County Sligo Golf Club or a Saturday night in Galway?

[Michael Moore]

Having played three of his courses, I am fascinated by Harry Colt, and many have advised me that this is at once a subtle and stunning links. Yet, I am single, I do love to have a good time, and I would be spending every € of the €195 that was not spent on golf. Only time for one, please advise.

[Garland Bayley]

Skip Sligo and go to Strandhill.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Strandhill isn't on a par with Rosses Point but it sure is fun and it'll save 100 Euros.

[Mike Sweeney]

Under bare Ben Bulben's head

In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid,   

An ancestor was rector there

Long years ago; a church stands near,

By the road an ancient Cross.

No marble, no conventional phrase,   

On limestone quarried near the spot   

By his command these words are cut:



               Cast a cold eye   

               On life, on death.   

               Horseman, pass by!




Yeats + Harry Colt = Mr. Moore Nirvana!!

[Neil Regan]

Flyover of Rosses Point #10, with Ben Bulben and Drumcliffe Cemetery across the water.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rPCLL25c8Ok&time_continue=1

[Tommy Williamsen]

Evidently a lot of work was done at Strandhill in the last four years. Not sure exactly how far they are on their five year plan.
Article from 2015:



http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/Five-year-redevelopment-aims-to-transform-Strandhill-links#.VmNWKbiDGko

[Thomas Dai]

Pat Ruddy has being working at County Sligo/Rosses Point recently as has Ally of this parish at Strandhill.
For what it’s worth if given 10 games between them I’d go 6 maybe 7 at Strandhill and 4 maybe 3 at C-Sligo (and that’s not taking into consideration the price difference). And if all Ally’s proposals are adopted the balance will probably swing even more in favour of Strandhill.
Strandhill is very underrated.
Incidentally, County Sligo also have a thoroughly pleasant although not epic, 9-hole course called the Bomore.
Atb

[Garland Bayley]

There is a course tour of Strandhill on this site. Unfortunately, I don't know post the link from my phone here at EDI.
Tour is up dated with Ally's work and plans.
I noticed the Aer Lingus wild Atlantic way promo video shows a tee shot being made from the 6th tee at Steandhill. Unfortunately shot before Ally's bunkering of the hole.

[Sean_A]

Having played three of his courses, I am fascinated by Harry Colt, and many have advised me that this is at once a subtle and stunning links. Yet, I am single, I do love to have a good time, and I would be spending every € of the €195 that was not spent on golf. Only time for one, please advise.

MM

I think Rosses Point is quite unusual for a links and Colt in the ways it uses water in one setting. There are 6 water holes:

The 5th and 6th are lateral to the fairway
The 7th cuts diagonally in front of the green
The 8th cuts directly across the fairway in front of the green
The 13th has water to the rear of the green
The 14th has water cutting across the fairway at driving range

I could argue there are perhaps one or two too many water holes, but I do like the variety.

There is also a handful of non-water standout holes such as 3, 4, 10, 11 & 17.

To me, Sligo has it all and not in a manner which beats the golfer down...its a great course.  Although, I have reservations due to the Ruddy work (which I haven't seen).  I would go back in a heartbeat if the greenfee didn't sky-rocket.

Ciao

[Mark_F]

There is a course tour of Strandhill on this site. Unfortunately, I don't know post the link from my phone here at EDI.

This one here, Garland?  It's the best one yet.
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,64202
Sligo is a fine course, but there is no way it is worth close to 200 Euro.  That's madness.

[Stewart Abramson]

To me, Sligo has it all and not in a manner which beats the golfer down...its a great course. 

This +1


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/albums/72157670450396092 - Photo tour County Sligo

[Tommy Williamsen]

To me, Sligo has it all and not in a manner which beats the golfer down...its a great course.  Although, I have reservations due to the Ruddy work (which I haven't seen).  I would go back in a heartbeat of the greenfee didn't sky-rocket.

Ciao



Sean, I have not seen Pat Ruddy's work. He told me it was a labor of love, although he was ill for about 18 months and I'm not sure what actually got done. Pat was from the area and wanted to do a good job keeping Colt's work alive. If it weren't such a long drive from Dublin, I might go when I return to Ireland in October.

[Garland Bayley]

There is a course tour of Strandhill on this site. Unfortunately, I don't know post the link from my phone here at EDI.

This one here, Garland?  It's the best one yet.
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,64202
Sligo is a fine course, but there is no way it is worth close to 200 Euro.  That's madness.

Thanks Mark.
That's the one.
Pricing Sligo at 200 would make golf at Bandon a huge bargain in terms of what you get for you money.
The food in the clubhouse at Sligo was better than the course IMO.

[Mike Sweeney]

There is a course tour of Strandhill on this site. Unfortunately, I don't know post the link from my phone here at EDI.

