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BGS 2024 - Round 4 Esker Hills - 22nd June 13:10

Alanm

And on we go to Round 4, heading for the half way point of the year! Famously Esker hills is Shane Lowry's home course and it's a great course. Esker Hills is regarded as one of Ireland's leading inland golf courses. It is a challenging championship golf course where no two holes are remotely alike. It is noted for its distinct links feel, superb sand-based greens, all-year playability and warm welcome.

It's a course the society have played a few times before. I think I've played it twice, once being a fairly memorable experience back in 2016 during @Golfgraffix year when it was a "bit breezy" and pretty wet.

Tee times are from 13:10 and booking will open next Monday with a cost of €35.

Alan.

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blue note

Enjoy today lads. I'm disappointed to be missing this great course.

tigerwood1

Well done Bobster on getting it over the line in tuff conditions, althought we need to put a big asterick beside that win considering you had the advantage of been able to zoom up and down those hills on a buggy🤣🤣🤣.

Speaking of buggys i had considered using one myself (as i now qualify for the senior tour) but taught the two young lads i was playing with(Scotty and Keano) would laught me off the park, but how wrong i was as they were huffing and puffing by the time we reached the 4th😉. All that said it did'nt stop them giving me a exhibition on driving the ball,it was like playing with two Bryson's everthing was on, there was no holding back for the safe option to bring in a score. On the 10th the two of them went for it hitting 3 woods easily making it but unfortunately pulling them left of the green. By the time we got to the 16th i stood up and hit my best drive of the day (gprs later showed 235yrds) Scotty had outdrive me by a further 65yrds😪. Once again on the 18th i hit a great drive but this time it was Keanos turn to humiliate me😄 with a boomer to easily take the longest drive of the day.

All in all it was a very enjoyable day with the course in good condition and i managed to finish with a par and there was signs of potential for next season.

Ps Bobster will i revolute the fiver or hand over the cold hard cash in Portarlington ?

VW 1

Another lovely day out with boards, the course certainly didn't disappoint with the amount of hills. My legs are fairly heavy this morning after being stubborn enough to carry the bag.

My golf was poor enough score-wise but I really feel I have managed to turn a corner with my driving and irons. Was solid and dependable for the most part and finding a lot of fairways off the tee, something I've been struggling with.

In contrast to portmarnock, my chipping let me down badly with many duffed shots and poor execution. Putting didn't help either, struggled with pace all day and left so much short.

Got off to a great start with a 4i to prime position on one, topped the second with it popping up and going 20 yards. Pin high after 3 beside a tree meaning I'd no shot to the green so ended with a point.

Second, smashed a drive with a little unintentional fade, left me 20 yards to the flag from short rough. Chipped into the bunker, caught a flier over the green and third tee box. Chunked the return, next was to fringe and ran the putt 20ft by to end up scratching. Scratch after being so close after 1.

Third I took a safe route with 2 iron off the tee, started left and faded left. Hit a 4i to prime position with the second but ultimately ended scratching from there. This was a theme that followed all day! Good drive and decent approaches, on 5 and 6 I had 3 putt bogeys which further compounds the frustrations. Did pick up 3 or 4 pars, my highlight one being on the 9th where a slightly pushed tee shot left me on the hill on the left where I made a lovely up and down.

Really enjoyed the company, first time with space and macker, both very capable golfers. Space turned in a pretty decent score without looking like he was playing at his best - that's definitely intended as a compliment. Good shot making and always sensible decisions, nice golf to watch. Macker won (I assume) ntp with an outrageous shot on the 5th.

Played a good few times with WOGD and he's always great to play with, brilliant attitude and good craic interspersed with some very good gold.

Thanks to Alan and committee and volunteers for all the work to make it happen.

Alanm

Thanks all for playing Esker yesterday. It's a long time since I've played there and it definitely didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed the round playing with @awec, @benny79 and @Sorbet - while none of us had our A game, there were some brilliant shots played by all. I think the greens caught us all out a few times and some of the pin positions were very much on the tricky side - personally I left quite a few short which cost me a half decent score (the three doubles didn't help either!).

