Britain & Ireland

Ireland

Donegal

In the past, golfers visiting Rosapenna might have wondered about the giant sand scrapes and barely visible outlines of fairways on a rugged piece of land that lies immediately to the south of the Old Tom Morris and Sandy Hills layouts.

This was actually the remnants of a 36-hole facility developed by the Walsh family of Carrigart in the early 1990s, with the Maheramagorgan Links designed by Eddie Hackett and the Trá Mór Links laid out by Royal County Down assistant professional Joanne O’Haire.

Early in the new millennium, Martin Hawtree was called in to suggest course improvements but his modifications were hardly in play before it was announced in late 2005 that both courses would be redesigned by Nicklaus Design as part of a €60 million project, involving the construction of a 5-star hotel and spa, up to two hundred luxury apartments, and a number of retail units. Work actually started on the golfing element of the development but the global financial recession of 2008 brought work on site to a grinding halt.

The Casey family at the Rosapenna Golf Resort then stepped in to purchase the property in late 2012 and they quickly entered into discussions with Tom Doak of Renaissance Golf Design, who convinced the new owners to build one new 18-hole course on the links land that previously housed thirty-six holes.

Doak’s plan was to fashion one spectacular course instead of two mediocre layouts, using the best of the 300-plus acres for his first 18-hole design in Ireland. Not only that, he helped the Caseys source funding for the project, becoming a part-owner himself.

Construction of the new St Patrick’s began in April 2018, with Doak’s lead associate Eric Iverson working alongside Clyde Johnson and Angela Moser to complete the build during 2020.

The final piece of the jigsaw was put in place when head greenkeeper George Helly – who previously worked at Bandon Dunes and Tara Iti – was brought in to look after the grow-in leading up to the official opening in June 2021.

Rosapenna (St Patrick's)

Construction of the new St Patrick’s links at Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort began in April 2018, with Tom Doak’s lead associate Eric Everson working alongside Clyde Johnson and Angela Moser to complete the build during 2020.

The pretty fishing village of Downings lies on the edge of Sheep Haven Bay in the north of County Donegal. Donegal is rapidly becoming one of Ireland's best golfing destinations and the secluded Rosapenna is where the old meets the new.

Golf at Rosapenna dates back to 1891, when Old Tom Morris set out the original holes on the Old Tom Morris course; running round the hotel, up onto the hill between the hotel and Mulroy Bay, then back into the valley that lies between the dunes and the beach. Harry Vardon upgraded this layout in 1906, then James Braid is said to have made design suggestions on his visits before Harry Colt created five new holes between 1911 and 1916.

After Frank and Hilary Casey purchased the property in the early 1980s, they called in Eddie Hackett to revitalize the golfing set-up at the hotel and he designed eight extra holes in the dunes to replace those running round the hill. Pat Ruddy then takes up the story in his book 

Beyond His Lordship’s Wildest Dream: Rosapenna

“Eddie was inevitably slowing down in the few years before his death in 1996 and his planned new holes were just edging into play when I was invited to visit and everything changed. The Sandy Hills links was conceived and it became clear to me that nine lovely old-fashioned links holes could be fitted into the low dunes between it and the road to make the Old Tom Links play on sand all the way. All but snatches of Eddie’s work was abandoned. Instead, there would be twenty-seven new holes!”


Sandy Hills quietly opened for play in June 2003 and slowly, but surely, the golfing world began to recognise that this course is special. Old Tom chose to route the Old course alongside the dunes, but Pat Ruddy had different ideas – he decided to carve straight through them and this is presumably how the name Sandy Hills came into being. Right from the off, you are in a lunar landscape, among gigantic dunes. Going over and through the dunes provides a platform to drink in the stunning views across the Old course to Sheep Haven Bay beyond.


Measuring 7,183 yards from the back tees and with the par set at 72, Sandy Hills will test the very best. Each and every hole has precise definition with the hummocking fairways framed by the dunes, so the immense challenge is always clearly visible from the tees. Whatever you do, don't stray too far offline, otherwise you'll be lucky to find your ball in the dunes. And make sure that your approach shots are accurate too, because the greens are invariably cut into the dunes or sited on elevated plateaux.

