Ballyliffin

[JWL]

Gentlemen
My son and SIL have a trip planned for next year (it was cancelled for this year) and we have one golf course opening.   We are looking at Port Stewart and Ballyliffin.   Most likely Ballyliffin (unless I can be convinced that there is a better course in the area other than Port Stewart to play.   Can anyone tell me which of the two courses at Ballyliffin is the best to play.   I read that both have held championships.
Also, if there is a cool, can't miss, place to stay (BB or hotel) near the course or is it best to book a place in Londonderry??   Just trying toi find the best experience.
Thanks for your help.
Cheers

[JWL]

much appreciated

[Tommy Williamsen]

The Glashedy Links is a big, bold, and brawny course laid out in the 90's. Pat Ruddy did it. It runs through valleys of high dunes and is very difficult with many long par fours. The Old links is more intimate and is laid out on humpy bumpy terrain and and is a great deal of fun. I can't pick for you. If you want a big and bold brute, pick Glashedy. If you want fun, pick the Old.

[Rob Marshall]

I played the old. It was renovated by Nick Faldo I believe not that long ago. I thought it was a nice course. Very bumpy fairways. We stayed at a B&B across the street from the driveway to the clubhouse. Didn’t love the town. Only somewhat of a bad experience in Ireland was at a pub there.


If I had my choice I would play Port Stewart over the Ballyliffin Old strictly for the front nine.

[Lou_Duran]

1. Glashedy Links- challenging, varied topography and holes, rugged, nice balance of long and short game requirements


2. Port Salon- short, quirky, beautiful views, very friendly pro shop


3. Old- flatter, nicely rumpled ground, flatish, rather boring/ordinary greens.


Note: If they choose Port Salon, Rosapenna- Sandy Hills is nearby and it would be my pick over the other three.  We stayed at an inexpensive, clean hotel close by that had a good restaurant with live entertainment and excellent food.  Mgrs. and hotel staff couldn't have been nicer.


I hope that they catch better weather than we did.

[Mike_Trenham]

If not on the agenda


Nairn and Port Noo
St Patrick’s




But it sounds like they are probably playing in Northern Ireland so stick with Port Stewart and when they can give Donegal and Sligo The proper amount of time it will be worth it.

[Ally Mcintosh]

The dune system at Ballyliffin is a sight to behold as you approach the village.


I am quite fond of both courses. The Old has a lot of micro-rumples without a huge amount of dune action. More traditional. The Glashedy has a very good routing in my book: Both nines rise up in to the dunes for the best holes 4,5,6,13,14,15) before returning to the clubhouse. Depends on whether you like Mr.Ruddy’s style which is modern and a little less lay-of-the-land.


If you have another of Pat’s courses on your travels, choose The Old... If not, choose The Glashedy.

[David_Tepper]

unless I can be convinced that there is a better course in the area other than Port Stewart to play

Not sure if you are interested in playing another course near Portstewart. If you are, Castlerock is highly recommended.

https://www.castlerockgc.co.uk/

[Tommy Williamsen]

unless I can be convinced that there is a better course in the area other than Port Stewart to play

Not sure if you are interested in playing another course near Portstewart. If you are, Castlerock is highly recommended.

https://www.castlerockgc.co.uk/

CASTLEROCK IS AN UNDISCOVERED GEM AND A TON OF FUN.

[Stewart Abramson]

Can't add much to what Tommy W said above. I played both courses at Ballyliffin with Chuck Lund who is a poster on this site and an overseas member. I really enjoyed both courses although the humps on the Old were extreme on a couple of holes. The warmth of the welcome and the craic in the clubhouse were second to none and for that alone Ballyliffin is worth a visit. I think Chuck has posted some very detailed photo tours of both courses on this site.


[size=78%]https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/albums/72157669722164082[/size] Ballyliffin Old photo set


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/albums/72157669466347720 Ballyliffin Glashedy Photo set




Ballyliffin Old #1  approach



Ballyliffin Old #3  greenside bunkers



Ballyliffin Old #5 par 3 162 yards



Ballyliffin Glashedy #2 from tee



Ballyliffin Glashedy #4  approach



Ballyliffin Glashedy #8 approach



Ballyliffin Glashedy #9 from tee



Ballyliffin Glashedy



Ballyliffin Glashedy h 183223

[Mark_Fine]

Both courses are worth playing for many of the reasons mentioned.  It really is a great setting but I would make sure you get to Portstewart and Royal Portrush if you can. 