Onto the Results:

1st: @bobster453 (38pts)
2nd: @a post punk (36pts)
3rd: @Concerned2 (34pts)
LD: @ciano15 (miles)
NTP: @Macker1 (38")
Gross: @spacecoyote (back 9)
4 2's: @spacecoyote x2; @Macker1 and someone else, can't remember right now sorry.
Most Golf: @charlieIRL

Well done to all the winners!

Next round in Portarlington on the 27th July (a week later due to the British Open on the weekend before). See you all there.

Alan.

ballyk

Looks like an all Munster podium so!

Snackbox20

Good afternoon all,

Just in from my 2nd round of the weekend and 2nd place finish at the home club with 36pts, golf is a funny funny sport, a totally different game yesterday.

I was happy with a lot of aspects of my game but I again had that fear of hitting irons and was hugely short on a lot of my 2nd and shots to the par 3s. On one par 3 the lads hit PW and 8i respectively, I took out a 5i 😱😱. The only highlight for me yesterday was an up and down par save on the inverted green par 3 9, I was well short as above and played a brave if not stupid flop shot to leave a short putt for the par. That was the only par on the card.

Had the pleasure of playing again with @charlieirl and @bakerbhoy on this very unique and tricky course. Great comradarie with the lads and thanks a million to @charlieIRL for your course knowledge.

As @a post punk said to me afterwards, we can see how Shane Lowry honed his talent on such a difficult course. As charlieirl said, it's a course you need to play a few times in order to know where to hit your tee shots, 2nd and 3rd shots. I didn't realise before the round a very welcoming and friendly gentleman gave me some golden advice "out here, play with your head, not your heart" turned it was Mr. Molloy the owner of the course.

Afterwards when chatting to the eventual winner @bobster453 , a man asked me "excuse me tall fella, you wouldn't mind standing away from the telly please?" No worries, turned out that man was Mr. Lowry, Shane's dad 🤣🤣🤣.

Another very good day out with the boards crew. Congratulations to bobster on your great score of 38.

Thanks a million again to @charlieIRL and @bakerbhoy for an enjoyable round and great craic throughout.

I'm not sure about if I can make Portarlington on the 27th, I have other commitments and I am caught up holidays in that period.

Hopefully I can make it, if not I hope to see you all at McReddin.

Thanks once again finally to captain @Alanm and the hard working committee for everything running so well yesterday.

spacecoyote

Didn't hear the advice that Snackbox got, but I did actually take that approach in general yesterday, played with the head.

Had my best ever round at Esker, and bar a couple of mistakes and bad luck could have been a very good round.

Hit one bad drive, on the index 1, caught some ground behind the ball, landed about 10-15 yards right of the OB, and it kicked straight left and down to the OB line. Was inside the stakes, but just over the white line that was added. Recovered it well and parred the second ball to make a point on the hole.

A lot of crazy pin positions all day, tucked towards the front, some only a couple of yards on and close to run-offs. So your options were, try get close and risk running back down the front run-off or hit into the middle of the green and be left with a snaky putt back down the hill with a risk of de-greening if you were too aggressive.

I went with the GIR approach, which ended up with 3 3-putt bogeys, starting with one on the first.

Made 2 2s on the day, which was a nice return, and somehow snuck the gross prize.

Playing with VW, Macker and WOGD. We'd a very enjoyable round of golf, lost pace due to a few ragged tee shots across the board, but pushed on where we could to catch back up.

Great to catch up with Macker, who I've known now for years in the society. Think we may have joined in the same year. Always a gent on the course and a very tidy golfer. Hit a superb ball on the NTP, was tracking back towards the hole and he tapped in easily from 3ft. Struck the ball well all day and was unlucky not to score better.

