Pics of Abandoned St. Patricks Links, Donegal - Any News?

[Robin_Hiseman]

Back in April 2007 I went to Donegal for a few days golf.  First stop was going to be 36 at St. Patrick's, adjacent to Rosapenna.  I got there to find that the course had been abandoned, subject to it being redeveloped by Jack Nicklaus.  Allegedly, the new developer had also gone bust, so the entire operation was shut down and the course left to grow over.

A couple of years has gone past now and I was wondering if anybody here had any new information on what will become of this sensational links site?  The golf course website is still online today.  Has it reopened?

Here are a few photos which show just how beautiful it is.







In this last picture you can see the scarring from the aborted redevelopment works.

[Jim McCann]

I played the new Rosapenna Old (Morris/Ruddy nines) in August and asked Frank Casy Jnr, who runs the course, what the story was with the proposed layout next door and he was unable to give any information. If he doesn't know, nobody does. Last I heard, Oceanico were supposed to get involved in resurrecting the links but nothing seems to have come of that piece of golfing speculation. Rosapenna hardly seemed the busiest of places when I visited (much the same as in June the year before) so I don't really know if the wild west of Donegal can support 72 holes at the same location anyway...

[Robin_Hiseman]

Thanks Jim and welcome to GCA.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

In the current econimic conditions, there isn't much of a chance of anything happening soon with this project. Ireland has been hit very badly during this economic slowdown.

[Tom_Doak]

Robin:

I wandered around the place for an hour or two last summer.  The reconstruction project was abandoned after about a month of work in the winter/spring of 2007, and where they had moved earth on 3-4 holes it has just been left to blow around ...

It is a wild piece of property, but the earlier two courses were so rudimentary that it was difficult for us to figure out how the routing worked.  If they were to build one 18-hole course it might be spectacular, but to try and do two, I don't know what they'll get.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be going anywhere for now. 

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Tom:

I walked all 18 holes of the main course about 5 years ago. Although it was bunkerless and it a fairly raw state, it appeared to be quite a good layout. There were a few holes on the side closest to the main Carrigart road, that were a bit flat and featureless, but some of the other holes looked pretty good.

The idea of bringing the course closer to the sea, and using both courses to make a really good 18 was the only way to realise the true potential of that site.

One wonders what the owners can do now. I'm sure they borrowed hugely and are now stuck with huge interest payments, assuming they haven't already been declared bankrupt. Maybe the previous owner (Dermot Walsh) should offer to buy it back at a knockdown price.

The professional golfer Paul McGinley, along with a few local people, bought 200 acres of land there in 1997. My understanding is that this is the land just South of St. Patrick's. It's called Ard a Chor and is a mixture of heathland and links. They have been unable to get permission to build a course, 32 bedroom hotel and leisure centre, as the area has been designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Dónal

[Jack_Marr]

Now if someone could get Tom Doak to develop it... That would be fantastic.

Is there anyone left in this country with money?

John