ROSAPENNA, ST PATRICK’s LINKS - 18 POINTS

Expectation management can be hard when it comes to visiting a new golf course. I try not to go to any course over-informed about what is to come, that way I can make up my own mind about the experience rather than be too influenced by what I’ve heard or read. Sometimes though, that can be hard.

The buzz around Tom Doak’s new course at Rosapenna - St Patrick’s - has been pretty extreme. The first review I read came from Chris Bertram in Today’s Golfer where he said ‘It has the X Factor in spades. It feels special in any measure you’d care to apply’. 

Friends of mine who visited came back giddy with excitement about what they found and, to cap it all, GOLF Magazine - debuted it in their world rankings at number 55. 

So, it would be fair to say I was expecting something pretty special, and, cutting to the chase, it actually exceeded my expectations. I am pretty sure that the course will climb in the rankings. For me, it could happily sit in the top 30 in the world.

However, the key here is in that last sentence - ‘For me’. Because, while I know many people who have been blown away by the course, there are also a handful who simply don’t agree with that view. Explaining why I loved it so much might go some way to explaining why it’s not to everyone’s taste.

But first, a little context. Rosapenna is the name of the hotel resort lying a 5 minute walk outside the Donegal town of Downings. If, like me, your Irish geography gets a little hazy around here, Donegal lies on the north west coast of the island of Ireland. Most visitors from Britain will fly into Belfast and drive the just over 2 hours to Rosapenna, although an upgraded road, opening soon, will cut the trip to under 2 hours.

Golf has been played over this land since 1893 and with the addition, soon after, of the hotel. Rosapenna can claim to be one of golf’s first purpose-built resorts. For many years there was just one course here. Nine holes of that original course makes up what is now known as the Old Tom Morris Links. Then, in 2003 another course was added - the Pat Ruddy-designed Sandy Hills Links.

A mile or so to the south of Rosapenna lay another piece of land, now the site of St Patrick’s Links. The land had seen several unsuccessful attempts to develop it in the past. There were two courses on the site, one designed by Eddie Hackett and the other by former Royal County Down assistant pro, Joanne O’Haire. However, a change of ownership meant that, by 2006, Jack Nicklaus had been employed to lay out two new courses over the ground. Some clearing work had started when the organisation backing the project went bankrupt and the land lay fallow. Fast forward to 2012 and the owners of Rosapenna bought the land out of bankruptcy and started to make plans for the development.

It is easy to see why they were so beguiled by the plot, it’s a simply magnificent stretch of land - mile upon mile of sandy ground with towering dunes and stunning views. Just as important was that it had already had history as a golf course with the local authorities. In a world where there is so little true links land available, with planning permission, this was like gold-dust.

The Caseys didn’t want to make any compromises in the development and felt that building 36 holes would inevitably lead to some. Rather, they wanted their chosen architect to be able to make the very best routing that was possible, without any such compromise. 

They had a clear philosophy about what they wanted to build here. They didn’t want to create a template, tough, modern, championship golf course. Instead they wanted to create something which golfers of all levels would be able to enjoy; something with flair which would stick in the memory for a long time. The Caseys had no doubt who their architect would be. They had long admired Tom Doak’s work and his thinking was in line with theirs.

Doak created a routing which shows off the 300+ acres available to him to their very maximum. While the site had much to offer, it wasn’t without its challenges. The dunes are of such a scale that elevation change is inevitable and incorporating them, without making parts of the course feel like a slog, was part of the challenge.

Covid brought another challenge. Doak was unable to visit for much of the final construction and so Eric Iverson worked with Angela Moser and Clyde Johnson to finish the course. Quite the lockdown project! The Caseys were very hands-on clients, on the course every day watching the work and the course evolving.

St Patrick’s opened for first play in July 2021, just as the world was coming out of Covid hibernation.

It’s worth remembering that this is still pretty early days in the life of St Patrick’s Links. The clubhouse is yet to be built (the course is a 5 minute drive from the main resort where you will find a temporary shop and check-in facilities) and the course is still maturing. 

The greens, tees and fairways often flow into each other in a very simple manner, looking like they have been in this ground forever. But the green surfaces themselves will take a while longer to feel as established. I was there in June 2022, a year after opening, and there hadn’t been a lot of growth so far in the year so they weren’t all running quite the same as some of the more established courses in the area. If truth be told, this didn’t really bother me. Of course they will improve as the months and years continue, but they were perfectly acceptable nonetheless.

One other factor is that, while the fairways are wide, when you miss them the rough is pretty dense I imagine these areas will thin over time with maintenance, but I know some people have found that a challenge. Such is the width though, you shouldn’t have to spend too much time looking for balls.

But enough preamble and on to the course. Rather than write a hole by hole guide, I have picked out a few themes which will hopefully give you a taste of what to expect.

Forgiving width, but with strategic demands

I love courses which don’t punish you too much for an errant shot from the tee but will reward you if you execute well - courses where it’s relatively easy to make a bogey but birdies (read pars often for me!) are hard won. I am a fan of places that reward imagination and guile over pure strength and excellence. That is why I enjoyed St Patrick’s so much.

