Blimey - here we go again! It's about time I got my backside into gear and got the details worked out for a Norn Iron visit next May. The purpose of this initial post is to confirm who is DEFINITELY coming - none of this 'Can I let you know nearer the time?' stuff please! The dates agreed are over the early May bank holiday i.e EITHER Friday 30/4 to Monday 3 May incl., OR Saturday 1 May to Tuesday 4 May incl. My initial hope is the Slieve Donard Hotel and golf at the 2 Royal County Down courses, Ardglass and perhaps Royal Belfast on the way back to the airport. Whether ths is do-able at this stage I have no idea! - iniial representations to various agencies have yielded precious little response, so I intend to step up efforts this week. I would hope to have the whole thing sorted by the end of this month at the latest. Relevant websites are:-
http://www.hastingshotels.com/slieve/index.htm
http://www.royalcountydown.org/
http://www.ardglassgolfclub.com/index.php
http://www.royalbelfast.com/
So if any preliminary views, complaints, wishes or observations - please let me know ASAP.
Or if we should go to Le Touquet again? and have better weather, food, and wine - I'm quite happy to organise that also.
BUT please let me have confirmation of attendance ASAP - i.e. by the end of this week at the latest.
Ta very much.
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Count me in - am practising already. My vote is for NI.
ReplyDeletedoh! - corrected!
ReplyDeleteI'm in and favour northern ireland!
ReplyDeleteHappy to come...
ReplyDeleteMessage from Robert who has posting problems: It all looks very good for NI so count me in. Only 238 days left. Robert
ReplyDeleteHopefully i am now connected but here goes.... robert
ReplyDeleteConfirmations received from Colin and Adrian. Mark?
ReplyDeleteNigel,
ReplyDeleteas mentioned before (see above), I am also happy to confim my participation in next year's JLC...
Regards,
Rolf
P.S. I hope Stuart and Benedict will not get too wet in the rain, as they are just heading for Burhill
Bump, for Mark.
ReplyDeletePS any one have any views on playing a course twice (assuming it's a good 'un!)?
ReplyDeleteI am fine to play any course as often as possible...!
ReplyDeleteI have no objection to playing a course twice - the way that I play it is not unusual for me to play twice the length of any course anyway. Robert
ReplyDeleteI think it would be an advantage to play a course twice - give me a chance to look for some of the balls I lost on the first round!
ReplyDeleteCount me in!
Happy with same course twice, as long as more drinking and food time. Not happy looking for balls! Valuable drinking time!
ReplyDeleteroland
OK - looks likje playing Royal county Down, Ardglass twice, and Royal Belfast, staying at the Slieve Donard will cost all-in something like £1050 pp. The main difference with JLCC '09 is the lack of a golf/accomodation package available. The big feature is the green fee at RCD which is £180. The hotel on a B&B basis is £240 which isn't bad. Happy to proceed, but would like affirmations. The schedule at the moment, hopefully, woul be fly out Saturday and play Royal Belfast on the way from the airport. Sunday play Ardglass, Monday play Royal County Down, Tuesday play Ardglass. Thoughts, squeals etc much appreciated. Ardglass ahs now opened its tee times, so probably need to make a move if this absolute gem is to be secured.
ReplyDeletePS excuse the typos. The equivalent cost for JLCC 09 was £740
ReplyDeleteThis is fine by me
ReplyDeleteNigel,
ReplyDeletehappy with planned agenda! However, can the hotel not do a better deal by liasing with the courses?
Northern ireland is in a desperate economic downturn, and it surprises me we cannot do a better deal?
Roland
I tend to agree with Roland: hotels are in fact the sector, which is hit worst in the current economic downturn. (I am working on a number of hotel transactions, and they are really difficult). Maybe Roland can repeat last year's miracle and make a few phone calls...
ReplyDeleteRoly - erm, I had thought of that, but there is no relationship between the hotel and the course. Carnoustie managed its deal because when the hotel was developed for The Open the developers gained access to all morning tee times - not the case with Slieve Donard. I could make a cheaper trip playing Portstewart and Royal Portrush staying at the Ramada Portrush - the golf might be as good, but the accommodation won't be. This could be £150 cheaper, at a guess.
ReplyDeleteOK - the alternative to play the North Coast courses - it might work out a little cheaper, because the hotel will probably be a bit cheaper (but maybe not so nice) and we would play 3 classic courses - Royal Portrush Valley, Royal Portrush Dunluce, Portstewart and Castlerock, which in aggregate might be £30 or so cheaper. So all in all maybe £100 cheaper - not a lot really. Courses look fiendish, even if the wind isn't blowing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.royalportrushgolfclub.com/valley-links.aspx
http://www.royalportrushgolfclub.com/dunluce-links.aspx
http://www.portstewartgc.co.uk/
http://www.castlerockgc.co.uk/
We could probably stay at
http://www.magherabuoy.co.uk/
votes?
