Countdown to opening day, Sat 26 June 2021 - St. Patrick's Links (Rosapenna)

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

St. Patrick's Links at Rosapenna is due to open in June 2021. There hasn't been much discussion about it on here, what with lockdowns, restricted travel etc., so I thought I'd collate all the photos that I've seen on the web. I've only put up links to photos that are already out there on the web (from the Instagram accounts of St. Patrick's Links, Clyde Johnson, Angela Moser and Tom Doak), so I hope Tom and his team don't mind. Unfortunately I have not been able to return home to see the progress of the construction, but the St. Patrick's Links Instagram account has been drip feeding us (it's torture) with a photo every now and then and this really adds to the excitement.

From Doak Golf:

We are using the old fairways for our 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 8th holes, but otherwise the new St. Patrick’s is a brand new routing, using the best land of the two original courses for a single great one.

The project is also a new venture for me: I’ve raised the captial to build it, and guaranteed the investors a certain return, after which I will be a part owner of the course alongside the Casey family who operate Rosapenna GC next door.

As Tom wrote, the new 1st re-uses the old 16th on the Trá Mór course. The new 2nd re-uses the old 17th, the new 7th re-uses the old 14th, and the 8th covers much of the same ground as the old 18th, but I think it's in reverse.

I think I have managed to figure out the routing for the first nine (I've been studying Google Maps a lot lately), but I suspect the 5th is a par 3, giving a par 36 for the first nine.  The second nine is not so easy to piece together; I haven't managed it yet. Most of the first nine is laid out over the old Trá Mór course which was in the north and west of the site, however the 9th hole returns to the fairway of the old 4th on the Eddie Hackett course, which is in the middle of the site. It looks like second the nine is routed over much of the Eddie Hackett course. It's not so easy to tell, but it seems like the land to the east, south and west is used for the second nine. The 14th brings you back to the beach on the west. The land to the south east is not as dramatic as to the north, but it is really wonderful rolling links terrain.

Sorry for all the links; I know there is a way of embedding and re-sizing the photos, but I don't remember. And I've been led to believe it is bad etiquette to do so, as they are not my photos. 

Hole 1, Par 4?
Fairway:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFISvbZFE0v/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
Future green site:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BklLOxDgGWd/ (from @doakgolf)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFc35LHlAVD/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
Approach to first green:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B19WOqmoYNg/ (from @doakgolf)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFvCo8RFUG5/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8cLFCCF3DS/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
Green:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CF-NiMTlmP-/ (from @stpatrickslinks)

Hole 2, Par 4
Before photo of second hole:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B71dDOylLFV/ (from @mosergolf)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGQbfcKluTL/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
Second green:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGih4vjFFcr/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHLreQglW1Y/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7jCJHPFXpA/ (from @mosergolf)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG3GMO7lcVk/ (from @stpatrickslinks)

Hole 3, Par 3
Future green site:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHYkwaNlUA7/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHvvIRXllF5/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
From tee:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CH-6nCAFu_X/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
Fantastic photo of 3rd green:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIOqO7Cl3qE/ (from @stpatrickslinks)

Hole 4, Par 5
Fairway:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgoVh5lKwN/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
Aerial of hole:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIywEm8laY3/(from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJE6d_olgC3/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJmVZ6Ylbzk/ (from @stpatrickslinks)

Hole 5, Par 3
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ9ctYVsWeo/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKKF3FrlCcG/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKe7wHAFLrX/ (from @stpatrickslinks)

Hole 6, Par 5
View from back tee: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKw3s-jFA_h/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLC-IR3lwNK/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLVBojaFXMq/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLm0wxqF3Do/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CL2i0cPlKnG/ (from @stpatrickslinks)
Site of future green:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkLokdaAiNm/ (from @doakgolf)
6th green, with 4th fairway in background (from @cunningolf):
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54de4ce4e4b065fefa4ebd75/1586862665203-F12UID9PCLU233G2F5VO/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kFmKdAJFcOk5fsAfzma6oat7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z4YTzHvnKhyp6Da-NYroOW3ZGjoBKy3azqku80C789l0ro8siOxa7KOjEXaZRk24Q56mUDAg7BAm91VGqgkLdX3NOdT9hRlG3rX4NNR3uCrgw/ST+PATRICKS+4-16.jpg?format=750w(from @cunningolf)