Rosapenna was worthy of a visit just to play the Old course, but Pat Ruddy has improved on that too, by remodelling the back nine. They’ve called the new-look course the ‘Old Tom Morris Links’ after its eminent original designer and it opened for play in September 2009. But it's the Sandy Hills course that everyone is talking about and there's only one way to find out how good it really is.

American architect Beau Welling – who renovated the Quinta do Lago (North) course to great critical acclaim in 2014 – has recently been involved in “softening” the Sandy Hills course a little bit. The first hole is now a sensible par five (instead of a murderous long par four opener) with a penal bunker removed from the front of the green. Similar bunker removals have also taken place on holes 4, 9 and 13, allowing ground game approach shots to reach the green.

New fairway bunkers have been installed at holes 1, 5 and 8 whilst, on the back nine, the right doglegged par five 13th has had a new green installed, along with three new bunkers down the left side of the fairway. Completing the renovation, the reshaped home green is now angled at 45 degrees to the line of play, with shaggy mounds installed at the back to shield the 18th green from the car park.

The severity of the green contours on holes 10, 12 and 16 still give some cause for concern so it appears that they’re next in line for some remedial work in the near future. It’s always good to see new golf courses evolve in their early years as owners react to constructive criticism and Sandy Hills is certainly no exception to that process.

Rosapenna (Sandy Hills)

Rosapenna's fabulous new Sandy Hills golf course was designed by Pat Ruddy and opened for play in July 2003.

Ballyliffin is Ireland’s most northerly golf club, located off Tullagh Point on the Atlantic edge of the Inishowen Peninsula. It’s difficult to pin a date on the earliest origins of the game of golf at Ballyliffin, but it is clear that the Ballyliffin Golf Club was founded in 1947. The Glashedy links is, however, much, much younger.

Ballyliffin: Golf’s Great Twin Miracles 

, the author writes about how the Glashedy came to be built: “In 1992, Ballyliffin came back into my life with a telephone call from the club asking whether I would be interested in looking at their links with a view to improving the bunkering and perhaps suggest some other possible improvements.

My late pal and partner Tom Cradock and I would visit them within a few weeks. When we got to Ballyliffin and I saw that the club had almost 400 acres of beautiful dunesland it was my turn to swoon. What a great place. What a great opportunity to build another great golf links. But we had to move fast because of upcoming restrictive planning laws.

‘Forget about bunkering the links you have,’ I urged, ‘let’s build a world beating second links. We can get back to bunkering your existing links later.’ Timing is everything in this life. I had just opened my own links at The European Club at Brittas Bay and I had learned a great deal in the process and not just about growing grass on sand.

I had learned how to qualify for a government grant. I knew that environmental labels were being placed on linksland and that the planning laws were about to be changed and make the creation of new golf links almost impossible. The Ballyliffin men listened as I told them to get to Dublin and see how, at that very moment, red lines were being drawn around their land by conservationists.

They got active politically. They got the best consultancy advice. They formed a company. They went at it and got a grant of £315,000 which was a huge sum of money at that time and it was a massive boost to a club which had never gained any type of grant previously! Now the game was on. Nothing could stop the inevitable now.”

Work started in spring 1993, and after significant earth-moving, the Glashedy links (pronounced Glasheedy) – named after the Glashedy Rock, Ballyliffin’s equivalent of Turnberry’s Ailsa Craig – opened for play in the summer of 1995, to much acclaim.

Pat Ruddy returned over two winters in 2012-13 to oversee the revetting of all the bunkers on the Glashedy. This work was done in-house, led by head greenkeeper Andy Robertson, who joined the club from Sunningdale in 1998.

Ballyliffin is often described as “the Ballybunion of the North” or “the Dornoch of Ireland” and the reason is simple; all the aforementioned are set amidst towering natural sand dunes. This youngster is no exception, except that the Glashedy links has been flattened out, ensuring that the fairways are relatively even and capable of hosting a championship... there's a parallel here to the fairways of Royal Birkdale.

