I posted this in another thread a few days ago but I've since seen the button for a new topic (yes I'm an idiot). I'll be adding photos from the courses as soon as I get them on the net and figure out how to do it.
To start here is our trip itinerary.
Day 1 - Arrive in Shannon and drive to Ballina. Lodge at the Downhill House for three nights.
Day 2 - 36 holes at Carne
Day 3 - 36 holes at Enniscrone
Day 4 - 18 holes at County Sligo (Rosses Point) and drive to Rossnawlagh. Lodge at Sand House Hotel for three nights.
Day 5 - 36 holes at Donegal
Day 6 - 36 holes at Narin & Portnoo
Day 7 - 18 holes at Portsalon and drive to Ballyliffin. Lodge at the Ballyliffin Lodge for two nights.
Day 8 - 18 holes at Ballyliffin Glashedy and 18 holes at Ballyliffin Old.
Before any thoughts on the courses, let me give some general thoughts on the trip, keeping in mind we've done three trips to Scotland. We were prepared for bad driving conditions having been repeatedly warned about the roads in Ireland. I did all the driving and found it not much different than the road conditions in Scotland. The only difficult drive was from Shannon to Ballina and that was because we just got off the plane and I was driving on no sleep. Restaurants were few and far between compared to Scotland. There were lots of pubs to eat in but actual dining was confined to the hotel. Ireland didn't have as many local beers as did Scotland but this was made up for by "real" Guiness. While we found the Scots to be friendly, the Irish seemed to be more outgoing. We were approached by them in conversation much more than the Scots. This could have been a function of a bad economy. We only saw one other group of American golfers at Sligo.
On to the courses and some comments off the top of my head.
Carne - Very enjoybale course with some nice scenery on the back nine. The greens lacked any real character as they were generally flat. This was in contrast to the dunes that you were playing in and around which were quite large. #12, a short, sharp dogleg left, seemed to be a love it or hate it hole. Anything from a driver to a 6 iron could be played from the tee leaving a variety of shots to the green. The drive was downhill and the second shot was to a benched green some 30 feet above the bottom of the fairway. The love or hate it part came because none of us could ever figure out how to hit the green in regulation. #16 was a nice drop shot par 3 that was fun to play in a moderately strong cross wind. #17 was definitely the hardest hole. A resonably long par 4 that played uphill all the way. Left of the fairway put you in large valley with no hope of making par. Second shot had a large valley to the right of the green but a nice bank on the left to be used to bank the ball on to the green.
Enniscrone - Very dramatic links. Dunes seem to top out around 80-100 feet high with some spectacular views on the back nine. The 1st was a nice introduction to the course with a generous opening tee shot and a second shot that must be threaded between two large dunes on either side of the fairway and green (reminiscient of the 5th at Bandon Dunes). The next four holes or so were through the dunes but were quite playable. Then came the easy part of the course on some flatter land. Holes 12-16 were back in the dunes and were quite difficult. Any missed shot could easily result in an x on the hole. 12 and 13 were quite quirky. Both were fairly short par 4's one a dogleg left and uphill and the other a dogleg right and downhill. 17 was a good short par 3 with dropoffs all around. Any shot missing the green proved to be a tough up and down. With a few exceptions, every green seemed to be perched up quite high from the fairway. The greens had more interesting internal contours than Carne. However, I felt both Carne and Enniscrone really lacked in variety in the green complexes. Carne in the internal contours and Enniscrone in the green sites.
Sligo - A more traditional links like you find in Scotland. The rough was much more manageable except for the hole's out by the point. But it was the holes out by the point that provided the most excitement. The green surfaces were the fastest and smoothest of any course (roughly 40) I've played in the UK. The 4th was a good short par 3 with a steep fall off in the front. This made hitting the green tough with the wind at our back. All the par 3s were enjoyable.
Donegal - A very good links course with a wide variety of holes. Loved the second par 3 and the 8th - a par 5 with an interesting second shot, which made the tee shot very important.
Narin and Portnoo - This was the favorite course on the trip for scenic beauty and it had some good golf too. I don't think Pebble has anything on this course regarding the beauty of ocean holes. The first 4 or 5 holes were pretty ordinary but holes 6-11 were spectacular. A real variety of holes with many interesting shots and choices. The only course I've ever played with back to back to back par 5s.
Port Salon - Probably the weakest of the courses on our trip especially in regards to conditioning. Liked the punchbowl green setting on the first. The second (by far my favorite hole on the course) had a truly unique drive a Nascar like bank on the right hand side of the fairway. This could be used to run the ball around the burn on the left if the golfer could hit a draw off the tee.
Ballyliffin - Overall these were some of the best conditioned courses I've played in the UK (I know we weren't in the UK). Very firm and fast - as usual - with firms greens and good turf on the fairways. The two courses really highlighted the old way versus the new way of making golf courses. The Old course had the most rumpled fairways of any course I've played. It was clear that the holes were just found and the grass mown down. The Glashedy had gentle rolls in the fairway depsite the holes being interwoven amongst the Old course. It was obvious bull dozers had been brought in to create the holes. This was such a shame to me because it was not needed. It left me feeling that I had played an American links or resort course. But we still enjoyed it. The rought at both courses was presented in the best fashion of any of the courses. It was long but wispy. We generally could walk right to our ball and find it. Some lies allowed you to play the ball to the green while others required a pitch out. Perfect maintenace in my opinion.
Here's how our group would rank the courses overall:
1. Ballyliffin Old
2. Narin & Portnoo
3. Donegal
4. Enniscrone
5. Carne
6. Ballyliffin Glashedy
7. Sligo
8. Portsalon