Hole 8, Par 4?
View from tee
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcGNa4Wgsjf/ (from @doakgolf)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ZTnBNFhjN/ (from @doakgolf)
Hole 12
Future fairway:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkOATHDAWzb/ (from @doakgolf)

Hole 13
Site of future green:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B14L33aIdd0/ (from @doakgolf)

Hole 15 (Par 3?)
Green during construction:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkOA6KBgQ2w/ (from @doakgolf)
Other links with photos:Previous discussion on DG:
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,20550.0.htmlhttps://www.rosapenna.ie/st-patricks-links.html

Tom Doak is building his first course in Ireland: https://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=610997&p=&pn=#{%22issue_id%22:610997,%22numpages%22:1,%22page%22:11}

The Fried Egg, 25 June 2019
https://thefriedegg.com/tom-doak-ireland-st-patricks/

The Fried Edd Podcast, Yolk with Doak, Episode 16
https://thefriedegg.podbean.com/e/yolk-with-doak-episode-16-st-patricks-and-building-from-scratch-vs-renovating

[Mike Sweeney]

From the archives, Tom Paulian thread on Saint Patrick's from 2005 -https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,16210.msg280850.html#msg280850

I am very intrigued by Tom Doak's work at Saint Pat's and will visit for sure. I belong to an Eddie Hackett course (Enniscrone), and I will always appreciate Eddie's ability to work with:

• No budget,
• Absolutely no budget.

Slainte

[Tom_Doak]

From the archives, Tom Paulian thread on Saint Patrick's from 2005 -https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,16210.msg280850.html#msg280850

I am very intrigued by Tom Doak's work at Saint Pat's and will visit for sure. I belong to an Eddie Hackett course (Enniscrone), and I will always appreciate Eddie's ability to work with:

• No budget,
• Absolutely no budget.

Slainte

I had a little more money behind me . . . although we did find a fair bit of evidence of earthmoving work that was done on the original course.  We did our best to make all that disappear. 

[Rob Marshall]

Does St Patrick’s play out of the same clubhouse as Sandy Hills?

[Tom_Doak]

Does St Patrick’s play out of the same clubhouse as Sandy Hills?

No, there will be a new clubhouse out in the middle of the course, accessed from the west [up by Carrigart].  But probably not until 2022.

[Tom_Doak]

I've been doing my best not to promote the course here or to over-hype it in general . . . which was easier to accomplish since I did not make it back to Ireland this year!


Since we had the greens all built and seeded in the fall of 2019, I deputized my lead associate Eric Iverson to work with Clyde and Angela to finish the last few fairways and the bunkering this summer.  After years of toiling away on some of my most technically difficult projects [Stone Eagle, Rock Creek, Hainan Island], this was Eric's first chance to build a real links, and I was 100% confident he has it sorted.  [After all we sorted out the routing together in 2013.]


The other ace up my sleeve was George Helly, who grew up at Enniscrone, worked in Bandon and eventually as the assistant at Tara Iti, and returned to Ireland to take up the greenkeeper's job at St. Patrick's.  I have no doubt that he will raise the bar for links turf in Ireland in the years ahead.


Rosapenna is a beautiful corner of the world and I am looking forward to getting back there next June for the official opening.  [Preview play will likely start from the resort's opening in May, but may skip some of the less mature fairways on some days.]  Anyone who gets to Ireland for golf in 2021 should go have a look; I am sure the panelist class will have fun sorting out where it belongs on the pecking order of my best work.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Knowing the land like I do and knowing much of the routing, I have no doubt this course will land very high up in the Irish pecking order, possibly being the first modern build to challenge the established “Big 5” from all the big magazines (although Waterville and Carne already did that in certain peoples’ rankings).


However, the claim that it will “raise the bar for links turf in Ireland” is a big one. Ireland has a couple of courses that land right at the top of the conditioning pile among GB&I links.

[Thomas Dai]

Anticipation set at 11 on the Spinal Tap scale!


atb

[Ally Mcintosh]

Tom,


A question that I haven’t seen asked yet but seeing as you are co-owner:


What will the membership model be? And will it be tied in to Rosapenna membership, stand-alone or have both options?

[Dan_Callahan]

What will the membership model be? And will it be tied in to Rosapenna membership, stand-alone or have both options?