The Glashedy routing is intertwined with the Old course, the holes weaving their way through the wild dunes. It’s a supremely challenging golf course which stretches out more than 7,200 yards, with nine brutal par fours in excess of 400 yards. You really do need to be on top of your game to play to handicap. The huge greens, with some frightening undulations, are well protected by bunkers; three putting can be alarmingly frequent.

The Glashedy links is certainly good enough and long enough to hold important championships and already it has hosted the North West of Ireland Open. It would be fascinating on a windy day to watch the very best professionals stretched to their absolute limit on this wild and challenging links course. Surely the Glashedy links must be a contender for a future Irish Open Championship.

Pat Ruddy provided the following update at the start of 2017: "Upgrade work has been carried out on the Glashedy course, where a bid to host the Irish Open is in the offing. New additions include championship tees (adding 40 yards and slightly angled lines) on the 2nd and 9th holes and new fairway bunkers on the left of the 1st and 3rd."

On the final Sunday of the 2017 Irish Open at Portstewart Golf Club it was announced that Ballyliffin's Glashedy course would stage the 2018 Irish Open, which Scotland's Russell Knox won after beating New Zealand's Ryan Fox in a play-off.

Ballyliffin (Glashedy)

Ballyliffin Golf Club is often described as “the Ballybunion of the North” or “the Dornoch of Ireland” and the reason is simple; all the aforementioned are set amidst towering natural sand dunes.

If you want to play really simple, old-fashioned, unpretentious links golf then you often have to stray a little off the beaten track to island courses like the Machrie on Islay or Shiskine on Arran. Narin and Portnoo is not quite as remote as those two famous Scottish courses but only just. Tucked away in the southwest corner of County Donegal, the Narin and Portnoo links deserves to be bracketed with one or two other natural, unspoilt courses that really should be given greater recognition.

The club was formed in 1930 and they played on a 9-hole layout for thirty-five years until it was extended to its current 18-hole size in 1965. The first green keeper, Jim McCole, held the post for over forty years, from 1934 to 1977 – it’s hearing about people like him that provide a flavour of what clubs like Narin and Portnoo are all about.

At the start of the new millennium, the club rearranged the course – at one point there were consecutive par fives played between the 13th and 15th – and the clubhouse was rebuilt, opening in June 2008. It’s true to say that Narin & Portnoo lost its way around this time but a change in ownership saw a monumental reversal in fortunes for the club.

Ten years later, Gil Hanse and his design partner Jim Wagner were commissioned to redesign the course. “Golfers will be blown away by the natural beauty, interest and quirk that the property offers,” said Wagner. “The new combination of golf holes and greens locations will add challenge and stunning visuals associated with the property.”

Improvements include a new green at the 1st, to the left of the original, a lake which has been taken out of play on the 2nd, with the 3rd and 4th combined to form a new par five. The old 8th is now the new 7th with a blind shot to a new green and two new par threes have also been created on the back nine at the 11th and 15th. The preposterous trio of par fives has also been removed though the round does conclude with a demanding three-shotter that double doglegs around sand hills from the tee to the home green.

Narin & Portnoo

Tucked away in the southwest corner of Donegal, Narin and Portnoo Golf Club is a links that deserves to be bracketed with many other natural, unspoilt courses that should be given greater recognition.

Ballyliffin is Ireland’s most northerly golf club, located off Tullagh Point on the Atlantic edge of the Inishowen Peninsula. The location is divine; the course hugs the shoreline overlooking the golden beach of Pollan Strand and Glashedy Rock (Ballyliffin’s equivalent of Turnberry’s Ailsa Craig).

It’s difficult to pin a date on the earliest origins of the game of golf at Ballyliffin, though it is clear that the Ballyliffin Golf Club was founded in 1947. The Old course originally started out in life as a very ordinary nine-hole course and the club progressed very slowly, often struggling financially. In the late 1960s, Martin Hopkins, a local agricultural advisor, identified a prime stretch of links land nearby, ideal for golf. Eddie Hackett, Charles Lawrie and Frank Pennink were engaged in shaping the new links course and in 1973, the brand new “Old” course opened for play.

