Royal Portrush, site of the 148th British Open July 14-21. Randy King/Courtesy

BALLYCASTLE, Northern Ireland — The weather forecast for our week of golf in Ireland and Northern Ireland is a metaphor for my golf game as well — unsettled.

What the weatherman is saying about meteorology is how I feel about my attempt to play this silly game. I like to say in my current occupation of writing and talking about golf, availing myself of the company of great golfers, that no one has ever done less with good instruction. But hope springs eternal for those of us who hit an occasional good shot and wonder why we can’t do it more often.

Wrapping up day two after a practice round at the spectacularly scenic Ballycastle Golf Club, I thanked playing companion Howie Alexander for a tip that helped me start hitting the ball better and slowly gaining a little confidence.

“Put the clubhead in position where you want it to strike the ball,” Alexander said. “It’s like what Paul Hendrix used to tell me at Briarwood back in the day. ‘When you go to the fair and hit the button with a hammer to win your girlfriend a stuffed animal, you line up that hammer where you want to hit the button.’”

Desperate for something to help me, I latched onto that and began to hit it straighter. All of us were struggling in winds of 20 to 30 miles an hour as we played Ballycastle with its magnificent views of the North Atlantic Ocean. From a back nine perched atop a cliff, one can see Rathlin Island what Robert the Bruce of Scotland would flee to avoid the English and in the distance you can see the outward islands of Scotland. It is a breathtaking vista and reminds you to not get too twisted up about a sorry golf shot. Making the trek up the hill on the par 3 10th at Ballycastle was made much easier by our good fortune of securing the treasured “power trolleys” perhaps better described as self propelled walking golf carts that make it seem as if you have a silent caddy carrying your clubs.

Randy King of Texarkana and Tyler’s George Rowe also expressed frustration with their golf games and were searching for solutions.

“I’ve used up every swing thought I have,” King said. “I think I will go back to start and go through them again.”

King is still very long off the tee which makes him the envy of our senior golfing crowd. On the short par-4 fifth hole at Ballycastle, about 280 yards downwind, King airmailed the green and had to take a drop. Later he hit a 3-iron to find the fairway on the ninth and the rest of us agreed that we haven’t used a 3-iron in years, since the advent of the hybrids.

Rowe has a sweet swing that is mindful of tour players and was more scientific in his methods to achieve better ball striking. He had his swing filmed prior to the round and looked at it afterwards to find a better way. His filming took place at the practice net at Ballycastle. Restricted by land constraints like a lot of courses in the British Isles, the club has a mat and net near the first tee in lieu of a practice range.

After the round, we enjoyed a pleasant chat with Ballycastle’s head golf professional Damien McEvoy, who possesses a winsome personality and clever humor.

“Just speak into it and say go,” McEvoy told Alexander as he explained the way to use the electric trolley. Alexander went along with the joke and later struggled mightily with his new machine as it toppled over on two occasions.

McEvoy enlightened us about the lead-up to the first British Open in Northern Ireland since 1951 when the world’s greatest players tee it up at Royal Portrush just down the road.

“It will be one of the most successful venues ever with ticket sales exceeding most expectations,” McEvoy said. “They will be bussing most people in from Coleraine nearby like they did for the Irish Open last year at Ballyliffin.”

We play Ballyliffin on Tuesday and ended our Sunday practice day by attending a reception for the players in the Causeway Coast Amateur at Royal Portrush. Before hearing remarks by tournament director David LaMont, King and I strolled out to see the 18th hole surrounded by giant grandstands. It is the 148th playing of the oldest tournament in golf and will surely be memorable since Portrush is such an amazing links course.

Walking the course amid the immense infrastructure still being completed was kind of like looking behind the curtain of a major sporting event. The evening air was damp and cool and most experts think the weather will determine the scoring. The touring pros are so good that they will shoot customary low scores if the weather is pleasant but could be closer to par if the wind blows. One thing for sure, errant shots will be punished since the thick grasses or hay as we like to call it seems especially lush this year.

Then we toured the clubhouse, primarily the foyer and locker room with photos of all of the golf greats like Arnold Palmer and Seve Ballesteros and, of course, local heroes Darren Clarke, winner of the 2010 British Open, and Rory McIlroy, who has won his Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool.

McIlroy owns the course record at Royal Portrush with a ridiculously good 61 when he was still a junior player. Carrying a plus 4 handicap, McIlroy still won that event with a net 65. His scorecard for that round is displayed in the foyer.

Having won The Players Championships earlier this year, McIlroy would seem the likely favorite to win in July at Portrush but he just recently missed the cut at The Memorial and seems a bit of enigma in that he is still enormously talented but not the dominant player some would think he should be. Such is the fickle nature of golf, even at the highest level.

Much of the television background footage for the tournament will show nearby Dunluce Castle which is a 500-year-old relic with half remaining atop the cliff and the other half presumed to have fallen into the ocean.

Just more proof that things can be a bit unsettled in Ireland.