Located in a fairly remote part of County Donegal, Narin and Portnoo is a course few here seem to have played. Jeff Warne called it "Outstanding, wild, scenic, dramatic" in a thread a few years ago. It is that, and more. About two hours' drive from Sligo, the village itself resembles the set of a post-apocalyptic zombie movie - you drive through a caravan park at the very end of a the barren road to be greeted as warmly in the pro shop as you ever will be.
The first four holes are located on lesser land, but each has something that makes them more than just a walk to the 5th tee, where the fun really starts. They also run in three different directions, a great feature.
1st Hole - 289 Metres.
There's a fair bit going on from the tee, with OB right, a burn cutting in from the right that runs across the fairway some thirty yards or so ahead of a couple of pairs of pot bunkers 180 metres or so from the tee. It's saved by an outstanding green, with the front left two-thirds like a false front/side, a couple of shallow bowls near a right hand bunker, and a narrow central ridge that rises to a shallow top tier.
2nd Hole - 480 metres
The perfect place for the flat belly to grab a shot, there's a tight drive between bunkers left and water, and an interesting pear-shaped green with the fat side left sloping down toward the narrow stem on the right. The green is wider than it appears from the fairway, but there is a terrific subtle pocket front right maybe 5 metres from the water's edge.
3rd Hole - 178 Metres.
From the tee, this appears a fairly innocuous hole.
However, closer inspection reveals a lot more going on. The green slopes from front to back, there's a slight level section, then it slopes away again both front to back and left to right. Left is protected by a swale and mound, and there's a burn right. Downwind or crosswind requires some real artistry to stop it somewhere near the pin.
4th Hole - 416 Metres
Has a similar drive to the 2nd, with bunkers left and water ion the form of a burn right. The green complex is a little overly manufactured, but it's a tough green, only 31 metres long, with a narrow entrance and enough spines and ridges that means any approach not spot on will be a tough two putt.
5th Hole - 367 Metres
This is where the course really starts to pick up. The run from 5 to 17, with the exception of 13, is about as good as you could want. A slight dogleg left, there is a sharp crevice about 240 metres from the tee that provides the option of driving left to a wider section of fairway, but at the expense of a semi-blind approach, or driving right onto a narrower plateau that improves the angle to a green that slopes sharply from back to front, and has a subtle trench in the middle that sort of divides the green into subtle front and back plateaux.
6th Hole - 400 Metres -
A blind right to left dogleg, you need to hit it about 220 metres to safely carry this gaping crater left.
You then hoist a second uphill to another outstanding green. There's a sharp ridge off a left hand bunker, a central dome that splits the putting surface into a shallow rear tier of sorts, and about another half a dozen bowls and ridges than can feed the ball anywhere.
7th Hole - 130 Metres
A seemingly benign hole from dune to dune, the green has a shallow front tier less than ten yards deep in places that rises to a wider rear plateau. Given that the hole either plays into or downwind, distance control needs to be spot on.
Not the place to go long.
8th Hole - 311 Metres
Potentially driveable, as it plays sharply downhill. The fairway narrows alarmingly around 240 metres from the tee, so you would need to be accurate. Right side of the fairway gives the clearest line in.
In contrast to the previous few greens, this one is more subtle, with a slight front plateau that falls toward the fairway, and a small slope off the right hand mound making it tricky to approach back right pins.
9th Hole - 365 Metres
A fairly subtle hole with several distinct vertical lines of play. Teeing off over the previous green to an uphill fairway, which plunges over rough ground 200 metres from the tee.
If you can't carry it around 220 metres to get safely over the scrub, laying up short is the best option, but leaves a blind approach off an uphill lie. Big hitters who can smash it around 255 metres will carry everything onto a flatter portion of fairway and give themselves an ideal line into a green whose narrow front nose falls off right. The back half of the green slopes both right to left, and left to right, making a flat lie from the fairway even more of a necessity.
10th Hole - 485 Metres
A blind drive to a fairway that is mostly wider than it appears from the tee. The left hand side gives the best line into the green, but the fairway narrows about 260 metres from the tee.
Deceptively, the green is set further behind the rumpled ground next to the dune than it appears.
The green again is fantastic, with a wicked bowl front left between two bunkers, a crowned ridge middle back, another nasty tongue between the middle and right hand side bunkers, and a few sharp slopes between everything. I'm not sure who built these greens, but they were clearly a fan of Simpson's 14th green at County Louth.
11th Hole - 180 Metres
On a fairly nothing piece of land, a terrific par three was created by the simplicity of an angled three-tiered green.
What separates the green from others is that it isn't simply building a three tiered green. Various ridges flow between the various sections, pushing shots away into more trouble. The shallow rear tier has a very tough back pocket behind the last bunker.
The 12th and 13th holes play around the edges of the dunes. 12 has an interesting green with a sort of sunken, sideways horseshoe effect in the front third. 13 is just a way of getting to the 14th tee.
14th Hole - 480 Metres
The second of three consecutive par fives, it's testimony to the quality and interest of the golf that you don't really notice you have only played the single par five to this point and then play three in a row. You have an offset fairway from the tee. Near this bunker, the fairway narrows to around 20 yards in width. Before the bunker, the fairway is appreciably wider, but that of course means a much longer shot going in.
The uphill second generally offers plenty of room for a long second if the big hitter has chosen to take on the fairway bunker, a nice feature. The green has a steep tier in the back third.
15th Hole - 480 Metres
Just your average tee shot!
Depending upon the wind, these two holes contrast nicely, as one will be easily reachable if bold, the other less so. There's a little more trouble nearer the green, so the long second needs to be spot on. It's yet another strong green, hidden slightly by a ridge and deep bowl in front, with a couple of ridges feeding off the left hand side that create two great sections.
16th Hole - 110 Metres
Downhill into the wind, this is no place to misjudge distance. A postage stamp-sized green, severe rough short right will gobble up anything, whilst theres a deep dip on the left. The green has a slight dome right centre which falls away to the left and right, and makes the back section of the green an even harder target.
17th Hole - 377 Metres
If the 5th Hole at Strandhill isn't the lumpiest fairway in Ireland, then the 17th here surely is.
Similar to the 5th at Standhill, there are dozens of places on the fairway where you can see at least a glimpse of the pin, and dozens more where you can't. The green is a reversed upside down L set behind a ridge. Can't really write much more, because you'd have to play the hole a lot more than once to get a handle on the puzzle.
The 18th is a fairly modest finisher over flattish ground to a good green, but anyone who bemoans the quality of the final hole is a hard marker. I'm not sure what the summer rate is, but I paid €35, an outrageous bargain considering the quality.