He arrived today, at Dublin Airport, with an ambitious - some might say crazy - goal in mind. To play Ireland's Top 30 golf courses over the next three weeks. Wesley Boudreaux isn't stopping there, though, as he's playing plenty of other courses while he's here. In total he will play 42 rounds of golf in 22 days, enjoying the best courses that Irish golf has to offer.Now we all know that the American kamikaze tours are well able to take in 36 holes a day, but not for 22 days straight, and not considering everything else that Wes has planned.
His website bears testament to his ambitions. The scratch golfer is raising money for charity, he's taking photographs and video everywhere he goes, he's blogging, he's writing a book and he's driving a rental car around the entire perimeter of Ireland. Oh, and he'll be driving from The Island to Lough Erne and then back to Dublin so he can attend the Roger Waters - The Wall concert. There's some sightseeing too as well as watching the All Ireland Hurling Final. I'm not sure when he's going to get time to sleep, if he sleeps at all. I imagine he will be one exhausted golfer on the flight home to the USA on Sunday 29th September.
You'll find his full schedule here (scroll down below the map).
He's hoping to sell some of his photographs too, so check out the impressive rig that he's created for his Sun Mountain Micro-Cart (trolley). There's a camera, a video and an extendable pole that can take photos from 15 feet up. He's converted a ball retriever for that purpose. He's got a bigger camera as well, and with some of the stunning Irish vitas he's going to encounter, he'll need a wide, wide lens!
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| Hope the trolley doesn't wander off towards the waters of Adare, Mount Juliet or Lough Erne |
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| Some of the adventurous pants that might give Wes away. |
Keep up to date with how he's doing by visiting his website: 30 Shades of Green and if you want to donate to one of his chosen charities, there's a page for that too.
WOW, Kevin, Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have been back for a bit over a week and I just now saw this. I am sorry I missed you at European Club. I emailed you back, but it must not have gone through.
Well, you were very right about the sleep. I think I averaged 3-4hrs a night for the South leg cause that was the party group. It was tough to get to bed before 2:00 at some times. I underestimated the time constraints and lack of time to even update anything on the website. I did capture great pics of most of the courses including those played in the rain thanks to the rain hood. My guys joining me for the North section had all but guaranteed me that I would be dead tired and limping along with cracked hands and sore feet. I proved them wrong and was still the one pushing for more days of 45 holes on the North. I went into the trip out of shape and I still am thanks to all the Smithwicks and Guinness, but I was surprised even at the ease I moved through it. The longest day was probably the day of Lahinch in the morning rain followed by Doonbeg with rain on the front nine, then a crazy drive through the single lane roads at night toward Ballybunnion before almost running out of gas and finding a station open in Limerick after midnight with 5 kilometers to go in the tank, then getting to The Cashen House around 2:00 and waking up before 6:00 for Ballybunnion in the morning. That was about 18 hours in soaked shoes, and I have a great picture of what that can do to your feet! Another tough day that I just pushed through was my solo day with Royal Dublin in the rain and The Island in the rain. Because I was solo I was able to play Royal Dublin in about 3hrs and The Island in just under 2.5hrs. I did not eat anything that day cause I was a bit feverish and drove up to Lough Erne where I finally passed out and caught up on some sleep! Roger waters was great and I was ready for the North. The North was a different group of guys that were a bit more laid back, but we still had a blast. One long night at Bushmills with some locals was great, but the best was meeting Darren Clarke at Portrush and then eating at Bistro House and being guests of Willie per Darren's recommendation. Ballyliffin was great! Cruit Island was a great surprise most have probably never heard about. Ending at Co Louth was very fitting where I had to complete 18 in the dark and almost closed the trip with an eagle, but I left the putt in the heart of the cup only a foot short!
So, now that I am back and back to the daily grind...I will try my best to sort through the 4000+ pictures, narrow them down, and start posting them on the site; then ultimately look into the book option.
If you have any questions or what to follow up, email me at wgbgolf@gmail.com