The Old is a classic links, with fairways that pitch and roll through wild dunes. This is links golf at its most traditional, where the perfect drive will often find an awkward lie. If you are afflicted with a lack of balance, you will struggle, because you’ll rarely get a flat stance.

For about 20 years, the Old course remained well and truly outside of the limelight. Only those in the know, and Ballyliffin’s lucky members, knew the secret. Then, in June 1993, a helicopter dropped out of the blue sky and landed next to the clubhouse with the world number one on board. After a quick thrash around the Old course, Nick Faldo was spellbound, falling under Ballyliffin’s trance. “One of the most natural courses I have ever played,” he commented. And from that point onwards, Ballyliffin came of age.

, the author details changes that were made to the Old course when the Glashedy was built: “We did not make any changes to holes 1-6 but we created a new par-3 7th and a new par-4 8th to allow the old par-3 9th, which ran alongside the car park, to be eliminated. On the back-nine we had nothing to do with holes 10-12, 17 and 18. But we made a lot of improvements besides.

We created a glorious entirely new par-4 13th running up a valley that had been an unused flood plain. The old 13th [now the 14th] played from a tee near the now 12th tee on Glashedy links and we realigned the first half of the fairway onto higher ground. We regretted having to eliminate the old par-4 14th… we compensated by creating a smashing new 15th which is a downhill dog-leg right to a really exciting green. Our final input on the Old Links was an even more important one at hole 16 which was a problem hole at the time... the hole now has much more variety and many more playing options”.

Ironically, the renovation work that Pat Ruddy had originally been brought in for (before a decision was made to build a second course) was assigned to the Faldo Design team in 2004, when they added new revetted bunkers and new ‘Faldo’ tees, in addition to enlarging a couple of greens.

There are many memorable holes on the Old course, but the 190-yard par three 5th, called “The Tank”, will stick in the mind for a very long time. It’s an intimidating tee shot to an elevated plateau, almost stage-like green that is surrounded by dunes.

Ballyliffin’s new Glashedy course has recently upstaged the Old, but don’t make a trip to County Donegal without playing it. Both courses contrast and complement each other supremely well. But for the true links purist, the Old course is the one.

Ballyliffin (Old)

The Old course at Ballyliffin Golf Club is a classic links, with fairways that pitch and roll through wild dunes. This is links golf at its most traditional, where the perfect drive will often find an awkward lie.

The Murvagh peninsula jutting out into Donegal Bay is the home of Donegal Golf Club. It’s an enchanting and isolated setting for a big links course. The panoramic view across the bay is sensational, with the Bluestack Mountains providing a dramatic backdrop.

The prolific architect, Eddie Hackett, laid out the course in 1973 and Murvagh is considered to be one of his finest creations. Hackett was given a naturally rugged and crumpled piece of links land to play with and he used it well to produce a monster championship-length layout. Thanks to Pat Ruddy, Donegal now measures a mighty 7,450 yards from the back tees and we recommend that they be left well alone for the pros or for the very low single figure handicappers.

Donegal’s layout is configured in two elongated loops of nine holes. The front nine runs anticlockwise and the back nine runs clockwise, sitting inside the outward nine. The first four holes are fairly ordinary, feeling inland in character, and then at the 185-yard par three 5th, we enter dune country. This one shot hole, called “Valley of Tears”, is a brute. A semi-blind tee shot to a narrow plateau green, we must make sure that we select the right club to traverse the valley and the bunkers in front of and below the raised green. The next three holes are stunning where the fairways rollercoaster up and down, flanked by huge shaggy sand dunes. At the turn, we are faced with a thrilling back nine, including the 12th, a monster par five, and the sadistic par three 16th, measuring nigh on 250 yards from the back tees.

There is no doubt that Donegal at Murvagh is a very challenging links course and it should be up at the top of the must-play list for any serious golfer.