VW can really hit a ball and struck his long irons beautifully, would love to have that power in the bag. A few loose shots around the greens and a couple of pulls with approaches made life difficult on a course that punishes you for being out of position. Could see a massive score coming in at some point when things all click together

WOGD has a great approach on the course. Great company and out to enjoy himself, not taking things too seriously. Still wants to score and put in his best, but doesn't beat himself up, which really stands to you on the course. Got himself caught out of position a few times which only added to our entertainment at times. He was the other man to make a 2 on the day, which meant our group cleaned up.

Couple of the pin positions on show here.

bobster453

Hi All

Had the pleasure of playing with @Break80,Seve and Paulos yesterday..1st time with Seve, played with Paulos a few years back and Break80 a few times.

Since the disaster that was Corballis have been very focused on breaking down swing mechanics and rebuilding.

Has kicked in over the past month, yesterday was my 3rd time in 2 weeks getting cut and lots more to come hopefully.

Regarding the course I thought greens were mostly slow due to recent hollow tining and sanding but got the pace fairly right from 2nd hole on.

Didnt do anything drastic, not having 5 wood or 3 wood in bag forces me to approach holes different and is working a treat.

I nearly called off due to back and sciatica but opted for the buggy approach instead.Even so was suffering.

We all had purple patches throughout and also the usual mishaps.

My only bad decision was not playing back to fairway on 18th to scratch the hole.Bad effort..other than that felt round was steady without being spectacular apart from 1 or 2 Tiger line drives as Seve called them.

Great course, great company and first real Jug points on the board.

I did call it mind you.

Many thanks to Captain and all involved for another great outing.

See you all in Poetarlington.

bobster453

@tigerwood1

Doubles or quits will do fine in Portarlington.

Not my fault you tried to be all macho and not hire a buggy😂..cant blame me for leaving machoness outside the clubhouse.

charlieIRL

I’ll was going do a proper write up when I got to my computer but there is no real point, I was desperate bad yesterday. I also just wanted to congratulate Bobster on the win and thank my playing partners for some brilliant company yesterday, without them I probably wouldn’t have lasted the 18 holes. My game is in the gutter big time and has been for a long time now, every aspect has gone, driver to putter. I’ve had lessons last year and I think they made me so much worse, I know they take time to bed in and need practice but I’ve tried and tried but have never played as bad.
Gonna try one more pro this week and not play any competitive golf until I see some improvement. I’d say my next round will be the weekend of Portarlington. Watch this space…..

Sorbet

Thanks to captain @Alanm for another great day out with the society. Another new course for me and really enjoyed the challenge. Some really varied holes and course was in great condition. I never worked out the greens, now that I think of it I don’t recall a single one putt. Was happy with my game on the front nine as I got four pars and 19 points only to develop a hook out of nowhere on the back 9 and a bit of a wash out. Scratched a number of holes on the back 9.

Great group with @awec @benny79 and @Alanm great company and some good golf in parts by all. Almost a legendary moment on the short par 4 10th when we convinced @Alanm to go for the green in one - he didn’t really need any convincing and very nearly made it. By comparison I hit the perfect 5 iron lay up and then hit two balls straight into the water - scratch.

Really enjoyed it and learned a lot from the group.

Will miss Portarlington as will be away but see you all in Macreddin.

slave1

Superb positioning …

spacecoyote

Great photo alright

awec

Thanks to @Alanm and everyone else in the background for organising another great day out. I really enjoyed this course, good challenge, lots of raised greens! And lots of pins at the very front of those raised greens. I struggled with the greens a bit, I felt the practice green was faster than the greens out on the course.

Went around with @Alanm , @Sorbet and @benny79 . A mixed bag from all of us on the day. Sorbet in particular started like a house on fire but unfortunately fell off a bit on the back 9.

I reckon I found myself in most bunkers on this course. First hole I hit a good driver, but topped my second shot, and then put the 3rd shot into the green side bunker. 2nd myself and Alan both ended up in the trees on the left as neither of us realised how deep the trees were. 3rd I duffed my drive and then put my 2nd out of bounds, this was the start of my problems on the day. I ended up scratching 3, 4, 6 and 7 mostly due to misdirected tee shots and this killed my scorecard.

