I have not been on Hive that much lately as I have gotten into the world of web development and all my time is being taken up by learning the many many and many again languages , systems, backend , frontend and all the other systems it takes to have a functioning website. Also I was a bit pissed off by the free loaders taking the piss in Hive so my love for it isn't what it used to be. So my strategy now is like my strategy on religion. My father once told me
"Religion is fine but don't get too much into it"
And judging by all the worlds problems stemming from religion, he is dead right. So I will like Hive and power down every now and then , buy myself a pair of apple headphones and stay content with earning crypto by writing blogs and not get too much into the politics of rally cars and conferences. Everyone else is earning Hive and withdrawing it so if you can't beat them then join them. I have said my piece and most of the community now know who the freeloaders are from these posts.
So lets move on with the post. I was at the Open Championship this week in Portrush. One of my friends asked me a couple of years ago if I wanted to go to probably the second best golf tournament in the world after the Masters and I said yes due to the length of time between the decision and when I had to go. So I was reminded a few weeks ago of the upcoming event and had to tell her good self that I would be away from Tuesday to Saturday on a golf holiday. After the initial shock , she warmed to the idea of having the bed to herself and the pass was granted. So off we headed from South Tipperary to the tip top of Ireland which would take 5 hours in total.
We stopped off in Seapoint Golf Club in Drogheda for a round of golf. Because the Open Championship is normally a links course, we had to get into the atmosphere and play a links course , albeit not the top 10 courses in the world like Royal Portrush but Seaport wasn't to shabby in its own right. Since the birth of the second child , I found that golf was taking up too much of my time and a whole day away and also working 5 days wasn't going to cut it so I gave it up. I don't miss golf as I wasn't any good at it but there was always that one good drive to hook you back in. Also my golf partner was my father in law who was an outdoors man. So going out on an Irish January morning of -2 and the wind and hail pouring down did not put him off the golf and many a time I was walking down the 2nd hole getting drenched asking myself what the fuck I was doing???
So I became a sunshine golfer who paid green fees rather than the €1000 per year membership , spent more time with the family and dipped in every now and then when someone was stuck in playing a nice course such as Mount Juliet down the road or the K Club in Kildare. I became the Hulk Hogan of golf. Only played the special events and I quite liked that. Now the 2 lads I was playing with were much more into it and were way better but I didn't really care. 18 holes and I am in the car off up north getting a pint served up to me for a few days of relaxation.
After a few hours of threatening rain clouds and trying to find my ball in heavy links course rough ,I managed to par every par 3. This was my goal as I used to be a ninja with the short irons so I left Louth happy with my performance and a goal to sort out the hook I developed in my driving
Anyway we hit Portrush around 5pm and the atmosphere was really good. Portrush is a seaside resort that is stuck onto the side of this enormous golf course. There are a couple of villages like Portrush in Ireland where the course looks like this giant mass on the map and the actual town is tiny compared. Lahinch is another example. So these little places are great craic because everyone that is in town is there for the golf so it creates a festival atmosphere which is really cool.
We had heard murmourings that a couple of golfers were drinking Guinneas in a pub called the Stationhouse by the little fishing marina and those rumours turned out to be correct when we saw Xander Schauffule sink a pint. Tyrell Hatton was also soaking up the atmosphere around the Marina whereas Bryson De Chambeau was rumoured to be around the same area. So we ended up getting mouldy in the Stationhouse with normalies , caddies , golfers , celebs , golf execs and a great time was had by all. That was the thing about Portrush , there aren't that many bars to separate the normalies with the beautiful people they didn't have a choice. I even bumped into the boss man of golf.
The next day we were awaken at 8.30am by one of the friends that did not go too hard the night before. I was always OK getting up with a hang over but an argument ensued with the other roommate who was worse for wear but after this was ironed out over an electrolyte we made our 20 minute walk to the golf course to watch the 1st day of golf.
I was excited to see some of the American golfers because it is commonly known that these guys don't like to travel outside the USA so I don't get the chance to see them up close so I was on the hunt for Scottie Scheffler and the big dog Bryson De Chambeau first and foremost. The top golfers would always have a massive gallery following them so you had to plan your moves. I found after a while the best place to watch them was where their drive would land as you got to see the drive and then be up close for their second shot into the green. You would then see the whole picture. You could not stand behind the tee box as they were raised . Standing to the side of the tee box would get you to see their shoot but not where it went. It was also a factor that if the golfer was left handed you would only see their back. The other option was anchoring to a spot and just watching all the golfers come through so it was difficult to know what the best way to watch the golf was. I soon realised that the best place to watch it was in the VIP tent with a pint and a sausage sandwich. Like Formula 1 , golf is best watched on tele. I found a hump between 16 , 17 , and 18 that gave me a view of 3 holes.
After doing a few stints around the course I meandered over to the range and got great views of Rory McElroy hitting rockets and Dustin Johnson trying to iron out some driving issues with his team. In fact when I was leaving the course at 6.30 DJ was the last man standing at the range. He was still figuring things out. Something that I thought DJ would not be doing. I used to picture him doing the least amount of work but this guy was the last off the range which turned my opinion on him. All these guys were elite. To get to this level and staying there was tough going. There were no shortcuts.
The course itself was the nicest course I have ever seen. It was the Open Championship and one of the 4 majors so it was always going to be. But this place was a level above again. It was unbelievable. I heard also for a couple of hundred euro you can play it and I think this would be money well spent. Augusta is off limits but this is up there as one of the best course in the world.
What interested my was the amount of time it took for the groups to go around. There was no rush on any of the golfers. Some players like Brian Harmon were terribly slow. He took 20 practice shots before he took his real shot. Now Brian is up there on the leaderboard but it was excruciating to watch. Just take the fucking shot. This led the faster players like Rory McElroy and Brooks Koepka to become frustrated and they even mentioned it in their press conferences when they finished up.
It was a great experience and I urge everyone to go to an event to just see the scale of the execution. It was massive and I think golf is one of the great religions of the world. It is a cult somewhat but unfortunately I didn't get too much into it either. I sit at home watching Day 3 seeing more in 10 minutes that I saw in 2 days. But I was glad I went. I was able to tell my daughter that the 16th hole was alot steeper than it looks on TV. I was amazed at the access to the putting green also and watching these world famous golfers 5 foot away. Some members of the gallery was even chatting to them. I quite liked that. Most of the golfers were very good with their time for the public so I come away from the event happier.
All Photos are my own