Around 1992, Pat Ruddy was commissioned to update the original Eddie Hackett-designed layout here at Donegal Golf Club and the work spanned a number of years. Pat has kindly provided the following update for us:

"Hole 1… a totally new green running across the inward shot rather than with it. This to lay a premium on the club chosen coming in (good to do at a par-5)... and then I sculpted a front bunker into a dip at mid-point with pin levels left and right sweeping down into it.

Hole 2… new fairway bunkers at left pinch the tee-shot a little and bring the natural out-of-bounds on the right into play for those seeking to get closer to the green. The green itself is totally new… raised by 2-feet or so at the front and 5-feet or so at the back thus allowing for deep bunkering front and sides. The green is angled right to left to reward those who take-on the boundary off the tee.

Hole 4… totally new tees, fairway with bunkers and a new green running left to right with bunkering at front right. All arranged to give strong golf images off the tee, the old set up was a wee bit blind, and it is a vastly improved hole.

Hole 5… new tees to add length and offer differing angles on a classical par-3 to a shelf green.

Hole 9… a totally new green (the first job I did there) and fairway bunkering. The green was moved back and to the right to tease the tee-shot and allow bunkering to impinge on the approach.

Hole 10… new championship tees.

Hole 12… a new green with stronger bunkering; newly conformed fairway with strong bunkering for the tee-shot; and the approach to the green rumpled and bunkered.

Hole 13… another brand new green slightly raised to provide for run-off chip areas and for deeper bunkers.

Hole 14… bunkering for the tee shot and fairway elevation changes to slow the drive, a lovely (if I say so myself) meandering stream brought into play in horse-shoe shape in front of the green (inviting golfers to gamble into the horseshoe if they really think that one club less for the third is all-important at this par-5 and a totally new green raised, tiered and bunkered.

Hole 16… bunkered the green at this par-3.

Hole 18… cut a V-valley through the hill to remove blindness off the tee; shaped and bunkered the fairway; and provided a lovely gallery green with very nice bunkering just under the clubhouse windows.

That makes 11 holes heavily revised, refurbished and modernised. It is a remarkably different and better links than before but the analysts seem slow to realise what has happened as the club is not of the boastful type and hasn't broadcast the good news as others might. It was already one of Ireland’s finest but now I feel it is into a brave new place and I fancy that Eddie Hackett would be pleased enough with his co-designer!"

At the start of 2017, Pat Ruddy sent this:

At Donegal, the 17th has been modified and revisions made to the par three 16th, which was a very difficult hole for club players with a minimum measurement of 203 metres. The championship tee remains intact but new member tees have been constructed forward and to the right (to give a lovely new angle) at 160, 165 and 170 metres, with a new greenside bunker on the left balancing the removal of force with a little intrigue and skill.

The club has hosted a number of provincial and national tournaments down the years. In addition to our featured Irish Women's Close championship, Donegal has staged theIrish Men's Close championship, the Irish Senior Amateur Open, the Ulster Boys' AmateurOpen and the All-Ireland Finals of Cups and Shields.

The Murvagh peninsula jutting out into Donegal Bay is the home of Donegal Golf Club. It’s an enchanting and isolated setting for a big links course.

The Northwest of Ireland is becoming notorious for its golf; most golfers used to ignore County Donegal in their quest to play the more famous courses around Belfast in the north and Kerry in the south. Those in the know now realise that there is quality golf at a sensible price here in Donegal.

The Portsalon golf course runs along the beautiful sandy shores of Ballymastoker Bay, stretching for two miles towards where the mouth of the deep blue Lough Swilly meets the Atlantic Ocean. The beach boasts the EC Blue Flag award for its cleanliness. The Lough is trapped, to the east by the hills of the Inishowen peninsula, and to the west by the Knockalla Mountains. We are on the Fanad peninsula, territory of the ancient MacSwiney clan.

Opened for play in 1891, Portsalon Golf Club is certainly established and it was one of the nine founder members of the Golfing Union of Ireland, along with Aughnacloy, Ballycastle, Buncrana, County Down, County Club Portrush, Dungannon, Killymoon and Royal Belfast.

