It's a bucket list destination for many a golfer, but for Fairways + Greens Publisher Vic Williams, heading to Ireland's wild and golf-rich west coast just shy of his 52nd birthday is more than a dream come true, it's the opening of a new chapter in his 40 years as a golfer and 15 years as the magazine's longest-running principal.

May 7-12, Williams will join more than 100 other golfers at the incredible Doonbeg Lodge and Golf Course for the Great Irish Links Challenge, a three-day tournament that also includes rounds at Ballybunion and Lahinch, two top 100 links layouts perched on the Emerald Isle's most famous golf stretch — County Kerry and County Clare. He'll take part in a media-only tournament within the event, blogging each day between wind-lashed and rain-dappled shots … and between draughts of Guinness.

"I'm ready for any kind of weather Ireland can throw at me," Williams says from his office in Reno, Nev. — a mere 18 hours of travel time away from Shannon Airport, which will lead him to Doonbeg about an hour's drive away. "As long as I can stand upright and not fall off a cliff into the Atlantic, I'm game for an unforgettable trip and a week's worth of links play among new friends."

Owned and operated by the same group that runs Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Doonbeg should be the perfect home base for Fairways + Greens' first in-staff Ireland excursion. The course was designed by Greg Norman and rides hard by the sea among tall dunes, making it — and the stone lodge that rises above its 18th green — seem much older than its 10 years.

Here's a brief video from Doonbeg's website that gives a good overview of the resort's many charms. Not exactly roughing it.

Doonbeg Golf Club

Williams will shot some video and photography of his own and load them here and on the official Fairways + Greens YouTube channel. Stay tuned.