Some days, life is very good. I am sitting here today looking over the bay of Kinvara in Ireland, sharing a two-week vacation with my fellow pharmacists, Mary Brady, Betsy Klupa, and Mary's sister-in-law, Alice Folan.

We arrived at Shannon to bright sunshine, loaded our station wagon, and joined the traffic on the left side of the road as we headed to beautiful Kinvara. It is a trip we have talked about for years, ever since the Bradys bought this home by the bay 20 years ago.

We spent one day adjusting to the time change, then getting acquainted with the local Internet cafe, enjoying a delicious supper at Keough's Pub, then on to Connolly's pub for the live music and dancing. Today we hit Galway city, increasing the economy with our shopping, then a stop at Galway Bay, not late enough to see the sun go down but beautiful none the less.

No golf clubs on this trip -- maybe when we come again. 'Tis a wonderful journey, altogether.

Meanwhile, back at home, here is the latest from the area golf courses.

Hole In One: Ed Schroeder, a member of Beacon Ridge, scored his third-in-one while playing his home course April 16. He used his 7-iron to cover the 136 yards to the 12th green. His playing partners were Phil Castaldi, John Shaughnessy and Mel Keiffer.

Whispering Woods: The Ladies Golf Association played April 8 in a best nine of 18 contest. Fred Sidders and Lorraine Stanton tied at 27. Mary Curl had 28, and Brenda Kirk and Carole Huber tied at 29.

Couples Golf was played April 10, and the game was two best balls on par-4 and par-5 holes, and three on par-3s. The winning teams were The Pepes and Hamms and the Gaetas and the Hetterichs.

Pinetop: The Pinetop Tournament was played April 8 at Pinewild Country Club, with eight teams participating, and the results were:

Flight 1 -- Gross: Nancy Brooks, Pinehurst, 85. Net: Joan Sponik, Pinehurst, 71; Ginger Lash, Pinewild, 72.

Flight 2 -- Gross: Dave Jadlos, Pinehurst, 85. Net: LaVonne Hurd, Beacon Ridge, 71; Marion Bereznoff, Foxfire, 73.

Flight 3 -- Gross: Ginny Seidler, Foxfire, 91. Net: Marsha Paff, Whispering Pines, 76; Susie Ray, Southern Pines, 78.

Flight 4 -- Gross: Cindy Motter, Pinehurst, 91. Net: Alice Pardy, Whispering Pines, 74; Judy Kullberg, Beacon Ridge, 76.

Flight 5 -- Gross: Bonnie Dingman, Pinehurst, 84. Net: Jean Dix, Pinewild, 71; Kathy Murphy, Southern Pines, 75.

Flight 6 -- Gross: Sue Manley, Foxfire, 93. Net: Grae Starwald, Seven Lakes, 71; Peggy Ballew; Seven Lakes, 73.

Flight 7 -- Gross: Linda Critzer, Pinewild, and Sheryl Robinson, Pinehurst, tied at 99. Net: Carole Smith, Pinewild, 76; Lillie Alexander, Seven Lakes, 77.

Flight 8 -- Gross: Lynn Davison, Pinewild, 99. Net: Marilyn Hogle, Whispering Pines, 74; Eleanor Carraher, Beacon Ridge, 77.

Flight 9 -- Gross: Barb Cumberland, Pinewild, 99. Net: Anne Nueslein, Beacon Ridge, 74; Sandy McDermott, Beacon Ridge and Daryl Pierce, Whispering Pines, 76.

Flight 10 -- Gross: Gail Ruppert, Whispering Pines, and Jan Flesca, Whispering Pines, tied at 98. Net: Nancy Cunningham, Beacon Ridge and Jane Waldemar, Pinewild, 73.

Flight 11 -- Gross: Lou Kenney, Whispering Pines, 104. Net: Pat Easter, Southern Pines, 74; Marilyn Grady, Foxfire and Diane Boston, Seven Lakes, tied at 75.

Flight 12 -- Gross: Barb Campbell, Seven Lakes, 102. Net: Jeanie Auditore, Beacon Ridge, 75; Susan Williamson, Foxfire and Carolyn James, Beacon Ridge, 76.

Flight 13 -- Gross: Ann Peters, Foxfire, Carol Yoeman, Seven Lakes, and Nancy Dorato, Pinehurst, tied at 108. Net: June Hale, Seven Lakes, 71; Ellen Wiese, Pinewild, 79.

Flight 14 -- Gross: Mary Bradbury, Pinehurst, 117. Net: Barbara Tomberlin, Seven Lakes, and Marilyn Holzerland, Beacon Ridge, 79; Rita May Taylor, Southern Pines, 81.

