Mourning the weather

(photos at the bottom)
I haven't said anything about the Irish Open, which was held in Northern Ireland this past weekend at the Royal County Down golf course in Newcastle. The Irish Open was last held in the north (in Portrush) in 2012. Prior to that, the last time it was held north of the border was in 1953. The Portrush and County Down venues have been standouts because the courses are beautiful and every day was a sell-out crowd, which has never happened in the south (the event started in 1927).

The event was plagued by bad weather and high scores. Rory McIlroy--responsible for buttonholing the world's top players and a big-money sponsor--flamed out two days into the four-day event. Nonetheless, it is being hailed as a big success. "It is only through Rory's involvement that we were able to attract the world-class field that we had at Royal County Down. He has single-handedly lifted the Irish Open and taken it into a completely different era," one commentator effused.

So I was in Newcastle, home of RCD, today because R&B wanted to hike Slieve Donard, the highest peak among the Mourne Mountains and the highest in Ulster. Newcastle is at its base. Unfortunately, the weather was no kinder to them than the golfers. Slieve Donard is up there in the mist somewhere.

The weather was good on and off in Newcastle. Here's the Slieve Donard resort, where a lot of the big names stayed:

I forgot my camera so I took photos on my laptop, which reverses everything. See if you can make out the clever ads:

And this one:

Here's the view from the grandstand over the 18th hole. This would have been a high-priced view a few days ago:

David made it home today, sans luggage, after canceled flights, delayed flights, a night at a cheap motel. He's sleeping and R&B are having dinner at the Dirty Duck Ale House, which has a nice view over the Belfast Lough.
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