I know we are poised for Northern Ireland next year, and I would definitely support that. In the current exchange rate environment it is actually a very good idea!
As to future years, maybe we could work ourselves down the attached league table at some stage. We could leave Valderrama for a special occasion, as it is pretty pricey.
Rolf - this is a list of all the best courses in Europe... other than UK/Eire... is that really what we should be aiming for?? Martin
ReplyDeleteWe could go through both top UK/Ireland and European courses if we last/live long enough...
ReplyDeleteDear all
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to all on a great JLCC and well organized colin
Look forward to next year ! Don't fancy any of rolfs top european top 20 but favour hidden uk and Irish gems!
Roland
Roland,
ReplyDeleteI already said that Ireland is a good choice!
It was not my intention to turn this into a black or white (European vs UK) controversy. (That would be a silly discussion, which we can leave for when we are much older and grumpy; on the verge of turning from "seniors" to "seniles".)
If anything, the message was that it may be an idea to think about a top-down approach. If there is a list of the top UK / Irish courses we could try and find out, which of the other "golfing shrines" (like Carnoustie) we would have a realistic chance of getting on, one at a time.
I strongly believe that we would find the right balance between European and UK courses.
If anybody misunderstood my intentions, I appologise wholeheartedly!
To compare and contrast, here are the top 10 UK/Ire courses from the same publication:
ReplyDelete1. Muirfield
2. Turnberry
3. St Andrews Old
4. Royal County Down
5. Royal Birkdale
6. Ballybunion Old
7. Carnoustie Championship
8. Kingsbarns
9. Waterville
10. Royal Lytham and St Annes
Looks like a good starting point (we've already done two). Royal County Down is probably in Northern Ireland?!
ReplyDeleteRoyal County Down is indeed in N Ireland, and magnificent - south of Belfast next to the rather attractive Slieve Donard Hotel.It's not cheap though! It has 2 courses. Nearby is the Ardglass course, which also looks rather good. Not much else around really as far as I can establish. Bookings are now available, I understand. Any ideas anyone on what dates are envisaged? Early May Bank holiday is 3 May, late May is 31 May. Late May might be better. I'm easy with either though.
ReplyDeleteLets perhaps find out first, if they have dates on which they offer recession adjusted packages like Carnoustie. If need be, take Roland along for the negotiations...
ReplyDeleteNot sure that the date will make much difference to any package, or otherwise. Carnoustie is in a bit of a special situation in that the hotel has all the tee times between 0900 and 1300hrs at its disposal, and is therefore very keen to get punters tied in. Not the situation elsewhere, where hotels and courses are generally separate. I think it's best to get a quorum for the dates first.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, May looks better than June, rainwise. We will need to bring our bobble hats though...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wordtravels.com/Cities/Northern+Ireland/Belfast/Climate
As to timing, I am flexible on which Bank Holiday in May. In previous years, we had to manage around one of Roland's conferences...?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/theopen/5344443/210-for-a-round-of-golf-at-Turnberry-is-a-bit-rich.html
ReplyDeleteWorth a read...