Royal County Down Course

Best of the Emerald Isle
Combining Joycean Dublin with the Rough & Rugged North East Coastline.
Play Royal Portrush, Royal County Down, Baltray, European Club, Portmarnock.
6 Nights Accommodation with Full Irish Breakfast / 5 Rounds of Golf / Rental Car - Package Price: $2,699.00 per golfer / $1,899.00 per non-golfer, double occupancy

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Markree Castle -Sligo

Irish Castles, Greens and Country Houses
Featuring the Finest Irish Castles, Country Houses and Links Courses.
Spend 2 nights each at Rathmullan House, Markree Castle and Ballynahinch Castle.
Play Ballyliffin Old, Ballyliffen Glashedy Links, Rosses Point (County Sligo), Enniscrone and Connemara.
Package Price: $1,988 per golfer / $1,648 per non-golfer, double occupancy.

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Ballybunion Old

Southwest Swing
If Golf is your passion, then this itinerary is a perfect fit!
Featuring 6 All Star Courses in South & Southwest Ireland. Play Doonbeg, Lahinch, Ballybunion Old, Tralee, Fota Island, Old Head
7 Nights Hotel including full Irish breakfast / 6 rounds of golf/ Rental Car
Package Price: $2,854.00 per golfer / $1,854.00 per non-golfer, double occupancy

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Killarney Killeen Course

Finnegan's Choice Gold
6 Nights Hotel including full Irish breakfast / 5 rounds of golf/ Rental Car
Featuring Golf on 5 of Ireland's most famous golf courses:
Killarney Killeen, Waterville, Tralee, Ballybunion Old, Lahinch.
Deluxe Hotel Package Price:  $3,179.00 per golfer / $2,469.00 per non-golfer

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The Old Course - BALLYBUNION OLD in Ireland
Introduced by Tom Watson

After playing Ballybunion for the first time, a man would think that the game of golf originated here. Located on the Shannon estuary, it is a true seaside links course, virtually treeless and a course of sharp contours throughout. There appears to be no man- made influence. It looks like a course laid out on land back in the 10th century. There is a wild look to the place the long grass covering the dunes that pitch and roll throughout the course making it very intimidating. Yet the course is eminently fair. While there would appear to be a lot of blind shots, there aren’t. Even where there are blind shots, you are given a good idea where you must hit the ball. The course doesn't’t fool you altogether! The contours, on the fairways and on the greens, are what make it a great golf course. There are uphill and downhill and sidehill shots, uphill and downhill par-3s. You must play accurate iron shots into the greens, usually to a small target with not a lot of room to miss right or left. But there is room to roll a ball on to the greens in the true links manner. Playing Ballybunion is similar in many respects, to playing Cypress Point in America, and I like that style of golf. It’s the best way to play. you hit a straight shot but miss-hit it by a little bit, a little too long or short, you shouldn't be penalized as much as you are for missing left or right of the green. Yet if you roll the ball on to the green, and once you get to the green there are more contours you must contend with. It is all this that cause Ballybunion to offer some of the finest and most demanding shots into the green of any course I’ve played in the world. Combine this with the winds that are prevalent here and you have a magnificent challenge. >more information on Ballybunion.

> Playing Ballybunion in Ireland

Chi Chi’s Tips on Getting Out of Trouble
Because sometimes even the best players find themselves in places they'd rather not be, practice hitting the "impossible shots" on occasion. Work on rescue operations whenever you get a chance. Purposely give yourself a buried lie or a left-handed shot, and hit it while you're waiting for the line at the snack shack to dwindle. Idle time on the tee? Hit some shots off hardpan or pine straw while you wait. The best way to prepare for the worst is to deal with it before it happens.

"The first rule to remember when getting in trouble," says Chi Chi, "is to remain calm. If you panic, then you will not play a good shot. If you are calm, then you start from a good foundation to start the recovery. The second rule is just try to play a shot good enough to get out of the trouble. Do not be a hero unless you're absolutely sure you can pull off the shot.  I never in my life had to play an impossible shot unless the one I hit before it was worse than lousy. And I've never tried to play an impossible shot that I haven't tried in practice."
Knowing you have a plan for getting out of trouble and getting comfortable with it is critical to making a good play in a bad situation. Learn some escape routes, and you won't be so quick to resign yourself to a bad score on a hole and a debilitating confidence blow to your entire round. A player can recover from a bogey far easier and a lot quicker than from a triple or a snowman. "When adversity becomes the opponent," says Chi Chi, "then patience and attitude become more important clubs than the ones in the bag. Golfers hit themselves into trouble, but you have to think to get out of it."

From Chi Chi's Golf Games You Gotta Play by Chi Chi Rodriguez and John Anderson. Copyright 2003 by Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. Available in bookstores and your pro shops.  

Elisa Gauget

G-O-L-F. It’s a four letter word and everyone from politicians to pin up’s are doing it. If you thought golf was for your grandparents think again. Ever since Tiger and Sergio came on the scene golf is hotter than ever proving this is a sport for the young, hip and mobile as much as anyone else. Start asking around and you will be surprised to find out who is on the greens, what they are wearing, and what lengths they are taking to find excellent golf.

More and more golf is permeating into other industries designers have decided to take a swing at the golf industry and some like Ralph Lauren, Izod, Lacoste, Escada, Brooks Brothers, and Burberry, have developed a line specifically for golf. The “On The Lip chapeau” award goes to designer J. Lindeberg (thank you, thank you, thank you) and to Parnevik and Howell III for having the guts and style to wear these fine fashions that are colorfully finding their way to the fairway.

Luxury golf is on the rise and that includes the “Ultimate Golf Getaway” a.k.a the “Ultimate Guys Golf Getaway”, a 10 day overseas outing in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Spain or Ireland to name a few of the current hot spots. Thirty something Todd Richmond from Doylestown, PA summed up his ultimate guy bonding experience as the two G’s- Golf & Guinness. Stats: 8 guys, 10 days, 15 courses throughout Ireland and a minivan stocked with Guinness. “We literally flew in to Dublin and then covered over 2,000 miles in 10 days in a minivan. We would tee off at 7:30am finish around 12:00 get in the minivan and play the next course at 4:00pm and finish that course at 8:30pm”.

Ireland is known for it’s incredible courses and after playing 15 of the best when asked what his favorite course was there was no doubt in Richmond’s mind; the Old Head Golf Links in Kinsale just south of Cork. Even the most veteran golfer becomes emotional when he finds himself on the fairway with waves crashing against the 200-300 foot cliffs and the picturesque light house on the 18th with nothing but the wide expanse of ocean behind it making you wonder if you have died and gone to golf heaven. “Golf is really about guy time, bonding, cigar smoking, big fish stories, jokes, stocks and betting” claims Richmond. No better place to do it than in Ireland with a Guinness waiting for you in the pub or minivan. Least we forget Richmond’s golf garb of choice-Lacoste.

Elisa Gaudet has written numerous golf articles, given speeches, appeared on radio and TV and worked in the golf industry for a number of years before founding Executive Golf International. For more information write to elisa@onthelip.com or go to www.onthelip.com or www.execgolfintl.com.