1 91 94 94 91 95 93 90 84

RK Ireland Champ was crowned with a Cat and Prince dub…congrats to the Cat!!!

Another long day in the books and with not many options for food, we headed back to Jack’s Restaurant at the Ballyliffin Lodge. One last round at Portstewart before the end of the trip. York & Tort vs Cat & Mole

Friday July 5th

An early wake up call with the power out at the Ballyliffin Strand Hotel felt real weird and like being in a Sci-Fi movie. We headed onto Port Stewart for our last round.

Not sure where the toss occurred but the match ups were as follows:

Eag & Price vs Condo & Hammer

York & Tort vs Mole & Cat

Final Results After Portstewart

Eag & Price over Condo & Hammer

York & Tort over Mole & Cat

Although the golf portion of RK was over, we still had two more nights to recap everything. Hotel Chair Eag booked us in at the House Hotel Belfast, another amazing spot! After checking in, everyone showered and headed down to the lobby bar which had such good vibes.

After a nice warmup we headed to Fratelli, a nice Italian joint. A solid meal and plenty of time spent there before heading to the Crown Bar and to wish Moose a Happy Birthday!

Friday July 4th

After having breakfast and meeting Joe Lyons from Lyons Links, we departed for Dublin and our last night. Hammer grabbed us some OJ and sparking wine for morning Mimosa’s which made the ride more and Mole’s epic story from the night before even more enjoyable!!

York facked the hotel location but we got to our place at last. After showering up we got ready and headed out to FX Buckley Steakhouse on Crow St. Cat provided the first bottle of real nice rouge and we all had a great meal and drinks. Our next stop was for some cocktails and wine at Fade St Social and their upstairs cocktail bar. After that we stumbled down Fade St, somewhat faded to Hogans and enjoyed many street pints. Following Hogans we stumbled down to the Stags Head. Cat, York & Tort left the crew somewhat early but the rest stayed strong. Hammer wheeled and dealed while Mole, Prince and Condo took it deep and ended up at a dance club in the downstairs of some bar that was closing!!

Final RK Ireland Results

Champ – bobcat 7-2 75 76 75 80 77 80 73 77 75
2. York 6-3 76 80 82 80 77 75 72 76 72
3. Prince 6-3 78 81 82 80 74 84 80 75 80
4. Eag 4-4-1 80 75 78 75 77 80 67 77 72
5. Condo 4-5 73 74 75 70 67 73 73 74 75
6. Mole 3-5-1 80 79 88 80 78 85 81 86 79
7. Hammr 3-5-1 81 86 82 82 88 83 87 81 85
IM. Tort – 1-7-1 91 94 94 91 95 93 90 84 85

Overall Gross and Nets

Condo +8 +35
Eag +35 +35
Bob +42 +51
York +44 +44
Prince +68 +59
Mole +91 +82
Hammer +109 +73
Tort +171 +63