Midland: The Ladies Golf Association played April 10 in a plate day, low net tournament. Winners in the 18-hole division were:

Flight 1 -- Dee Hancock, 68; Lois Vollmer, 70.

Flight 2 -- Carol Linthicum and Jane Klotzbach tied at 68.

Winners in the nine-hole division were:

Flight 1 -- Bev Brauncheidel and Bonnie Colwell tied at 36.

Flight 2 -- Ginny Farrell, 34; Marjorie Heffner, 38.

Flight 3 -- Katie Wilson, 33, and Bernice Hackett, 42.

Lois Vollmer chipped in on No. 6, Jane Klotzbach on No. 7, Dee Hancock on No. 12 and Ginny Farrell and Linda Parke on No. 16. Lois Vollmer birdied holes six and eight.

National: The Men's Day results for April 12 were:

Stableford -- Bill Womble, plus 9; Ray Ogden, plus 5; Sven Tilly, plus 5; John Field, plus 4; and Clair Smith, plus 4.

Individual low gross/low net -- Gross: Bill Womble, 78. Net: Ray Ogden, 67; and Sven Tilly, 68.

Skins -- Clair Smith, four; Giff Fisher and Mike Fiske, two each; John Field, Ray Martin, Philip Bailey and Roger Bailey, one each.

Woodlake: The Niners played a "Mutt and Jeff" contest, counting only holes beginning with T or S, for tall or short.

A flight -- Lois Vaughn, 16; Barb Johnson, 20; Doris Munguia, 23.

B flight -- Roberta Danielson, 19 by a match of cards (MOC) over Joyce Petersen; Margie Spory, 20.

C flight -- Mary Lawrie, 20; Margaret Corbin, 22 by a MOC over Barb Schmidt.

Knollwood: The Sandblasters played a game using two best balls of the foursome, and the winning teams were Rick Stone, Glen Kendall, Mac Andrews and Pete Feeney, 54; Jim Meagher, Jack Henderson, Len Grasso and Rolf Ericson, 55; and Harvey Koonce, Dave Petro, Jim Shoemaker and Carl Arnett, 56.

Dave Petro and Jim Taylor shared low gross honors with 40. Net winners, at 29, were Jim Bernett, Pete Feeney and Dave Petro.

Birdies were recorded Jack Henderson on holes 3 and 5, Tom Bernett and John Mannion on hole 5, and Steve Zachary and Jim Taylor on hole 6.

The Rainmakers played April 14 for the Second Monday Cup, and the winners were:

Flight 1 -- Jo Green, 31; Nancy Jacobs, 32.

Flight 2 -- Sharon Stoeber, 31; Esther Sweeting, 33

Flight 3 -- Mary Moore, 30; Carol Amlot, 34 by a MOC over Jo Ann Hoff.

Renee McClure birdied the first hole.

Pinehurst: The Silver Foils played a 36 circles event April 15 with the following winners: Jean Sundstrom, Lisa Akers, Penny Salley and Judy Lewis, minus 29; Norma Small, Ruth Ertel, Kay Monteith and Sigrid Gross, minus 27; and Ticia Johnson, Nancy See, Ann Nash and Irene Corbin, minus 22.

The Women's Golf Association played in foursomes on ladies' day and recorded the following winners:

Judie Roensch, Pamela Cochran, Patti O'Day and Linda Smythe, 83; Mary Derr, Cookie Kremer, Tricia Johnson and Pat Peterson, 88; Dee Bilodeau, Jean Underwood, M.J. Zinn andEmma Howerton, 89 by a MOC over Diane Ghekas, Billie Oxrieder, Linda Querec and Cathy Renner;

Doris Gwinn, Carole Wright, Glenna Pope and Pauline Roe, 90; Lynne Heilman, Carol Mulcahy, Diane Jones and Charlotte Cable, 92; Tonya Brown, Jackie Meyer, Sandy Edens and Dianne Yelovich, 93 by a MOC over Nellie DeGroot, Susan Kuiken, Diane Moore and Norma Small.

Whispering Pines: The Men's Golf Association played April 16, the format was a mixed scramble team event. The winners were Mac and Debbie McCormick and Tom and Claire Nacca, 42.5; Frank Carrara and Elkie Phillingane with George and Nan Wisnowski, 43.5; Sue Shorten and Pat Lynch with Joe and Sue and Thomas, 44; G and W. Holwald with Tom and Barbara Harp, 44.75.

Foxfire: The 18-Hole Ladies Division played on the West Course in an alternate shot format. The winners were Judy Rankin and Rhea Boelter, 85; Barbara Price and Rita Ward, 88; Sue Manley and Leslie Frusco, 89; and Judy Dickerson and Sue Bachelder, and Brenda Sheldon and Nancy Cauto tied at 90.