[jeffwarne]

1. Glashedy Links- challenging, varied topography and holes, rugged, nice balance of long and short game requirements


2. Port Salon- short, quirky, beautiful views, very friendly pro shop


3. Old- flatter, nicely rumpled ground, flatish, rather boring/ordinary greens.


Note: If they choose Port Salon, Rosapenna- Sandy Hills is nearby and it would be my pick over the other three.  We stayed at an inexpensive, clean hotel close by that had a good restaurant with live entertainment and excellent food.  Mgrs. and hotel staff couldn't have been nicer.


I hope that they catch better weather than we did.

Wait...Portsalon is short?
That I have never heard...




JWL,
Given one round, I'd probably play Portstewart or Castlerock(as well as the quirky smaller scale exciting Bann 9)
Not sure I'd drive all the way to Ballyliffin and just play one of the courses. You'd drive right by Northwest GC, which would be my choice anyway.


If staying in Buncrana(near Northwest GC), there's multiple fun pubs,as well as Buncrana GC,  a fun 9 holers with the Drift Inn next door.

[Garland Bayley]

Gentlemen
My son and SIL have a trip planned for next year (it was cancelled for this year) and we have one golf course opening.   We are looking at Port Stewart and Ballyliffin.   Most likely Ballyliffin (unless I can be convinced that there is a better course in the area other than Port Stewart to play.   ...

Portrush, Dunluce and Valley. Both better than Castlerock. Are you implying they are already in the itinerary?

[Thomas Dai]

The Glashedy is a fine course, very well routed given the size and height of the big sand ridge at one end. But it's a course made by big machines so many of the intricate humps and hollows so beloved of links courses were graded away, hence the relatively flat fairways.
The Old on the other hand is covered, festooned, with a rash-like maze of humps and hollows having essentially been laid out over the natural ground by a man with a mower.
Note it's a bit of a drive out to Ballyliffin and a long way from there to some of the other courses mentioned above. Check your map and timings.
And if you have the opportunity use the cool Greencastle ferry that across the River Foyle near its mouth.
atb

[Lou_Duran]

jeffwarne-


I've apologized to JWL for my poor reading comprehension and offered that Portstewart is a good choice.  As to Portsalon being short, the online scorecard (which didn't copy well and I've deleted it) shows the White tees at under 6200 yards and the Yellow day tees at just over 6k.  I played the Whites in good weather and the angles of the tee shots with respect to penalty areas (water) and high native vegetation did make it play longer in spots, but it was still a shorter course than I normally play.


David Thomas-


you probably have a better eye for the detail than I do, but I thought that Glashedy looked and played more natural than Old.  Starting with Old's first hole (pictured in Stewart's post), aspects of the course looked manufactured, not unlike many American courses of 20+ years ago where the ground was mounded up on the periphery for containment and aesthetics, except that the mounding occurred here in the fairways unlike any natural formations I've seen.  This unusual rumpled, mounded look juxtaposed jarringly IMO with the rather flat greens lacking much internal movement.  A matter of preference, I suppose (Richard Goodale was a big fan of the Old and didn't care for the newer one).     

[Stewart Abramson]

Link to One of Chuck Lund's Ballyliffin reports




https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,65970.0.html

[jeffwarne]

jeffwarne-


I've apologized to JWL for my poor reading comprehension and offered that Portstewart is a good choice.  As to Portsalon being short, the online scorecard (which didn't copy well and I've deleted it) shows the White tees at under 6200 yards and the Yellow day tees at just over 6k.  I played the Whites in good weather and the angles of the tee shots with respect to penalty areas (water) and high native vegetation did make it play longer in spots, but it was still a shorter course than I normally play.


