Four rounds in five days

In addition to yesterday's McKee match, I had matches Tuesday and Thursday this week at Shandon (the Challenge Cup) and a practice round at Ardglass Golf Club on Friday, where I will have a match on Monday 3 June.

I did not play well in the Challenge Cup on either day. At Ardglass, I played pretty well after a few holes of very bad golf.

Ardglass is a links course and is not easy. A lot of fairways slope toward the ocean and there are a lot of hard mounds or dunes that, if your ball catches the side, will send the ball sailing in an unintended direction. Here's a view of the Mournes that reminded me of Paul Henry's paintings.

I played on Friday with Karen, who will be my partner in the match. She is much better than me, so in a better ball format, it is likely we will be counting her score not mine. She will be giving me shots – giving me the chance to score on a hole, but I am nowhere near as consistent as she is.

This course once charged a modest fee of, say, 40 pounds for a round. The course manager wanted to attract the rich tourists that play nearby Royal County Down. So he jacked up the price to 190 pounds for 18 holes in season – and the tourists have been pouring in ever since. There was a busload of Americans and four Italians in front of us. I will pay nothing for either today's practice round or Monday's match – what a deal! If only it weren't so stressful!

The golf club is the oldest in Ireland. It began as "a fortified warehouse that operated as a safe haven for 15^th century importers and exporters. The initial construction of the castle started no later than 1405 and by the 18^th century it was converted into a family home, with a new extension being completed around 1788.

"However, as the harbour was in use by the Norman knight, Sir John De Courcy, at the time of his invasion of Ireland in 1177, it is entirely possible that the clubhouse sits on even earlier footings."

28-31 May