, this stunning links layout was originally designed by the professional at the then titled County Club at Portrush, Charles Thompson and Bernard Darwin considered Portsalon to be “a thoroughly entertaining course”.

However, Portsalon struggled to survive until the members stepped in and bought it mid-1980s. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength and, in 2000, Pat Ruddy remodelled the course, leaving only five original holes unchanged. Nine new holes were introduced and four others were altered significantly, culminating in Portsalon’s yardage stretching from just under 6,000 yards to a challenging 7,000-plus yards.

This is an exhilarating golf course situated in a stunning location with most of the holes weaving their way between sand dunes. The seawater Lough Swilly is often in full view. It’s unpretentious, golf au natural here at Portsalon. The 2nd hole is fantastic, one of the best in Ireland. Winding its way along the Lough, the views are simply breathtaking.

If you are lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the rare European Rock Dove that has made the coastline of the Fanad peninsular its home.

Portsalon

Portsalon Golf Club is an exhilarating golf course, situated in a stunning location with most of the holes weaving their way between sand dunes.

Old Tom Morris, whilst visiting Lord Leitrim on his estate in 1891, is credited with the original design of Rosapenna's Old course. The original 18-hole Old Tom Morris course started on some raised land between the clubhouse and the hotel. Nine holes then ran along the low lying area beside Tramore beach before the remaining fairways ran away from the coastline, across the road, up and around a nearby hill, tumbling down again to the start.

Within a short space of time, Rosapenna was the place to be seen playing, as evidenced by a photo from 1896 of George Duncan, Sandy Herd, Tom Ball and Harry Vardon relaxing on the lawns outside the hotel. Vardon returned a decade later to upgrade the course and James Braid is said to have suggested improvements, though there’s no documentary evidence of this.

Ballyliffin: Golf’s Great Twin Miracles

, the author states: “it was not long until Rosapenna was the subject of more far-reaching design changes as the great Harry Colt was called in about 1911 and was actively involved up to about 1916 and his works were so dramatic that they involved the installation of a narrow railway line to import loam and other materials up the Old Tom valley where he is credited with having created holes twelve, thirteen fourteen, fifteen and sixteen per the hole numbers in 2012.”

In June 2005, nine new holes opened for play, laid out by Pat Ruddy from the European Club. These were carved through the low-lying dunes adjacent to the Sandy Hills course and became known as the “Strand Nine”. Reaching for perfection, the club closed the Strand nine at the end of 2006 for extensive greensite restoration and bunker additions. Shaper Eric Iverson from Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design Company undertook this work and, in September of 2009, the nine holes reopened and the order of holes was re-sequenced.

The opening hole and the last eight holes of the original Old Tom Morris course were removed to form a new “Coastguard Nine” and the newly restored “Strand Nine” was introduced to create the front nine, with the original Old Tom “Valley Nine” (holes 2 to 10) re-sequenced as the back nine, which finishes in front of the Rosapenna Pavilion.

In essence, Rosapenna now has a restored Old course where the modern Strand holes complement the original Old Tom Morris Valley holes in a layout that’s a blend of old-fashioned and contemporary, where design from the late 19th century spans more than a hundred years to meet the brave new modern golf world.

Rosapenna (Old Tom Morris)

In September of 2009, Rosapenna's Old Tom Morris golf course reopened after a major facelift where design from the late 19th century spans more than a hundred years to meet the brave new modern golf world.

Cruit Island is considered by some to be one of the best 9-hole golf courses in the world. It is certainly one of 

 most scenic courses in Ireland. Overlooking Arranmore and Owey Islands and with Mount Errigal as a backdrop, Cruit (pronounced Crutch) is located near Kincasslagh in The Rosses, County Donegal. Tucked away in this north west corner of County Donegal, this is about as far off the beaten track as you can get when searching for a “hidden gem” course.

And yet, incredible as it might seem, Donegal International Airport is just a few miles away at Carrickfinn, allowing visitors from the UK to fly directly to the remote west of Donegal, avoiding the less than perfect road system!