From most tees you will be greeted with a wide fairway and there is little in the way of forced carries. You don’t have to hit over loads of trouble to get away on any hole and, if you are hitting it left or right, you should still find your ball. But, if you hit the correct spots, you will find speed slots on the fairways that will put you in perfect positions, rewarding you with better lines into the greens.

The first hole gives you a taste of what’s to come. It’s a wide looking fairway which doesn’t need you to hit a driver. Go to the left and you will have the best look at the green, and a relatively straightforward shot. Go right and you won’t be dead, but avoiding trouble and holding the green will be a harder challenge.

Massive scale

In recent years, several modern links courses have been built with dunes (natural or man made) at the sides of fairways so that every hole is self-contained and you can’t see any of the other holes. Supposedly, this promotes a feeling of isolation. That isn’t a feature of many of the classic links courses, so why are modern architects trying to achieve it? The first three holes at St Patrick’s follow this trend, with glimpses of what is behind the dunes.

But, as you walk up to the fourth tee you see the magnificent Sheephaven Bay and the course opens up before you. I was playing with the Australian photographer Gary Lisbon and noted that this unveiling was very similar to a course in his homeland - Barnbougle Dunes. In fact in many ways this course reminded me of Barnbougle - a thoroughly natural links.

Frequently, you can see across vast stretches of wonderful linksland at St Patricks, and you can also see outside of the course too, to the surrounding countryside, which I like. It really feels like the golf course belongs on this land.

Fried Egg host, Andy Johnson, recently had a rant about the plague of waste bunkers spreading across the UK. Well, I think he would like what he would find at St Patrick’s. There are huge, vast areas of waste here but there is nothing contrived about them - possibly because many existed way before Doak and his team got to work. 

The real hero is the land

The fairways at St Patrick’s have a wonderful natural undulation in them. You could play this gorgeous links land again and again without having the same lie twice. It is what makes St Andrews so great and is what makes St Patrick’s stand apart from almost any other modern links created in GB and Ireland. Doak has built something special but he has done it on and with the land, not to the land.

There’s another trend in modern links construction for greens to be positioned on upturned saucers with plunging drop-offs on all sides. Here you can often get around using your ground game, rather than requiring soaring shots in. Again, something which suits my eye (and game) well. 

Many of the fairways run into the greens without distinction. As the course matures and develops I hope that they keep this aspect of the presentation. Just draping the course on top of the land is such a great look.

Greens that will thrill

The Casey’s brief not to have a boring course really shows itself when you get to the green complexes. Some people roll their eyes at mention of ‘Doak greens’ but I think that is unjustified. These greens are fun and challenging but they never cross the line into goofy. The greens are often vast, but somehow they have managed to create them so that every green gives a different challenge. Quite a skill.

I believe attitude is so important when playing a course like this. Go into it obsessing over every single shot you make, and every bounce that results, and you may find your blood pressure soaring. Go into it with a child-like glee at the questions posed and you will likely be thrilled. 

The most ‘inland’ holes provide two of the most exciting greens. The 10th is just wonderful. It’s a shortish par 4 with a heavily pitched green from left to right. If you are a critic of Doak’s greens you will probably have a field day at the 11th. There is a little shelf up on the right which was pinned the day we played causing much amusement!

Variety abounds

The fourth and the fifth are the only two holes running in the same direction, so the only two holes with the wind in the same direction. Given that you can expect to have plenty of wind on a trip to Donegal, this is another feature of the routing which I like. While I don’t mind a good in-and-out routing (Scotland has a few of them!) I really like the fact that, like Muirfield, things keep moving around here.

There is good variety in the par 3s too. None of them plays over 180 yards from the middle tees, but they play in three different directions, with both uphill and downhill settings. You could play these holes many times without getting bored.

The 17th is an incredibly bold hole because of its simplicity. From the tee it looks like the hole has been cut on the fairway, when you get there you find a sharply sloping green with three tiers where most shots will do well, ending on the lowest tier on the left.

The par 4s stretch from 318 to 487 yards from the middle tees meaning there are plenty of half holes, in both directions.

A golf course for all?

Generally, I try to make sure that the quality of my own game doesn’t impact my reviews too much but, suffice to say, I wasn’t swinging it perfectly the day I played St Patrick’s! Coming off of 54 holes the previous day, I was a little weary, and there were plenty of stray shots. While this impacted my score to a degree, it certainly didn’t impact my enjoyment. Had I been hitting it like that the previous day when I played Sandy Hills, my score would have been pretty miserable. The philosophy behind St Patrick’s means that just wasn’t the case.

However, here’s the rub. There are some people who just don’t like this kind of course. They want their courses long, narrow and hard. It’s difficult not to sound pejorative as I write that, because it is so different from what I enjoy, but others revel in such challenges, where there is one way to play a hole and it’s do or die. If that’s you then you may wonder what all the fuss is about at St Patrick’s. You may find that this course is too easy from the tee and too intricate around the greens for your liking.