   

You may be confusing yards with meters?



https://clubsg.skygolf.com/courses/course/311153/Portsalon_Golf_Club.html?tab=scorecard&#Scorecard
perhaps it's the weather I've played in, or the fact that I've play many sub 6000 yard courses in the Uk and Ireland, but in my 20 plus rounds at Portsalon, I never thought of it as "short" (or long for that matter)
But please note the above scorcard you reference is in METERS, so that 6200 Meters is 6800 yards , and it's n slouch from the yellows at 6000 meters  (6600 yards)


here's another in yards-6824 from white tees
https://www.provisualizer.com/courses/portsalon.php

[Thomas Dai]

you probably have a better eye for the detail than I do, but I thought that Glashedy looked and played more natural than Old.  Starting with Old's first hole (pictured in Stewart's post), aspects of the course looked manufactured, not unlike many American courses of 20+ years ago where the ground was mounded up on the periphery for containment and aesthetics, except that the mounding occurred here in the fairways unlike any natural formations I've seen.  This unusual rumpled, mounded look juxtaposed jarringly IMO with the rather flat greens lacking much internal movement.  A matter of preference, I suppose (Richard Goodale was a big fan of the Old and didn't care for the newer one).     

The more of Stewarts Bl-Old photos I look through the more the micro contours and ripples, and wee humps and hollows stand out. Perhaps the originating man on the mower kept away from the slightly larger hummocks as he wouldn't have been able to take his mower up and over them.
Worth pointing out that a couple of the holes on the Old were tweaked by Faldo etc I believe to accommodate the building of the Glashedy.
atb

[Lou_Duran]

You may be confusing yards with meters?

You are right.  My bad. 


My first post noting that Portsalon was short, quirky, etc. was from memory.  My reply to your comment questioning mine was based on a quick card lookup on bluegolf.com where it noted that the distances are in yards.


Subsequent to your next post, I dug out my card from the day of play some four years ago, and pulled up the club's website.  Its hole flyover is outstanding and though distances are in conflict within the presentation, they are in "metres" not yards.  It appears that the course has picked up some 300 additional yards and it now measures 7050 yards from the tips  (6450 meters), certainly not short even with firm conditions.
 
My scorecard largely supports how the course played that day in mostly sunny weather with a 15-25 mph wind from the S, SW.  I hit a lot of short irons into the greens, though there were two or three long 4s, and a couple of lost balls not far from the fairways (the native rough was tall, thick, and gnarly in spots).


Replaying the round with my card and the flyovers proved to be a very enjoyable experience.  It reminded me how much I enjoyed my round at Portsalon after being hammered by wind and rain at Rosapenna that morning.  I look forward to returning some day.   

[jeffwarne]

You may be confusing yards with meters?

You are right.  My bad. 


My first post noting that Portsalon was short, quirky, etc. was from memory.  My reply to your comment questioning mine was based on a quick card lookup on bluegolf.com where it noted that the distances are in yards.


Subsequent to your next post, I dug out my card from the day of play some four years ago, and pulled up the club's website.  Its hole flyover is outstanding and though distances are in conflict within the presentation, they are in "metres" not yards.  It appears that the course has picked up some 300 additional yards and it now measures 7050 yards from the tips  (6450 meters), certainly not short even with firm conditions.
 
My scorecard largely supports how the course played that day in mostly sunny weather with a 15-25 mph wind from the S, SW.  I hit a lot of short irons into the greens, though there were two or three long 4s, and a couple of lost balls not far from the fairways (the native rough was tall, thick, and gnarly in spots).


Replaying the round with my card and the flyovers proved to be a very enjoyable experience.  It reminded me how much I enjoyed my round at Portsalon after being hammered by wind and rain at Rosapenna that morning.  I look forward to returning some day.

One of my favorite places.
Thanks for sharing your memories there.
Yes, I did note some blue tees when last I was there, but I rarely venture onto them in the UK, in fact I rarely even play the whites unless invited.
We  play Northwest GC from the blues(a very friendly club)as it IS quite short otherwise, but another one of my favorite places.

[Rob Marshall]

I found the 9’s to be completely different at Portsalon. I thought the back was much easier. It was one the most scenic courses I’ve ever played. Beautiful coastline.