June 19, 2012

DUBLIN -

The California Golden Bear women's golf team continued their tour of the courses of the Emerlad Isle with a day two round at the Royal Dublin Golf Club. Junior Joi Pentin sent the following from Dublin to document the day:

Today we finished our third day in Ireland! After playing the Island Golf Club yesterday we were fortunate to experience another links style course, Royal Dublin Golf Club played the Royal Dublin Golf Club. We once again had amazing weather and we are convinced we brought it with us from California. The wind wasn't too bad either, just enough to keep the links interesting!

We continued our inner team matches with a "skins" game including carry-overs. It was competitive yet fun and kept everyone very much in it. The "NorCals" edged out the "Euro's" and the "Freshman" were not far behind. On the 12th hole there was an older gentleman lingering who had come out to say hello to the "California Girls". We were pleasantly surprised to find out he was the pride of Ireland Golf, 87 year old, Christy O'Connor. He is what we called the "Arnold Palmer of Ireland," and he came out just to see us! How cool is that? After the round the Captain and Head Professional took us upstairs in the club to show us Christy's clubroom and memorabilia from the different Ryder Cups in which he played, 10 straight, not bad!

Once we returned from the course, we headed straight to the Guinness Brewery! I am pretty sure everyone who has come to Dublin has visited this place. The tour was self guided and went through each step of the beer making process. At the conclusion of the tour we found ourselves a top the 360-degree bar which was 4 stories above the brewery and overlooked the entire city. It was breathtaking and still sunny! After the tour, we continued in the Irish tradition and took a horse and buggy to the famous Burdocks Fish and Chips!! Here we all split a large cod and chips... with salt and vinegar. Yum yum! The small chipper is home to Dublin's best fish and chips and has a long list of celebrity appearances on the wall.

This concluded our team events for the day and it was a great day to be in Ireland. The Euro 2012 "football" championships are dominating every pub and street in the city which makes it a fun atmosphere to experience and enjoy. Tomorrow we head to County Louth to play a match against the members and our former Cal Men's team player, Daniel Coyle. We look forward to another great day in Ireland and fantastic golf! And check out these pics!

1. The team with Irish golf legend Christy O'Connor

2. The team ready to play a round at the Royal Dublin Golf Club.

3. A shot of the Royal Dublin Golf Course

4. After a round of golf, the team went exploring near the famous Guiness brewery