round 1 - cork
great views at the harbour
after an early flight we drove to cork golf club for lunch in the award winning clubhouse with views over the course. the course is situated on little island and formed in 1888. it gets exciting from the 4th when you arrive at lough mahon with some lovely holes around the harbour, but it was also tough for a first time visitor.
phil and al started to pull away after a few tight holes and ended with an easy victory. neil was particularly rusty around the greens due to a lack of match practice.
in the evening we ventured into cork armed with a list of traditional irish pubs. we found the oval pub where we couldn’t understand any of the locals with their thick cork accents!
match score: neil & nic 14½-13 phil & al
round 2 - castlemartyr
fabulous inland links
on day two we played castlemartyr, a great inland links style course, which opened in 2009 and was designed by ron kirby. the course is set in a 220-acre old manor estate and was extremely well-kept. it was tricky and required a wide array of shots to do well.
phil and al were in charge of the match as neil struggled. however, nic fought hard to reach the last all square. neil and al both dumped their approaches into the water, leaving a putt off between phil and nic. both holed and the match was halved so phil and al had a one point lead going into round 3.
match score: neil & nic 15-13½ phil & al
round 3 - fota belvelly
great finishing hole
the fota island resort is set within a 780-acre estate and the holes are laid out in rolling parkland and mature woodland. the club was not founded until 1993 with significant changes made in 1998 by jeff howes to meet european tour standards.
the course is long and appears mature beyond its years. the remodelled fota is a tremendous course, thankfully it is eminently playable for the handicap golfer.
al was in sublime form for these nine holes scoring 20 stableford points. but that wasn’t enough to take victory with neil holing a four footer on the last to half the match leaving it all still to play for.
match score: neil & nic 15¼-13¾ phil & al
round 4 - fota barryscourt
the clubhouse
barryscourt includes the new nine holes and the front nine from the championship track. phil and al went into the round knowing they couldn’t lose the holiday and phil started in scintillating form so after the 7th, they had what looked like an unassailable 4-up lead. however by the 13th it was all square as neil finally hit some form. six pars in seven holes won the round and gave our first draw!
then came the KOP. from the trees on the left, al played a magical approach but nic found the edge of the green and holed a 12 footer for par tying the hole and retaining the trophy.
match score: neil & nic 16¼-13¾ phil & al