It had been a while since I had played in Europe and half way through the summer I decided I both needed a break and a target.
Thus, early plans to enter the Irish Open Masters.
It was a very complicated summer as I had partially torn my calf in June, was building a house and work was historically busy.
Leading up to the event, I did get a couple weeks of good hitting in but the cardio was lacking.
Worked on that but a couple weeks of ehanced fitness does not create a very sturdy base.
First round was easy enough. Second match was played on the show court and it was disorienting as fuck. I managed to scrape through, 3-1; coming back from 9-4 down in the fourth to end the match.
Semi and final were routine; not comfortable entirely but routine and both 3-0 wins; to win my first Irish Masters Open in the 55+ age group.
The tournament in Dublin is pretty easy logistics wise. Direct flights from Toronto, a quick Air Coach bus ride to the Clayton Hotel Burlington Rd, which is a 5 minute walk to the Fitzwilliam Club (the main club) and a ten minute walk to the Mount Pleasant Club.
Very easy.
Not much in the way of sightseeing, partially because Dublin is not really the prettiest of Euro capitals. However, it also rained – hard pretty much the entire time.