I’m very much hoping they expand the membership offerings. I inquired back in 2019 after playing Sandy Hills and Old Tom and walking the St Patrick’s property (side note: I’ve never been more excited to play a new course than I am to get back to St P’s this summer ... it is a spectacular site). But the membership was limited to Old Tom. Sandy Hills was greens fee only. If they decide to offer an all-inclusive membership, I would jump at it.

[Tom_Doak]

However, the claim that it will “raise the bar for links turf in Ireland” is a big one. Ireland has a couple of courses that land right at the top of the conditioning pile among GB&I links.

I realize that, however I will also posit that the fescue surface at Tara Iti is better than any I've seen.  Whether George can bring the same to Ireland, without the budget of Tara Iti, is perhaps an unreasonable question, but his bar is very high.

[Tom_Doak]

What will the membership model be? And will it be tied in to Rosapenna membership, stand-alone or have both options?

I’m very much hoping they expand the membership offerings. I inquired back in 2019 after playing Sandy Hills and Old Tom and walking the St Patrick’s property (side note: I’ve never been more excited to play a new course than I am to get back to St P’s this summer ... it is a spectacular site). But the membership was limited to Old Tom. Sandy Hills was greens fee only. If they decide to offer an all-inclusive membership, I would jump at it.

We are still discussing this.  For the next few years, St. Patrick's is a stand-alone project, and our investors wouldn't be on board to throw it into the mix of Rosapenna for the same low price.  [Even after that, I'm a co-owner of one but not the lot, so we will have to sort out how to share the green fees from memberships.]


We've always assumed that most of the rounds will be cash business from hotel guests and tourists, but I suspect we will wind up with a separate membership for St. Patrick's [or a more expensive membership that includes it], and some sort of agreement about reciprocal play.

[Ally Mcintosh]

What will the membership model be? And will it be tied in to Rosapenna membership, stand-alone or have both options?

I’m very much hoping they expand the membership offerings. I inquired back in 2019 after playing Sandy Hills and Old Tom and walking the St Patrick’s property (side note: I’ve never been more excited to play a new course than I am to get back to St P’s this summer ... it is a spectacular site). But the membership was limited to Old Tom. Sandy Hills was greens fee only. If they decide to offer an all-inclusive membership, I would jump at it.

We are still discussing this.  For the next few years, St. Patrick's is a stand-alone project, and our investors wouldn't be on board to throw it into the mix of Rosapenna for the same low price.  [Even after that, I'm a co-owner of one but not the lot, so we will have to sort out how to share the green fees from memberships.]


We've always assumed that most of the rounds will be cash business from hotel guests and tourists, but I suspect we will wind up with a separate membership for St. Patrick's [or a more expensive membership that includes it], and some sort of agreement about reciprocal play.

It would be nice to see it as a genuine golf club rather than a high-end pay and play. Whilst that may not mean much to the fly-by-night world golf travellers, it would certainly help its chances to be accepted as one of the best among the Irish (and to a lesser extent the British).


That said, not sure how another golf club right beside Rosapenna would play out. There can’t be a local market for that.


And I’ve no idea the best model for revenue which has to be the primary motivator for the investors.

[Rob Marshall]

I played Sandy Hills and Old Tom but we moved on to the next town we were playing in after a few beers in the clubhouse. Is there a nice size town there? Seems to me it was fairly remote.

[Thomas Dai]

I played Sandy Hills and Old Tom but we moved on to the next town we were playing in after a few beers in the clubhouse. Is there a nice size town there? Seems to me it was fairly remote.

Dunfanaghy, about 25 mins away to the west, is a rather nice small town and also has the advantage of an 18-hole links course of its own - https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,49256.0.html
Atb

[Tom_Doak]

I played Sandy Hills and Old Tom but we moved on to the next town we were playing in after a few beers in the clubhouse. Is there a nice size town there? Seems to me it was fairly remote.

Everything in Co. Donegal is remote!


Downings, the town just behind Rosapenna, is very small but does have a couple of nice pubs, a harbor and a beach.  No real shopping if that's what you're looking for.

[jeffwarne]

I played Sandy Hills and Old Tom but we moved on to the next town we were playing in after a few beers in the clubhouse. Is there a nice size town there? Seems to me it was fairly remote.