This one here, Garland?  It's the best one yet.
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,64202
Sligo is a fine course, but there is no way it is worth close to 200 Euro.  That's madness.

Mark and Garland,



Thanks for posting the Strandhill thread. We are now in negotiations in our group to try and include Strandhill, and it reconnected me with Ally who I met at Yale back in the day. Ally is out of the country during our trip, but Strandhill looks like a very fun course and we are playing Enniscrone so....

[Jim Sherma]

Was in that part of the world in 2017. Played Mulranny, Carne x2, Enniscrone, Strandhill x2 and Sligo x2. Thought Sligo was best of the bunch even if it was not dramatic like Carne and Enniscrone.  There was something very classy about the flow and routing. 17 is on of the great holes I’ve played.

Having done a few trips to Ireland I find that big-dune holes play very one dimensionally. I liked the flat Hackett holes at Enniscrone better than many of the newer holes cut through the dunes. With the steep  slopes and unplayable/lost ball gunch on them you basically hit the fairway or stomped around on the slopes hoping to find your ball. Great to photograph but not terribly great golf in my opinion.


Also highly recommend Strandhill. Great turf and a really fun and interesting course. A lot of memorable greens and cool shots to hit.

Mulranny is just cool and worth a side trip if you’re in that area.

[Peter Flory]

I just played Sligo in a healthy wind and was as pleasantly surprised as I ever have been by a course.  It just has so much variety in one round while still being cohesive.  In particular, the many ways that burn was used added a lot of interest to the inland holes. 

[Ally Mcintosh]

Peter,


Glad you enjoyed Rosses Point and sorry to miss you at the weekend. I haven’t been over to see the course since not long after Pat started there. However, I’m back down working at Strandhill for the next few weeks so will make an effort to pop over and see it then.

[Thomas Dai]

Now I haven't played Rosses Point since it's been worked on. However, despite some terrific holes like the wonderful par-3 4th, I wasn't that impressed with it before. While the views enhance matters there were some mundane holes like 2 and 5 and 18 and somehow it didn't seem well, very Colt to me. I also took an immediate playability (as distinct from architectural merit) dislike to the 17th.
Having played Strandhill and having done so since Ally has been waving his magic wand, it would be Strandhill that I'd head back to first.
Each to their own though.
atb


PS - an aside - the 4th at Rosses Point and the 8th at Mulranny seem to be mirror images of each other?

[Peter Flory]

There were a couple features on 5 that look like it might have originally been a par 5.  A cross bunker barely in the fairway and then the fairway berm right in the middle of it.  Also, it looks like the burn used to run diagonally through the fairway.  Even the abnormally long green seems like it probably captured some of the fairway over the 3 bunkers.  And it appears as though a burn may have originally gone vertically across and short of the green, just short of where those bunkers are.  I wonder if the burn was removed and those were added as a replacement (like the 4th at Old Elm). 



It's pretty thrilling for one of the weaker holes when you factor in the 40-foot drop tee shot and the view. 

I wish I could compare to Strand Hill, but that will have to wait for the next trip. 

[Peter Flory]

I just looked at the old aerials and they did the opposite on the 5th green than I suspected.  They extended the green much further back after 2014.  On 7, they extended the green much more to the right to hug the burn. 

On #3, they moved the green substantially back (front moved approx 55 yards and new green deeper) to extend the length and keep it as a par 5. 

[Dan_Callahan]

On my first trip to Sligo, I skipped Rosses Point on the advice of folks on this site. General consensus was that it is overrated and far too expensive. This summer, I was back in Sligo and decided to give it a play. I loved everything about it. Yes, it is expensive, so if I was in the area by myself I probably wouldn't play it again. But if I was traveling with friends who had never been there, I would 100% advocate for it. In the comparison to Strandhill, I just don't think it's apples to apples. If the courses were comparably priced, I would do 8 rounds at Rosses Point to 2 at Strandhill. And I really lied Strandhill. I just don't think they are in the same league. And to be honest, when I first played Strandhill it was very inexpensive. This summer, however, I think it was $150? As opposed to $200 for Rosses Point? So not that big of a gap anymore.


Another great thing about Rosses Point, when I think about how it stacks up against the other courses in the northwest, is that it is very different from the Rossapenna courses, or Carne, or Enniscrone. Much less of the dramatic dunes feel. Some of it it reminded me a bit of Murvagh, only better. But just for the different style alone, if you are playing a bunch of courses in the area, I think it's worth a look.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Dan, Strandhill is now €100 top-end rack rate, not €150. Most people can usually play it for less.

[Dan_Callahan]

Dan, Strandhill is now €100 top-end rack rate, not €150. Most people can usually play it for less.

You're right. Just checked my receipt and it was for $100.