I got back on track by getting par at 8, 9 10 and 12, but it wasn't enough to drag my scorecard back to where I'd liked it to have been. Got my driving back on track the last few holes, hit a cracking drive on 16, but my GPS battery died and I made a really stupid decision with the wrong club and hit my 2nd OOB. 😅 Ending up getting a net bogey when a gross par was definitely there for me. Hit a good drive on 17 and 18, but 18 ended up in the fairway bunker. Hit out of the fairway bunker straight into the green side bunker. 🙄

Really need to work on my confidence over the ball, I have too many things in my head when I'm taking a shot and end up over or under correcting issues. My normal miss with the driver is left, yet on Saturday I was missing right as I kept thinking not to hit it left.

Looking forward to Portarlington.

spacecoyote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122297168#Comment_122297168

Screenshot_20240624_115654_Samsung Internet.jpg

You might appreciate my 3W headcover I had at the weekend then @awec 😉

Snackbox20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122297114#Comment_122297114

Great capture 👌👌👌

RoadRunner

Lovely photos. Was sad to miss this one 😔

paulos53

Congrats to @bobster453 on the win. Some solid ball-striking all day with a hot putter on the front 9 makes for a good combination. It could have easily been a better score as you were heavily punished for the only 2 offline tee shots that you hit.

My round was just about grinding it out for the 18 holes. I didn't strike the ball well all day but holed a few putts to keep the scorecard ticking over. Most of my scoring came from a run of 5 pars at the start of the back 9.

Thanks again to my playing partners Seve OB and break80 for the game and the company. In hindsight, it could easily have been another win for Seve OB. Just got into trouble too often off the tee but the rest of your game is in great shape.

Par of the day went to Break80 on the 8th hole after his "off the planet" tee shot ended up in the vicinity of the 7th fairway and zero visibility of the green. Still managed to get the ball green-adjacent and saved par with a nice up and down. Meanwhile, I walked off with a scratch from the middle of the fairway.

paulos53

Alanm is getting plenty of plaudits for the image above but I wonder did these 2 images capture his next stroke. 😉

a post punk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122297275#Comment_122297275

this headcover is like a print out of my mind 😂👍

Sorbet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122298326#Comment_122298326

might have taken a picture of the practice swing too 😀

scotty_golf9

Another rounds in the books. Id like to thank @ciano15 and @tigerwood1 for a great day down in Esker Hills. We had such a good time between ourselves and i think we can all say it was a brilliant day out on a brilliant golf course. As alan said, besides me and cianos results, we had a good go that day of just have a good bash at everything. I think the lads ahead and the lads behind were also liking are choices along the way as they were all cheering us on with the drivers for the day. I have to say i was indeed hitting my driver very well, but i was happy enough with my irons aswel its just i couldnt get to term with the greens. Safe to say my short game was not there that day. But i will give a big shoutout to are dear friend Mr @tigerwood1 as he (even though whoever seen it on saturday) came with with a new game plan with his swing which me and ciano where, safe to say, very surprised on how well it actually turned out for him. Great to see him hitting the ball well as we all know he isnt playing as mush as he wants to. Anyways, i hope to see yous all down in portarlington. Thanks again to @Alanm for another great chose in venues

bobster453

Great posts by everybody.

I swear I am going to voice record my shots from now on as I just could not possibly remember anywhere near the level of detail in the posts.Fair play to you all for remembering each shot.

I know i arrived..i played..i went home.

Thats about my level of detail.😂

weapon of grass destruction

Another new course in the book. Mu h thanks to @Alanm and the rest of the committee for organising another cracking event.

I think must of walked every blade of grass, no explaining some of the directions my balls were going in. At one point over the hill on the right of the short par4 that ran along the 7th, my left leg was at the same height as my head trying to hit over the Bush to get back in play ball went straight in the Bush at the top of the hill couldn't find it as I tried to leave I didn't realise there was a thick vine around my leg, I went rolling out of the Bush upside down took a minute to get free. On the 6th I hit the bank and rolled back in, ball completely covered in water, I thought hear comes a worldy I just ended of drowning myself and my left shoe had a puddle in it. I had 2 decent holes where I had birdies other than that I was scrambling all day to muster up a score. However one of the most enjoyable rounds in a while we were laughing most the day admittedly mostly at me but had an absolute cracking day.

