Golf Living Summer 2006
© Dale Leatherman 2006
Ireland’s northeastern counties are known for great golf, great horses and . . . great craic. The Gaelic word is pronounced “crack,” so don’t try this at home. But in Ireland craic says it all.
After a round of golf, a day at the races or a ride cross country on a fine Irish steed, tell your host it was “great craic” and you’ll earn a smile, a slap on the back and probably an invitation to have a pint of Guinness at the local pub. Craic is a bit of slang that evades translation into English, but if you combine “fun,” “extraordinary,” and “cool,” you’ll come close.
Because of the Ryder Cup in September, the golf spotlight has been on the K Club in County Kildare. Unfortunately, the Cup frenzy may cause many visitors to miss the “Augusta of Europe,” a parkland course that rivals the American icon in beauty and nuance. It’s Druids Glen, 40 minutes north of the K Club, 20 minutes south of Dublin.
From its opening in 1995 through 1999, Druid’s Glen hosted the Irish Open. Many European players and officials called it one of the best stops on their Tour. Colin Montgomery, who won the Open twice, said the Glen’s thirteenth was the hardest hole on the Tour. In a word, the course is craic.
The Marriott Druids Glen Hotel & Country Club lies in the heart of County Wicklow, the “Garden of Ireland,” on 400 acres between the Wicklow Mountains and the Irish Sea. Fanciful as its seems, the name is not something conjured up by marketing folk. I realize that as I’m standing in the woods just off the 12th green, with the hairs rising on the back of my neck.
During construction of this hole, workers uncovered a stone altar used by the Druids, priests of an ancient Celtic society predating Christianity. The Druids had a great reverence for nature, and their shrines were always within a grove of trees such as this. Some say they made human sacrifices on these altars, but no one knows for sure. To drive home the point, the resort erected a statue of a Druid overlooking the shrine. Spooky, but craic.
If you glance over your shoulder from the 12th green, you’ll see that plantings on the front of the elevated tee boxes form a Celtic Cross. According to legend, St. Patrick carved a Latin cross over an ancient standing stone inscribed with a circle symbolic of the moon goddess. This politically correct action apparently eased the so-called heathens’ transition to Christianity and became the first Celtic Cross. When you stand on the 12th tee facing a 175-yard carry over water to the tiny green, you’d better believe in something. . . .
Contact me to read the entire story or to discuss second rights or a rewrite. daleatherman@cs.com