FEATURE STORY

Ireland's northwest coast challenges adventurous golfers

By Jeffrey White,
Staff Writer

There are stretches of Ireland's rocky, windswept northwest coast that feel like world's end: cut off, isolated by cliff and crag, a place to go and disappear.

Just don't forget your clubs.

Golfers traveling to Ireland usually head southwest for a shot at one of the ranked courses, like Ballybunion or Lahinch. That leaves the country's northwest largely undiscovered - good news for those seeking the challenging terrain of classic links golf without the crowds.

Stella Maris Hotel named one of Ireland's top restaurants Historic Ballybunion will punish modern golfers Lahinch: Two tracks, one amazing golf experience Pure links golf off the beaten path in Ireland Ireland course directory

"The region is largely overlooked, for one reason or another," says John Snelling, director of Eire Golf Tours. "This in no way reflects on what the area has to offer."

The postcard fishing villages, country pubs and empty roads of counties Mayo, Sligo and Donegal complement more than 20 tracks, any three of which can be played for the price of one round at famed Old Head.

Here are some not to miss.

County Sligo Golf Club:People who know often point golfers to County Sligo GC and its Harry S. Colt-designed course, one of the northwest's oldest (built in 1927) and finest tracks.

Located in Rosses Point, Sligo boasts what is widely considered one of the best par 4s in the country. But getting to that celebrated 17th is no picnic.

The course greets you with two stern uphill par 4s and a 457-yard par 5. Not long as par 5s go, but on windy days - and this is the northwest, after all - it plays like a carry over the English Channel.

That's just for starters. Sligo actually saves it best for the home push. How about a tee shot (on the par-3 13th) that must clear the beach below?

Five holes run along the Atlantic, and the ocean is visible at some point on most others.

Northwest Ireland tee times: +353 643-1638 or 888-209 4094 Click here for Ireland golf packages.

Enniscrone Golf Club: Another County Sligo layout, Enniscrone has what Snelling calls "the best nine holes in the world" on the back half of its championship course, the Dunes.

Enniscrone offers 36 holes, the 6,372-yard Dunes and its baby brother, the Scurmore course, a wee 4,680 yards of bother. Warm up on Scurmore. Pray on Dunes.

As the name suggests, this Eddie Hacket-Donald Steele collaboration winds among dozens of sand mounds along a cliff line that spills down into Killala Bay. Fairways are replete with doglegs, the greens nurtured in the wombs of hazards: dunes, bunkers, heather rough.

The Dunes dates to 1974 but got a facelift in 2001 that resulted in six completely renovated holes, all but a few running along the ocean.

Ballyliffin Golf Club: Built in 1947, Ballyliffin owes much to Nick Faldo, who finally completed a three-year redesign and renovation of the Old Course in the summer of 2006.

The bunkers, a past weakness on the otherwise challenging 6,600-yard course, have been redesigned and strategically placed, giving the course an element it lacked before. There are new oceanside tees and a brand-new hole, the 523-yeard par-5 14th, which runs along a jagged palisade.

But locals will tell you that The Hole at Ballyliffin is the par-3 seventh at the But The Hole, as many call it, remains: The par-3 seventh at the Old Course's sister track, 7,217-yard Glashedy. You play from an elevated tee (really the top of a barrier dune) down to a green guarded well on three sides by bunkers and a fourth by Loch na nDeor.

March 9, 2007

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.