The Irish Open

Today we took the train from Derry to Coleraine and then the shuttle to Portstewart, where 165 golfers were duking it out to make it into the final. Tomorrow only something like 60 players would remain.

We were able to walk across the fairways of holes 18 and 17 to see action on three holes. Many players went into the rough, giving us some up-close viewing. This is an Irish fella called Moynihan.

After lunch we walked around the championship village and saw the leaderboard.

Mom was in her element. She loves train rides so she was happy before our Irish Open day even began. That train ride along the coast has been rated one of the most beautiful train rides in Britain.
We spent the afternoon in the grandstand watching the champions’ approach shots and final puts. Here are Justin Rose and heartthrob Tommy Fleetwood (left).

Sadly local hero Rory McIlroy didn’t make the cut. We didn’t see him because he was on the front nine by the time we got there and we weren’t going to walk that far. We did see other local favourites, such as Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington. The latter got the biggest applause, possibly a reflection of the high number of spectators visiting from the Republic. Also, Harrington lives in Ireland while McDowell is pretty much a full-time U.S. resident and has something of an American accent, which doesn’t go over well here.

From the grandstand we could see the coast and in the distance Mussendun Temple, which sits on a cliff. The train goes through a tunnel under the cliff.
It was a long day but a very good one. Mom was a trooper, up and down dunes to keep up with the action. The Irish Open will be in Donegal next year so we may do it all over again.
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