The nine holes of Cruit Island were only created in 1986 (by Michael Doherty, the professional at City of Derry Golf Club) but they feel like they have been in play for many years more with their wild and windswept look. The views from the cliff tops are simply stunning and the sound of the sea is ever present as the Atlantic crashes in relentlessly on the rocks below – this is raw, elemental golf from a bygone era played in a new century.

The land for the course was originally leased from Dr. Seamus Hegarty, Bishop of Raphoe and was subsequently passed on to the current landlord, Paddy Forker. A very comfortable clubhouse was built soon after the course was first opened and this has served both the members and the growing number of golfing cognoscenti who make their way to play the course as its reputation widens.

The club is proud of their claim to being one of the first clubs in Ireland to offer full membership to ladies. In fact, they went one better by becoming the first Irish club to have a lady as President when Eileen Oglesby was elected to the position in 1994.

Cruit Island is 2,809 yards long with seven par fours and two par threes, one of which, the 150-yard 6th, is the spectacular signature hole, played along the cliff edge. The first two holes are stiff openers, both measuring over four hundred yards in length and the other par three is no pushover at 213 yards.

Mention must also be made of two golf competitions involving two of the area’s most favoured sons – Packie Bonner, the ex-Celtic and Ireland goalkeeper has an Open in July and Daniel O’Donnell, the popular Irish singer, hosts another Open in August. Cruit Island is well worth the visit, whether you choose to participate in either of these Opens, or just turn up on a day when you’re looking to play golf for fun.

Cruit Island

Cruit Island Golf Club is considered by some to be one of the best 9-hole golf courses in the world. It is certainly one of the most scenic courses in Ireland.

The small town of Dunfanaghy sits on the western shores of Sheephaven Bay in northern County Donegal and the golf course is set on a narrow strip of land between Dunfanaghy and Portnablagh, where six-time Open champion Harry Vardon is said to have laid out the fairways for club members.

The golf club was founded in 1906 and affiliated to the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1920. According to Dunfanaghy’s centenary book, British soldiers stationed in nearby barracks may have played golf in the area as far back as 1740. The book also mentions the existence of a course connected to the Stewart Arms Hotel in 1886.

Vardon returned to Donegal in June of 1910 but the purpose of this visit was to take part in an exhibition match at Rosapenna involving John Ball Jnr, George Duncan and Sandy Herd. It’s thought he may have revisited Dunfanaghy at that time, or maybe even later in 1927 when he re-designed the course at Bundoran.

Dunfanaghy appears to be rather flat at first sight but the ground rises and falls gently with plenty of humps and hollows to contend with and ditches that cross a few fairways also have to be negotiated. The holes in the rocky outcrop section between the 6th and 10th are the most pleasing, with the short coastal par three 9th hole on the eastern extremity on the property well worth its tag of “signature hole”.

Dunfanaghy

Harry Vardon designed the “True Links” layout at Dunfanaghy Golf Club in 1905 close to the western shoreline of Sheephaven Bay on Ireland’s stunning northwest coast.

North West Golf Club was one of nine founder members of the Golf Union of Ireland in 1891 (under the name of Buncrana) when it became the first club association in the world. The club was formed the same year when the professional at Royal Portrush, Charles Thompson, laid out a course at Fahan, just south of Buncrana in County Donegal.

The holes are routed on relatively flat links land on the shores of Lough Swilly and the club has fought a constant battle against coastal erosion over the years, resulting in huge rocks now being placed along hundreds of yards of shoreline in an attempt to keep the mighty Atlantic at bay.

The course measures 6,334 yards and has only two par fives, both at the end of each nine on the 9th and the 18th holes. Fairways criss-cross on this old-fashioned layout at the 4th and 17th holes – in fact the 17th also crosses the fairway of the last hole too!

A feature hole at North West is the shortest par four on the card, the 345-yard 4th, called “Kinnegar.” It doglegs sharply to the right and has a lateral water hazard running from the dogleg along the fairway to the right of the putting surface. The golfer is tempted to cut the corner off the tee but a potential birdie can so easily become a bogey or worse if the fairway is not found.

