I just reread Ran's profile. I recommend it. I played Lahinch twice; The Old and The Horrid at Ballybunion ; Enniscrone (36)and Carne before ending at Rosses Point.

    At Rosses Point the weather was incredible---50 mph and steady gusting to levels that started my trolley rolling on flat terrain and constantly blowing my bag off the trolley if I did not place it exactly into the wind. Rain was sideways, but passed quickly so that throughout the round we were totally wet and totally dry 15 minutes later several times during the round.

    Despite this , I thought the routing on that piece of land was among the top three or four I had ever seen. And that the architectural merits were highlighted by the tremendous wind. You really needed to think about where to hit the ball .


   As Ran mentions, the course starts on the top of the hill. I didn't know the designer going in but on the first hole I knew it was Colt. The look was reminiscent of #1 at RPR. I saw the fourth hole as "redanish" because of the slope from front right to back left. I agree with Ran's comments about conditioning. The firmness of the fairway turf added to the challenge of executing shots.

    The dramatic drop shot of #5 ,the Jump hole, was intensified by the wind that day. The use of the creek was well documented by Ran , but I would add the sparse use of bunkering as another simple idea well done at this course.

   #9 , a short three, sits on a ridge and welcomes the shot over the green since the green slopes front to back. Although on this day I saw no way to do anything but go long!

   #10 and#11 run parallel with both having tiered fairways. This broke up the flatness nicely.

    #12 runs out to the Point. So, on this day it was impossible to get there in three.

   I agree with Ran's comments on the remaining holes.

   We wondered how the hell we were going to get back up that hill to the clubhouse.
    #17 is a classic hole that starts that ascent. I hit slightly short of two other guys who drove into the broken ground. They complained about getting screwed; I asked them if they had looked at the course map.

    #18 was a blind shot well up the hill. This completed the ascent in a graceful fashion for us.

    We thought that the white rock worked for the second shot to #17 as well as the tee shot on #18. Is this true? Are there other examples of this?

   My impression was that it was a classic links, possibly more Scottish than Irish.

    Why isn't it spoken of in the same sentence as Ballybunion, Lahinch, County Down, and Royal Portrush?

 Sean,

   I liked both Carne and Enniscrone as courses on the way to somewhere else. I didn't know when I put the trip together that it would be to Rosses Point. Both Carne and Enniscrone seem to be Lahinch Lite. They attempt to give you the feel of awesomeness without the intense difficulty. I think this an attempt to attract more golfers. Has golf marketing hit Ireland?

   As I flew back yesterday I knew I could build a trip around Sligo.

I am surprised you did not mention #4, which is where the course really starts for me:



The greatest bunkerless par 3 in golf?

It is a little flat in spots so I am surprised that you love it based on your reviews of WF and BB. That said I agree with your assessment. It is lacking the dunes of Carne and Enniscrone if someone is looking for that. It is also the only course of the three that begins and ends in town in  a St Andrews sort of way and of course it has Yeats looking down from Ben Bulben:



Architecturally, it is the best of the three, but the terrain of Enniscrone and the remoteness of Carne are hard to beat. In the 10 round test of life, I am 3, 3, 3 with the 10th going to whoever has the best weather that day of the 10th round.

PS. I guess that invitation must have gotten lost in my spam folder.    

My visit to Sligo two years ago was marred by inclement weather. I only got two images. #4 and #17. I look forward to a return visit.

 I asked my group to rank the courses. Ballybunion-1, Lahinch 2, Carne-3, Enniscrone 4 (going from memory here, those two may have been flipped) Sligo 5 and The Horrid course at Ballybunion last.. I put Sligo #1 to try to keep it from the bottom.

 Mike,

   We stayed at Alice and Aiden's as you recommended ( I and two others stayed down the road a bit). Aiden is president of the club now. That I knew Mr. Sweeney went a long way to building credibility with Alice.


    I focused much of my admiration on how the routing used the property in a very imaginative way. A very boring course could easily have emerged on that piece of land. Ran's mention of the varied use of the stream is to my point of a well routed course.


  To play any course in such extreme conditions is a thrill.

 Hi mayday,
Im so glad  youre having  a good trip.  that does look like a great routing.  give me  a call when  you return to   Eagles country


Mark

Until I saw this photo I had never considered that 13, the short par 3 on the right, could have been a shot across water.  I certainly don't remember it that way.  Even with only a little wind off the sea, with the green below the tee, I managed to discover the burn behind the green.   Today I suspect the hole would be designed longer and the stream diverted or grassed over.

Sligo is playable in all conditions unlike Carne,  Ballybunion New.

My good friend and fellow Hibernian Dan Sheehan played Sligo and enjoyed it.

I got word he died suddenly this morning. It was good that he was able to enjoy Sligo, Lahinch, Ballybunion, and all of the great Irish courses in his lifetime, as he was proudly devoted to his Irish heritage.

John,

It sounds like your friend Dan was a very lucky man who got to taste a little of heaven before leaving this earth.

Rosses Point was one of the many highlights of my trip to Ireland this month. The day was so NW Ireland. The first and third holes were played in rain suits with sideways rain and a very fresh wind. 5 and 7 rain and wind. The rest of the day was a dream. I find the notes above of the highlight holes to be in line with my thoughts. I put it in the top 6 in Ireland/Northern Ireland. I thought Enniscrone was the Cruden Bay of Ireland. It was wild, kinky and so fun.

Cetainly County Sligo should be part of any tour of NW Ireland. A wonderful course.

Tom Doak rates it a 7, a notch below Lahinch and Portmarnock, which seems about right.

Ken

I participated in their "open" week four or five years ago and the membership that I met made it a pleasure.