June 2-6 will find the Gotham Golf Club taking to the streets of Barcelona ready to sing the Cant del Barça in honor of their championship "football" team. And we will be playing the esteemed PGA Cataluyna!
Monday, May 16, 2011
2011 G.G.C. 4th Annual Golf Tour Has Been Announced!
SPAIN!
June 2-6 will find the Gotham Golf Club taking to the streets of Barcelona ready to sing the Cant del Barça in honor of their championship "football" team. And we will be playing the esteemed PGA Cataluyna!
June 2-6 will find the Gotham Golf Club taking to the streets of Barcelona ready to sing the Cant del Barça in honor of their championship "football" team. And we will be playing the esteemed PGA Cataluyna!
Home Again to Ireland for the 3rd Annual
For the G.G.C.'s return trip to the mother land, impending weddings precluded two of our founders from joining us.
This 3rd Annual was all about family. Mr. Phalen's relations took us into their hearts and homes on both coasts as we anchored our trip in Galway and Dublin. Teeing up in Galway, and then heading north provided the opportunity to play a very political back to back match. Starting with "Low lie the Fields of..." Anthenry Golf Club (a brilliant course, thanks to our great Clare Galway relations), and ending at the stiff, but stupendous Royal County Down in Northern Ireland on the day of PM elections. Add to the mix -- Euros, Pound Sterling, Check-points, and whisky (both Jameson and Bushmills in keeping with diplomatic protocol).
The golf was outstanding. We also played Warrenpoint in Newry where the epitome of Irish hospitality and directions-giving was summed up thusly, "You see that hill? You see that cream-coloured house? The golf course is right beside it!" Naturally, I asked if it was not better to have road directions to which the sweet man replied, "Oh, not a tall! It's well sign-posted!"
This tour ended with a right, proper craic in the home of Mr. Phalen's Dublin relations where the sounds of songs, wooden spoons, guitars, tin whistle, tambourines, and rousing renditions of "Whisky in the Jar," and the "Girl with the Black Velvet Band," filled the evening.
2010 Team
Kevin Phalen
Chris Barnett
Terry Lavin
2010 Team
Kevin Phalen
Chris Barnett
Terry Lavin
2nd Annual...the Birthplace of Golf
Taking a page from William Wallace and having golf shirts that mirrored Scotland's rugby logo, our motto for this trip was from the famous speech in Braveheart, moderated a tad, "But they'll never take our freedom!...or whisky."
It was on this trip that we picked up a new member of the G.G.C., Mr. Barnett, while Mr. Marshall, and Mr. Riordan tended to their lands back at home as it was harvest time for them.
Arriving into the hallowed place that is St. Andrews it was all golf all the time. The hotel Greyfriar was magnificent, and the fact that they kept their bar (which doubled as the hotel front desk) open later for guests was as welcome as a cool glass of Tennents.
Stepping up to the first tee at St. Andrews Old Course was more nerve-wracking than facing a Mariano Rivera fastball at 45 feet and no helmet. But, the time we had was priceless! Though the epic winds precluded Arnold Palmer from finishing his round the day before, and bent the pins to right angles, it was an experience of biblical proportions.
The following day the rain made Carnoustie an even greater challenge, but nothing like playing your golf shot down Hogan's Alley, and then enjoying pints with aged members afterwards who told stories of watching Ben Hogan in his prime...and complaining that Arnold Palmer has yet to visit Carnoustie decades after being awarded an honorary membership.
Edinburgh proved as lively, and fun as any guidebook said it would. Note to those over 40 - head to the piano bar.
2009 Team
Kevin Phalen
Chris Barnett
Terry Lavin
It was on this trip that we picked up a new member of the G.G.C., Mr. Barnett, while Mr. Marshall, and Mr. Riordan tended to their lands back at home as it was harvest time for them.
Arriving into the hallowed place that is St. Andrews it was all golf all the time. The hotel Greyfriar was magnificent, and the fact that they kept their bar (which doubled as the hotel front desk) open later for guests was as welcome as a cool glass of Tennents.
Stepping up to the first tee at St. Andrews Old Course was more nerve-wracking than facing a Mariano Rivera fastball at 45 feet and no helmet. But, the time we had was priceless! Though the epic winds precluded Arnold Palmer from finishing his round the day before, and bent the pins to right angles, it was an experience of biblical proportions.
The following day the rain made Carnoustie an even greater challenge, but nothing like playing your golf shot down Hogan's Alley, and then enjoying pints with aged members afterwards who told stories of watching Ben Hogan in his prime...and complaining that Arnold Palmer has yet to visit Carnoustie decades after being awarded an honorary membership.
Edinburgh proved as lively, and fun as any guidebook said it would. Note to those over 40 - head to the piano bar.
2009 Team
Kevin Phalen
Chris Barnett
Terry Lavin
Maiden Voyage...Going Back Home
Back in 2008 I gathered up some friends to do something special for my 40th birthday. The result was a powerful foursome who hit Ireland in the Spring of 2008. The trip motto was "40 Shades of Green, 40 years of Terry."
It was a spectacular trip that had us playing great courses on the West Coast of Ireland, including the brilliant Lahinch! If there was a down side, it was traveling too much - we planted stakes in a different spot each night which required the packing and unpacking, Jenga-like, in the boot of our Land Rover...gorgeous automobile, the Land Rover, too bad their sideview mirrors are apt to fall off. Damn narrow streets! Our fearsome foursome thoroughly enjoyed the challenging courses, but did the most damage at night in places like Limerick; Birr, Offaly, and Galway City. The night at "Nancy Blake's" in Limerick, and the impromptu strip-tease for a local Hen Party in Galway were particular stand-outs. Perhaps the saying that summed up this 2008 trip was, "I think I bumped my head last night."
2008 Team
Uncle Phil Marshall
Kevin Phalen
Mike Riordan
Terry Lavin
WELCOME!
Gotham Golf Club is theDedicated to playing golf, and exploring the local environs, the Gotham Golf Club serves as great American ambassadors who travel the world chasing, and being chased by, fun. But, always with dignity, respect for the local culture, and a dogged determination to be great and charitable citizens of the world.
The permanent motto of the Gotham Golf Club is the Latin phrase, "Non ventum ut deficio promotum," or "We didn't come here to lay up." Whether a difficult 200 yard approach shot to the green, or exploring everything our host country has to offer, members of the G.G.C. do not lay up, or play it safe.
The G.G.C. Tour
2008 - Ireland
2009 - Scotland
2010 - Ireland
2011 - Spain
Acceptance into the Gotham Golf Club is rigorious, and demanding, and earning membership into the G.G.C. hovers around the same small percentage of those becoming Green Berets, or Skull & Bones members. No application is allowed, you must be tapped in, and voted on unanimously.
Cheers!
Terrence P. Lavin
President
Gotham Golf Club
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