With the Open championship taking place at Royal Portrush this week, I have been flashing back to 2019 when Shane Lowry, an Irishman with a plentiful beard, won the British championship and electrified all of Ireland, including Northern Ireland, which had gone through so much conflict.

The “Troubles” lasted almost 30 years but peace and compatibility made that becoming strip of land in County Antrim a fitting host for the 148^th Open championship.

One of the singular thrills of patronizing the annual Open is that it is played in small towns of Great Britain and this venue in Northern Ireland, which will have hosted the grand championship three times by nightfall Sunday.

At Open venues, you can walk down the streets of a village and absorb the warmth and feeling of a community, proud to be the center of the universe for a week.  They are humbled by the experience and grateful for the opportunity to play host for golf’s oldest championship. 

 Interestingly, a 15-minute drive from the center of the town and you find yourself amongst fields of waving grain and countless sheep—scenes which have smitten classic artists through the years.

You are overwhelmed with the way of life, the customs, traditions, and the gratefulness that comes with the enlightenment of travel. I love the museums of Europe, the art and the culture, but there is equal affection that comes with linking up with the local gentry—whether aristocratic or the average bloke in the street known as “Craic,” which is pronounced “crack.”

If you come this way—if you are a golfer—you obviously care to experience a round at Portrush.  You likely want to enjoy dinner at a highly regarded pub and to visit the Giant’s Causeway, the interlocking basalt columns that resulted from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago.

You cannot attain ultimate fulfillment if you do not take a tour of the world’s oldest licensed distillery in the world.  Bushmills Distillery, which dates to 1608 soon after the crowns of England and Scotland were united under James I, just could not be any quainter.  Or more historic; Or more aesthetically inspiring. You simply feel good plying your emotions in that environment.

The town of Bushmills is a little less than seven miles from Portrush.  It receives high marks for its landscape and classic whiskey.  (It is whiskey, with an “e” in Ireland and the U. S., whisky, without an “e,” in Scotland, Canada, and Japan.) 

Naturally, I became well acquainted with beer in college, but with travel, I aspired to become a wine aficionado.  By no means, expert, I was captivated by driving though the little towns and villages of France and Italy, enjoying the best in food and wine.  Hard to beat local wine in those places.

In Northern Ireland, I could not get enough of Bushmills best single malt, “Black Bush,” before dinner and Bailey’s Irish Cream afterwards. With the good fortune of being introduced by my longtime friend, Mike Cheek, to Colum Egan the master distiller and general manager of Bushmills, I had the greatest Open experience in over four decades of annual travel to the great championship.

Colum arranged a tour of the extraordinary distillery on the banks of the Bush River, which included a tasting and private lunch afterwards.  If I had another life to live, I would make sure to spend at least a week in Northern Ireland every summer near Bushmills and the Bush River.

Maybe Colum could arrange for me to fly-fish the leisurely Bush.  With the good fortune of catching an Atlantic salmon, then having it cooked at a local restaurant, would be the ultimate bucket list experience.

Of course, the entire experience would be enriched by the accompaniment of an occasional stimulant in the form of Black Bush.  I know that the influence of Black Bush on my cast would enhance the opportunity for boating my supper.

All the while, the ultimate joy in sunrises and sunsets would be a reminder that the world is better when you enjoy yourself with a sense of appreciation and gratitude for the good things in life.

As the Open Championship plays out this weekend at Portrush, I will be taking in the action via television, while enjoying Black Bush with visions of Colum hosting a tour of the distillery and defining the ingredients and the process for making one of the most popular Irish brands.

Here’s to Bushmills, Black Bush, Colum Egan, Portrush, and the coast of Northern Ireland.  Great people, great places and great whiskey.   You may know that Queen Victoria, who is credited with helping popularize Irish whiskey, was given to starting her day with “a wee dram of Bushmills in her tea.”

If it was good enough for the popular queen, it is good enough for me.  Selah!