Everything in Co. Donegal is remote!


Downings, the town just behind Rosapenna, is very small but does have a couple of nice pubs, a harbor and a beach.  No real shopping if that's what you're looking for.

The Singing Pub is nearby-to say nothing of the spectacular drive out to the Singing Pub, and as Tom points out there are a couple of other excellent pubs.
Dunfanaghy is great fun as well.
Not really sure anyone would need a "nice sized town" bigger than Downings, or Dunfanaghy on a golf trip-but Buncrana, much larger, is not far. I've had some great nights there when playing Portsalon, Northwest and Ballyliffin.


My last trip to Donegal was a very short trip in 2018-gotta rectify that. St. Patricks reincarnated would seem the perfect excuse.

[Dan_Callahan]

I played Sandy Hills and Old Tom but we moved on to the next town we were playing in after a few beers in the clubhouse. Is there a nice size town there? Seems to me it was fairly remote.

I stayed in Dunfanaghy when I was there. Really fun town. Amazing beaches. Shandon Spa is just outside of downtown and would be a good spot if you are traveling with a non-golfer. And pizza at the Rusty Oven rival's New Haven's best (seriously). I think the drive from Dunfanaghy to St. Patrick's was about 25 minutes, hugging the coast of Sheephaven Bay. Dunfanaghy Golf Course is definitely a tier or two below the other great Donegal courses, but it's fun and has a handful of interesting holes. It seemed to be very much a locals course, and I met some great people during my one round there.

[Brock Lynch]

We are still discussing this.  For the next few years, St. Patrick's is a stand-alone project, and our investors wouldn't be on board to throw it into the mix of Rosapenna for the same low price.  [Even after that, I'm a co-owner of one but not the lot, so we will have to sort out how to share the green fees from memberships.]


We've always assumed that most of the rounds will be cash business from hotel guests and tourists, but I suspect we will wind up with a separate membership for St. Patrick's [or a more expensive membership that includes it], and some sort of agreement about reciprocal play.

Very much looking forward to St. Patrick's opening. I do find it a little surprising that the business model for the project is under discussion. The Rosapenna website leads one to believe that St. Patrick's will be part of the resort, but you make it sound as if that is not yet decided. Before you belittle me for my post, could you clear up what stand-alone means? Is it possible that a package of golf and resort stay will not include an option for St. Patrick's? Will it be completely separate from the resort and accessed only by direct contact with St. Patrick's?

[Tom_Doak]

Brock:  Of course you'll be able to play St Patrick's if you're staying at Rosapenna, and I'm sure they will book it directly for you since they are being operated by the same people.


But they are separate businesses.  If you're staying at Rosapenna it's easy, your green fee goes to St Patrick's.  But if you're a member of Rosapenna for 700 euros per year, that doesn't give you rights to play St Patrick's for free.  The two projects will only be fully integrated once the investors are paid back their return.


Actually I think there will be a very similar relationship between Sand Valley and the new Lido course in Wisconsin.  Or between Tara Iti and the new resort to the south of it.

[Ronald Montesano]

Brock, you framed your interrogation wonderfully. No one could belittle you for such a post and enquiry. The Tom Doak that I've met on a few occasions would not, either. Lord knows that marketing people love to stretch the truth like gum, so you are wise to have asked.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Ran has an article about St. Patrick's:
https://golf.com/travel/st-patricks-links-anticipated-new-courses-2021/

Some amazing photos 

Also a good write up in Links Magazine:
https://www.linksmagazine.com/st-patricks-links-tom-doak-new-design-ireland/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=insider3.15.21

[Charles Lund]

Happy for the Casey family and the people of Donegal and Ireland.  I have had many enjoyable rounds of golf at Rosapenna since 2009 and have been treated well.  I was having lunch in 2012 at Rosapenna when Mr. Casey spoke with me about acquiring St. Patrick's.


Best wishes.  I am sure everyone will be happy about the opening.


Charles Lund

[Mike Sweeney]

Thanks for posting, on the 2022 list!

[Thomas Dai]

 
Atb
PS - it's not the St-P area more an old general view across the delightful linksland at Rosapenna-Sheephaven Bay-Downings including in the far distance the old Rosapenna Hotel. The green in the foreground is the now 14th on the OTM course.

(An old b&w photo with colour now added)