10 Years of the SMARTCUP: Reflections, a Lack of Rain, and Unforgettable Golf in Ireland

Ten years ago, the SMARTCUP was born as a way to bring our community together for a bit of friendly competition outside the walls of our clubhouses. A decade later, that tradition reached its highest peak yet: an extraordinary trip traversing the dramatic coastlines, deep bunkers, and wind-swept fairways of Ireland.

To mark this 10-year milestone, we sat down with our founders and team members who made the trip to capture their raw, unfiltered takes on what made the 10th Annual SMARTCUP an unforgettable chapter in SMART Golf & Fitness history.

Golfing in Ireland in Three Words

When you ask golfers to sum up authentic Irish links golf in just three words, you get a quick picture of what makes this terrain so legendary:

“Spectacular! Amazing! Unreal!” – Tommy

“Breathtaking! Humbling. Special” – Joe

“Amazing! Pure. Natural.” – Kyle

“So very beautiful.” – Marissa

Playing over there isn’t just about swinging a club—it’s an absolute battle against nature, where your ball control, trajectory, and mental toughness are tested on every single hole.

The Standout Courses & Surprises

While every course on the roster provided world-class conditions, one venue stood out as the sleeper hit of the week: Ardglass.

“It was the least known course but the views were unbelievable on every hole. When it comes to Ardglass, not many people had heard about it. We put our trust in Lauren from Links Journey, who put the trip together, and it did not disappoint. Every hole had a view of the sea and it was absolutely remarkable from the undulations to the crevasses, and the views on every hole were great. All of the holes were very unique in nature, it was a pure golf experience.” – Tommy

“This is easy, and it would probably be a common answer for everyone on the trip. It would be Ardglass. Obviously, we’ve heard of Royal County Down and Portmarnock. We all showed up to Ardglass with no expectations and from now on, anyone that is going to Northern Ireland, I’m going to make sure that course is on their roster. Literally every single hole was beautiful. When you pull in, you’re not really sure where you are. It’s in a small town, with a small angled parking lot. You see the first hole, which definitely is beautiful but you’re still not sure what to expect. Then you get to the top of it and it just opens up and it was just spectacular.” – Joe

“I knew it was going to be good. I had heard a lot about it, but I did not expect it to be such jaw dropping views from literally every hole.” – Kyle

“The views at Ardglass were not as hyped up as they should of been.” – Marissa

Needless to say, the next time you’re planning a golf trip to Northern Ireland, make sure that Ardglass is on your list for the trip. From the views to the uniqueness of each hole, it won’t leave you disappointed.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention another standout course: Annesley Course at Royal County Down.

“Annesley Course at RCD. I had played the championship before but never the shorter Annesley Course. The routing through the dunes was so cool and the views were even better than the Championship course.” – Nick 

Another surprise of the trip was the weather. Everyone described how lucky they were to have a few great days of dry weather for golfing in Northern Ireland, which is not the norm.

“We got SOOOOOO lucky.  Weather was absolutely perfect–NO rain and minimal wind.  Loved it!” – Tommy

“We got lucky with the weather. Loved it.” – Marissa

“What weather?!” – Cuca

“We were very fortunate to have good weather. This is the third time I’ve been over to Ireland and/or Scotland, and I was very happy to get to play golf over there in the weather we had. I have experienced the classic Irish weather and it’s fun for a little bit, but it was nice to play in some pretty favorable conditions.” – Kyle

“I don’t think there was anything classic about the Irish weather we experienced. Many people on the trip questioned if we were even in Ireland. We completely lucked out. I would say going into a trip like this, you would want some just because that’s the experience, so embracing it is what I was prepared to do. It was beautiful, you could have worn shorts and a collar most of the days. We had one day where it was windy, but we were very very spoiled on this trip with the weather.” – Joe

10 Years of SMARTCUP: A Note From Our Founders

Reflecting on a decade of SMARTCUP history, our founders shared what this trip meant not just for the tournament, but for the business and community as a whole:

“In our first year, we had a group of 16, which is what we’ve had for this trip. We’ve had groups as big as 28, but we’ve been lucky to have 204 people participate over the years. The fact that we’ve visited a different property each year provides a unique opportunity for people to see golf courses that they may never have played or never had heard of. The big ones were on most people’s radar, but we’ve shared a lot of golf courses. I’m just really excited that it made it 10 years. It was an idea that we had early on about how to build the community in the business that we had just started. We spent time with clients in the local area, we spent time with clients in the hitting bay, and plenty of time in the gym, but we wanted to figure out something that would be next level to be able to hang out with them outside of local clubs. The fact that it was a small idea, taking the group up to Northern Michigan and we’ve been able to get more people involved and make it to 10 years is incredible. Anytime that you do anything for 10 years is a major accomplishment, but also the fact that we get different people involved every year. We love when our staff is involved, we’ve had people come that are not even clients that might be friends of clients who have heard great things about SMARTCUP. We’ve had guys come from different parts of the country; New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis. They’ve heard about SMART Golf and the SMARTCUP and have gotten involved. The fact that they can integrate in with the community, enjoy some golf, and get to know people from a different area who are friends of our clients speaks volumes to what we’ve built as well.” – Tommy

“First of all, the fact that you’re doing anything for 10 years, no matter what it is, is pretty incredible! It’s no small feat to get that many people to take time out of their busy schedules, especially when they won’t know everyone on the trip, some of them are strangers. For them to write the check, take the time out of their schedule, leave their family, and come join and participate in a community that we’ve worked so hard to build, we feel nothing but gratitude. Nothing but appreciation. What stands out with this one is that sometimes it can be challenging to get 16 people on a trip, especially going to Ireland. It’s a faraway destination, it costs a lot of money, so the fact that we got 16 participants and it was the same number that we had on our very first one, I thought it made a lot of sense. And the fact that it made it down to the very last putt to determine the winner of this year’s SMARTCUP, which wasn’t me or my team, but I was still very very happy to see it unfold the way that it did.” – Joe

Not to mention that golfing in Northern Ireland is a bucket list trip to many members and golfers, it was an incredible way to make a decade of great competition and golf with the SMARTCUP.

Off-Course Magic & Unsung MVPs

The action didn’t stop on the 18th green. From post-round pints of Guinness, enjoying delicious fish and chips, and the spa to late-night storytelling and team dinners, the off-course camaraderie was the true heart of the trip. Here’s a few other off-course memories worth mentioning.

“Ardglass Sausage Roll. Truly unforgettable. Everyone needs to go to Ardglass for the views, the halfway house, and the best on course food I have ever had.” – Nick

“Getting to know members I haven’t met before or only seen in passing.” – Marissa

“Post-round Guinness, Fish & Chips, and spending time just hanging out with the gang.  Oh, and the spa was clutch!” – Tommy

Every great team needs an anchor, and the Unsung MVP honors go to the teammates who kept morale high through unexpected issues that arise, navigated the team logistics, and stepped up with clutch play right when the match was on the line.

For the winning team, the MVPs that were mentioned were Marissa and Natasha.

“The hands down MVP’s were Marissa and Natasha for our team. They won 7.5 of the 10.5 total points our team accumulated. Natasha would be the unsung MVP coming back from 4 down in her singles match to scratch out a critical halve in her match.” – Tommy

Here’s to 10 incredible years of the SMARTCUP—and to the next decade of pushing our golf games, building community, and taking on the best golf courses in the world together.