So hats off to Gerry McKeon, Donal McSweeney, Niamh Power and all  the staff at the Limerick County Golf & Country Club in Ballyneety, just  outside Limerick.

It might have been a day of showers as heavy as a suet pudding when we  turned up but the reception we had and the way they all went out of their way to  help was just fantastic.

Donal gave us a lesson and helped sort out two problems related to grip  and swing. And we went on the driving range under his watchful eye to make sure  the cure was working. You couldn’t blame Donal for what then happened on the 164 yard, par 3,  6th hole. No sooner had we finished the previous hole, down the hill  (and seen a fox scurrying across the course in front of us), we stood on the  elevated 6th
tee and the  heavens opened.

You could barely see the hole, never mind worry too much about which club  to use. So I picked a 5 metal wood out of the bag and smashed it...straight  onto the green. It rolled and rolled……..and stopped about two feet short of the  pin. Would have been my first ever hole in one. James then stepped up and a curious sight unfolded. His ball went flying  down the course, straight into a greenside bunker as it turned out. But what  really caught our eyes was the sight of the club slipping out of his wet hand  and flying high through the air into a nearby tree. We stood there dumbfounded  at the spectacle.

So in lashing rain on a golf course, he climbed this tree... only for me to  find the club in the bushes below ! The laughing could have been heard the other  side of Limerick. I made a 2 and James made our day. Talk about laughing in the  rain.

And when we’d finished and had a thoroughly enjoyable time, we dried out  in the restaurant on top of the wonderful clubhouse they’ve got at the club, and  devoured fish and chips and a glass of the dark stuff. Afterwards, it was on to the Flying Boat Museum at Foynes, a spot  definitely worth visiting. This small town was where so many of the Flying Boats  came in from |America in the early days of TransAtlantic air travel. There is a  life-size model of a Flying Boat you can go into and see how it was all laid  out. Fascinating.

And after that and a short ferry ride across the Shannon Estuary, we  headed for Lahinch and a relaxing evening. More about that in tomorrow’s blog  but one thing’s for sure. If you find yourselves in this part of the world, head for the golf club  and museum. You’ll have a great time at both. -- Peter