ReplyDeleteOK - just got quote from hotel. 3 nts B&B + 1 dinner is £180. This would make the whole trip at £890, vs. £1018 for Royal County Down and £740 for Carnoustie. But there will obviously be a few unforseen extras like diesel and extraordinarily expensive wine to go with the craic. Anyway these seem to be the choices.
ReplyDeleteI would still like to play the Royal County Down golf course, given that it is at the top of most league tables.
ReplyDeleteAs to hotel, it does not need to be five-star necessarily, as we are only sleeping there, and never use any of the facilities anyway...
Nigel - this will cost me dear when the wife find out - she'll want diamonds!!! I'd love to play R County Down, but I'm also keen to keep costs under control. Whatever, I'll go with the flow obviously.
ReplyDeleteColin - and how would her indoors find out?
ReplyDeleteRolf - Royal Portrush is No 16 on the rankings (very subjective) that I looked at, with Royal County Down at 4. I suspect the difference is very marginal. But it probably is a bit 'better'. However Castlerock and Portstewart look pretty aweinspiring courses, certainly in a different league from Royal Belfast which would be one of the triumvirate with Ardglass and RCD. I suspect the average quality of the 4 courses is higher than the 3 and we wouldn't 'have' to play one course twice. But I'm open-minded, and will go with the flow. Another issue I didn't mention is that the single person supplement at Slieve Donard is £150, which is a lot. You all have the info. Can you look at the courses and hotels before this weekend's golf and between everyone have a discussion about it? I'd like to get everything booked and put to bed next week. Cheers
Nigel - they have ways. I'll gen up before the weekend and give you my views then.
ReplyDeleteStill interested in Royal County Down, as it will be quite some time before I expect to come to that part of the world again...
ReplyDeleteNorth coast option looks a definite possibility... Did you find a decent hotel there?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.magherabuoy.co.uk/ looks the best of the bunch up there, and it's relatively cheap at £165 for 3 nights vs. £240 at Slieve Donard. But as wth most things in life - you get what you pay for. There is also the Ramada Portrush which is closer, but the Magherabuoy is only 1.5 miles from the course. Anyway - all have a look please!
ReplyDeleteHaving spent some time looking at the pictures, I like RCD, Ardglass and Portrush best, and probably in that order. Any chance of combining the three? How far is it from South to North?
ReplyDeleteAs regards costs, I feel that we should aim for an upper limit of GBP 1,000 for the three days (all in, including any hidden shirts, ... lol).
In any event, I am happy to go with the flow.
Belfast City Airport to Portrush - 62 miles and 1hr 10mins.
ReplyDeleteBelfast City Airport to Royal County Down - 33 miles and 54 mins.
Portrush to Royal County Down - 92 miles and 1hr 53 mins.
Re £1,000 max spend - can't see how RCD can be done for that.
dear all,
ReplyDeletehad a very good look, and my preference is North Coast and the Ramada hotel. Dont like the look of the Best western! Web Site for Ramada has 119pounds for 2 nights, so have we a deal for 3 nights?
At the end of the day , if we decide on RCD , i would still be happy , as Ardglass and RC D look great and the hotel is better, but dont fancy royal belfast.
Ultimately , will go with the flow!
Roland
I have a request: that we don't plan an itinerary with too much driving (car version..) in it...
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the helpful comments. I attach an article reviewing the best N Irish courses and as you can see 5 courses get a specific mention - Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Castlerock, Ardglass and Portstewart.
ReplyDeletewww.golfeurope.com/features/ireland/northern-ireland-golf-courses-destination-5129.htm
I hear Rolf's heartfelt plea for RCD, and I know that Ardglass would be great too, but I feel that Royal Belfast would be a weakspot, and that in an ideal world we would play 4 different great courses over the 4 days, and not 2. I also feel that keeping the cost down in these straightened times (for me anyway!)is impportant. So I'm going to try and book the Northern loop, although I'm in two minds about the hotel choice. But booking the courses and the flights is probably the important thing at this stage. So - that is what I propoose to do over then next 24 hrs, unless ...... etc etc.
All sounds wonderful to me!
ReplyDeletegreetings from sunny california. I am going to pass on Northern Ireland, gents , despite the agreeable company, as our living situation is fluid right now...trying to nail something down ove here. Your plan does sound good though ! Cheers, Mark
ReplyDeleteNigel - do we have done deal? Martin
ReplyDeleteMay not be relevant for JLC2010, but you should be aware of new BA policy re luggage (including golf clubs/skis etc.).
ReplyDeleteDetails at:
www.britishairways.com/travel/flightops/public/en_gb?p_faqid=3871