North West are so proud of having Brian McElhinney (2005 Amateur Open Champion) as a member that they have a picture of him and the famous old trophy on the front of their scorecard. There is absolutely no doubt that playing on such a fine links like North West stood Brian in good stead and helped him overcome all the opposition when he won at Royal Birkdale that year.

North West

North West Golf Club was one of nine founder members of the Golf Union of Ireland in 1891 (under the name of Buncrana) when it became the first club association in the world.

Relatively remote resorts like Bundoran became fashionable places to visit at the end of the 19th century when newly built railway lines made it easy for people to travel from the centres of population to the fresh air of the seaside for some rest and recreation.

Railway companies were quick to cash in on the holiday traffic and many destinations had huge hotels constructed to cater for the incoming customers. Of course, the land adjacent to these hotels was also utilized to keep the hotel customers occupied with healthy outdoor sporting pursuits like golf.

And so Bundoran, through the Highland Railway Company, came to be the location for the 111-bedroom Great Northern Hotel in 1894, and with it came the first 9-hole course designed by a Scotsman, G. L. Baillie, who had associations with the Royal Belfast Golf Club.

 the course was altered again in 1936 when additional land became available for lease: "the decision to lease land on the east side of the existing course, to make a championship course, was of major significance, and this extra space allowed greater scope for development and the foundation of the present course.

The plans for the extension were drawn up by a Mr. Roofers. [Please contact us if you know more about this gentleman] New holes built included the present 2nd, 3rd, 4th , 5th and 6th on the land which was acquired. This resulted, naturally, in major changes in the remainder of the course and eventually the 8th, 10th, 11th and 15th became par 4s in the 1940s, while the present 17th tee was later built. The 6th hole is currently played as a par 3 due to boundary difficulties. The present course includes features from all the various designs since 1894."


It was extended ten years later to an 18-hole layout by Cuthbert Butchart from Royal County Down before the legendary Harry Vardon remodeled the course in 1927 when he repositioned greens, replaced tees and added new bunkers.

Another famous Irish golfer with connections to Bundoran is Christy O’Connor Snr who was the professional from 1951 to 1957. The story goes that Christy was playing in a four ball with three members when one asked him what club he had used at the 230-yard par three 13th hole. When Christy replied that a 3-iron had been used, the member proudly informed the others that he had only needed a 4-iron to reach the green. At this, Christy pulled ten balls out of his bag and proceeded to knock every one onto the green with a different club!

Situated to the south of Donegal Bay where the mighty Atlantic rolls in, and surrounded by the imposing Dartry and Ben Bulben Mountains, Bundoran enjoys a fantastic location. It is a very wide, open course – where the wind is its primary defence – with holes routed in two loops over a large crest of cliffs on the seaside.

The principal charm of Bundoran is that little has changed over the years and if you like your golf simple and uncomplicated then this is the place for you!

Bundoran

Bundoran Golf Club is set delightfully on the shores of Donegal Bay. The club dates back to 1894 and it's inextricably linked with Christy O'Connor.

Ancestral home to the once powerful O’Donnell Clan, County Donegal is the most northerly county in Ireland – sharing a border with Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh in Northern Ireland and Leitrim in the Republic – and its topography is the most rugged in Ulster, lying as it does between the Derryveagh Mountains in the north and the Bluestack mountains in the south.

Organised golf has been played in Donegal for well over a hundred years and two of the county clubs, Portsalon and Buncrana, were part of the nine-club committee that founded the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1891. More recently, the North West club won its first ever Senior Cup at Rosslare in 2005, the year after two of its members, Brian McElhinney and Michael McGeedy, faced each other in the Final of the Irish Close Amateur at Murvagh.

 are amongst the very best in Great Britain & Ireland and they are ably supported by fine 18-hole links layouts at 

. Throw into the mix the grand old courses at 

, and you have a week’s worth of reasonably priced, top class golf that will be hard to match anywhere else in Ireland.
