St. Patrick's Day special: A few good reasons to tee it up in Ireland this year

Who doesn’t love St. Patrick’s Day?

The excuse to skip work in favor of green beer. The positive vibes with spring in the air. The NCAA Tournament. It’s just an all-around great day. To celebrate all things Irish, here’s a few good reasons to schedule a golf trip to Ireland in 2010:

* It’s cheap. OK, it’s not cheap. You caught me in a little white lie. But it is CHEAPER than recent years. The Irish economy is hurting worse than ours. Courses and hotels are offering up ridiculous rates to entice visitors.

* The collection of links courses is the best in the world. I just can’t pick a favorite. I’m smitten with all of them I’ve seen so far … Lahinch, Doonbeg, Enniscrone, Ballyliffin, County Louth, Royal Portrush, Royal County Down. Ah the memories are still fresh.

* The forecast is never as bad as its sounds. I’ve been to Ireland many times and never had a round rained out. Maybe I’m jinxed for next time, but don’t let the tales of terrible weather scary you away.

* It seems like every day is St. Patrick’s Day over there. The beer is always flowing in the pubs. And so are the smiles. The Irish are the most funny-loving bunch in the world. They have to be so optomistic to survive all those gray days.

* The Irish roads can be frightfully narrow, but they are drivable. If I can handle them in my first attempt at driving on the wrong side of the road, you can too.

* The Irish coastline is rugged, bold and beautiful. The Cliffs of Moher in the southeast of Ireland and the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland just might leave you speechless.

* And finally, most important of all, the Guinness is MUCH better over there. It goes down like water.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!