But for the rest of us, the 99% of golfers who play for joy and fun, I think you will love St Patrick’s. It’s a wonderful place to play golf, bringing together so many great aspects of the game. The course will mature and develop in the years to come which will only enhance its standing in the game.

Donegal isn’t the easiest place in the world to get to. It takes a bit of planning and it’s a different Ireland to the raucous adventure of, say, a Dublin break. But I really hope that more and more people get to see and enjoy what the area has to offer. 

For full transparency I visited Rosapenna as a guest of Frank and John Casey. They were keen that I see the course and the resort. However, believe me, my view of St Patrick’s would be the same if I had stumbled on the course out of the blue without their hospitality. The score I have given it is testament to the strength of this golf course.

I really hope Rosapenna goes from strength to strength. When you are there you will meet Frank Jr in the pro shop or on the tee, and John will be running around in the hotel. This is a family business run by people who care about the game. And what a legacy they have given us in St Patrick’s.

BOOKING THE COURSE

You can book your tee time online here. There are quite a few different green fees. Summer rates are €200 with same day replay at €100. If you are an Irish resident they have some availability at a great rate of €80. If you are staying at the hotel you will get further discounts which vary according to season, so be sure to give them a call to find out more.

If you are looking to play all three courses in the same trip then the three links ticket for €400 is well worth looking at - €210 if you are a Golf Ireland member and there are off peak rates available too.

So, I would say it might be worth a phone call to ask what would be the best package for you.

Prices correct as of August 2023.

TOUR TIPS

WHERE TO STAY

If you can, I would recommend staying at the Rosapenna hotel. There are 70 rooms and the standard rate for a standard twin room is €240. However, there are often imaginative options on offer, so I would recommend having a look at the website and phoning up to see what packages they have available including golf. The hotel is closed over the winter and the season is from the end of March to the end of October.

The hotel has a bar and a very nice restaurant and the whole place feels very golfy. Most people you are encounter here are also on a golf holiday so you should have plenty in common with everyone you speak to!

The Sandy Hills and Old Tom Morris courses are both near the main golf pavilion and hotel at Rosapenna and St Patrick’s Links is about 5 minutes drive away.

It’s no surprise that rooms are fast becoming hard to get at Rosapenna such is the fame following the launch of St Patrick’s. Tee times should be much less of a problem though. With three courses to choose from there are far more tee times available than hotel rooms!

Don’t worry though, this is a holiday place so there are plenty of Airbnbs around and hotels include The Beach Hotel and Downings Bay Hotel. They are only ten minutes walk from Rosapenna so don’t let the lack of available accommodation at the hotel put you off making the trip.

WHERE TO PLAY

When it comes to golf you have a lot of great options to build a trip around. You should definitely choose to play at least one of the Sandy Hills and Old Tom Morris courses when onsite.

Rosapenna is really well placed for day trips to other courses. Here are some places to explore (click on name for my review) -

Narin & Portnoo - 1 hour 20 minutes drive. Gil Hanse has extensively redesigned the course and it is a must-play if you are in the area. Wonderful dunes and spectacular coastal holes. There’s lots to like!

Cruit Island - 1 hour 15 minutes drive. On the way back from Narin & Portnoo a stop at Cruit Island is highly recommended. It’s a short, 9 hole course and while a relatively modern course, it feels like a throwback to a simpler time. Raw golf at its best.

Portsalon - 30 minutes drive. The owners of Rosapenna were very keen I should see Portsalon and I was glad they told me about it. It’s in a lovely setting with beaches and mountains framing the holes. A crumpled links with some lovely features.

Ballyliffin Old and Glashedy - 1 hour 30 minutes drive. If you are coming from Belfast, or indeed Portrush, you will drive close by Ballyliffin and it’s well worth starting your trip here. Alternatively, it is very doable from Rosapenna as a day trip too. The Glashedy is the hero course at Ballyliffin - a modern links which will test the very best golfer. The Old is a more gentle test, but one you will enjoy.

WHERE TO EAT

I mainly ate in the hotel which was very good, however there are other options. Fisk is a seafood bar open Wednesday to Sunday and which comes highly recommended. It doesn’t take advance bookings, but there is a pub next door where you can wait. Other notables are the Goose and Gander pizzeria in Downings and The Olde Glen Bar and Restaurant ten minutes outside of town.

LOGISTICS

Rosapenna is about a two and half hour drive from Belfast International Airport. That journey is set to come down closer to two hours when the new dual carriageway (currently under construction) opens. It’s well worth hiring a car, or going on an organised tour, as it would be a hard trip to organise using just public transport and taxis. While there is lots of good golf around, things are quite spread out in Donegal and even when places look quite close together they can involve quite a journey on the winding local roads!

Another option which is well worth looking into is getting a flight to Derry. There are flights now from Stansted, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh with Loganair and from there it’s just an hour and fifteen minute’s drive to Rosapenna.

CONTACT DETAILS

Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort,
Sheephaven Bay,
Downings,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal,
Ireland

Tel: +353 (0) 74 915 5000
E-mail: golf@rosapenna.ie
Web: www.rosapenna.ie

CONSIDER ALSO -

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