I had to the pleasure to play with @VW 1, @spacecoyote and @Macker1.

I've never played with either space or macker before, both were great craic to play with and very easy going and more than willing to help try to locate my wayward teeshots. Not to mention really good golfers. Macker hada slow start with the driver but was killing by the end and his shot on the 1st par3 I though was going in the hole it was tracking the whole way. With Emmet you could see that bar 1 bad teeshot and a couple of misreads on the green he'd of had a mid 40's point score, a couple of putts we all had going one way on they'd go way off the opposite direction they shocked us a couple times.

And Greg and myself are nearly regular playing partners at this stage, always great company to my misery, the chap can spank the white off the ball and he was hitting his irons great got some awful bounces, just the odd misshit but you can see he's not far from putting up some great scores and as usual a great laugh around the golf course.

Big congrats to @bobster453 on a great win around that place. Pretty sure I remember your putter needs to be check for PED'S.

Looking forward to ripping up Portlaoise.

a post punk

Only getting a chance to post now on the day. Had the pleasure of playing with @FixdePitchmark and @Kiith and was really looking forward to the 3 ball as I know they are very good and always like picking up on what other lads are doing different to me…. @Kiith didn’t have his best day that I’ve played with him but hit some massive drives and great irons at times. @FixdePitchmark is a great laugh to go around with because he’s as mad as a brush 😂but a serious golfer and surprised he didn’t score way better on Saturday.
Onto Esker it was probably the most enjoyable course for me this year so far and Definetly a course I will be returning to sooner rather than later.
I loved the way most holes forced you into a layup or had you thinking “Can I hit it that far”!! It definetly was a big advantage having fix with us having played it before because so many shots are blind or well covered at least.
I started by hitting a good tee shot but right and blocked by trees so had to hit sideways and then barely hit my 3rd shot up the hill eventually leading to my first of 3 scratches on the day.
I got back on track fairly quick and ended up having 5 pars and a tap in birdie on 14 which is as good as I have played lately.
The highlight of the course was Hole 14 for me , no view or clue atall from the tee box where the fairway or green is …. Great design ! I hit a lovely rescue to the fairway and an 8 iron which I could not see the green is so high up but I knew I hit it solid and @FixdePitchmark shouted down to say I could not have been closer to an Eagle ….
The only shot I was disappointed with was a 6 iron I hit on 16 after pulling my drive right but in a good spot to get to the green I flushed a 6 out over the fence left of the green outta nowhere a scratch, but still came back to get 6 points in the last 2 holes.
Anyway a great day out overall.
congrats @bobster453 on the win and valuable points for the jug qualification and the rest of the winners on the day.
Talk Soon

a post punk

14th tee shot what a hole !!

blue note

I was told that white rock in the picture is the line. I was lied to.

charlieIRL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122307872#Comment_122307872

it’s the line off the back tees!!

You can actually hit it miles right and ball will roll back down off the hill to the fairway.

FixdePitchmark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122307641#Comment_122307641

Lol - absolutely loved the round - on a few levels . Me and Kiith had a great win in Jug and me and a post punk - go back a good bit at this stage, We are so different - but see something common in the human need for expression in art,

BGS - is nuts , it make no sense on so many levels - but it brings you back so much so often.

Due to a few issues , work, professionally, and family front - have had to step away a bit this year. But, it is a testament to the BGS and the structure around the society, it really makes no odds.

For a while there was a fear that the forum , if it fell - was a real risk to the society - that is real , so fair play to all the great posts about the outing.

Thanks all - a great weekend - a great Captain.

bobster453

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122308124#Comment_122308124

I hit straight over the bank on the left and was in perfect position.Great hole.