i have just returned from a fantastic trip which took in narin& portnoo; cruit island; rosapenna and portsalon. i will post some pictures just as soon as my wife helps me with the technology. meanwhile, my impressions.
i can't recommend a trip to these parts highly enough. the quality of the golf is excellent, but if our experience was anything to by, they are still far from the tourist mainstream. the story is best told in the prices - Euros 30 per round at Narin, 40 per round at portsalon and 100 at rosapenna for playing both the tom morris (old) and sandy hills (new courses). cruit island is a nine hole course (with 18 tees) and cost 20 euros per round. to play all this golf for less than what you would pay at some of the top courses for a single round is astonishing value, especially when you take account of what a good group of courses they are.
our rough consensus of the courses we liked most was that we would play sandy hills first, portsalon second, tom morris and then narin (or maybe swap the latter two). but in some ways the comparisons are invidious because they are not wholly like for like.
i played both courses at ballyliffin last year, and castlerock, and i think i would prefer the sandy hills and portsalon courses to either of those (although i enjoyed those too and, indeed, ballyliffin, portsalon and rosapenna would make three wonderful days of golf over 5 courses at 3 locations which are quite near each other). i would also play both these courses in preference to tralee. ( i leave narin and the old tom morris course out of the comparison because they are courses of a different era on a different scale).
narin was a great place to start - a wonderfully unpretentious course, close to the sea. a real example of golf as the people's game, stripped to its essentials (there is barely a pro-shop to speak of - just a few basics for sale from behind the bar). holes 5-11 are probably the best, and they include some seriously difficult greens!
after that, we drove for about an hour up to cruit (pronounced critch) island, which has a nine-hole course. it has stunning views and is a real delight - quite a nice way to finish off a first day. the course, especially the greens, were in very good condition - it is more than just a holiday 9 holer (thank you dr johnny for pointing us in the right direction!)
next stop was rosapenna which is a memorable piece of links land, quite similar to saunton. We were very impressed with sandy hills, which has only been open for just over a year. it is a tough course, without being eccentric or unfair. it reminded me of doonbeg, but i think it is a better course. pat ruddy has used the dunes to excellent advantage - there are many exceptional tee and green locations. it is also long. off the back markers (7155 yards) the first two par fours are 495 and 463, and there are a few other par fours which are getting towards 500 yards. that said, off the white markers the course is 6356 yards which is a good challenge. the course certainly encourages you to hit your driver a lot. there is a 6 inch placing rule while the course beds in, but it is in good nick considering its youth. a large, yet tasteful, clubhouse is under construction and you have to believe that the owner is hoping to bring a tournament here.
the tom morris course has a fantastic lineage having been designed by OTM, with bits of help along the way from vardon and braid. it is in stark contrast to sandy hills insofar as SH is set among the dunes while the TM course runs between them and the sea (for the first nine) and is largely flat. it has some very fine holes - i particulary liked the short par four 5th and the the par three that followed it. curiously, considering how old they were, and the available dunes land, the second nine winds off into the hills and does not really have the same links character as the first nine. still, a very nice course.
portsalon has recently been rebuilt, although i don't know the details. it is one of the oldest courses in ireland, but clearly fell into disrepair for some time (see what tom doak had to say in TCG when he visited there - in 1983 i think). whatever, it is a very fine course today and well worth the visit. we played it in a fairly brutal wind which made the first seven holes really tough going. the second, in particular, was nearly impossible, but even amid the challenge you could tell there were some very fine holes. the 4th is a par 5 with a fabulous, barrel-shaped fairway. you can tell when the course turns at the eight hole that some new holes have been built as the fairways are wider, there are more, different shaped bunkers and the fairways are not as established. the course changes character on the inward nine as it gets a little away from the sea and a few trees enter the picture. the 13th, 14th and 16th are three very good par fours coming in.
aside from the golf, the trip we did takes you through some of the most underdeveloped and attractive parts of ireland. all of the venues we played had views over simply wonderful beaches - to warm the heart of any links fan.
when you think of the quality of golf available, and the cost, and where the golf tourists are currently going (west, southwest, dublin and northeast) you would have to say that this is the area that is going to come into its own in the years ahead. a house in rosapenna or portsalon in particular is going to be a good investment. you can already see the money going in, but it is still early days.