Sligo/Donegal Recommendations?

[ajgoodal.704]

We are booked for our trip in June and may end up with a free day to book an extra round.  We are staying near Benbulben and have County Sligo, Strandhill and Enniscrone booked already.  Considering taking a little drive to either Narin & Portnoo, Donegal or Lough Erne.  Any recommendations?  

[Hawkeye77]

20 minutes ago, ajgoodal.704 said:

We are booked for our trip in June and may end up with a free day to book an extra round.  We are staying near Benbulben and have County Sligo, Strandhill and Enniscrone booked already.  Considering taking a little drive to either Narin & Portnoo, Donegal or Lough Erne.  Any recommendations?  

We aren't starting up that way and I'm still bummed we aren't playing Carne, which I've never played, lol, but wanted to. 

[ajgoodal.704]

We are playing 27 at Carne the day after Enniscrone.  Heading south to Galway Bay, Lahinch and Doonbeg from there.  

[hammergolf]

3 hours ago, ajgoodal.704 said:

We are booked for our trip in June and may end up with a free day to book an extra round.  We are staying near Benbulben and have County Sligo, Strandhill and Enniscrone booked already.  Considering taking a little drive to either Narin & Portnoo, Donegal or Lough Erne.  Any recommendations?  

Carne! The most amazing dunescape anywhere in the world. 27 holes of heaven.

 

EDIT… Never mind, glad to see you are playing Carne. I would say Narin & Portnoo 

Edited March 29, 2022 by hammergolf

[ajgoodal.704]

28 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

Carne! The most amazing dunescape anywhere in the world. 27 holes of heaven.

 

EDIT… Never mind, glad to see you are playing Carne. I would say Narin & Portnoo 

It is the furthest away, but it looks incredible.  I was hoping there might be some members that have played any of them that could chime in.  

[hammergolf]

2 hours ago, ajgoodal.704 said:

It is the furthest away, but it looks incredible.  I was hoping there might be some members that have played any of them that could chime in.  

I was looking at your itinerary, maybe you could play it on the way down to Benbulben? Then you wouldn’t have to drive back up again…. I’ve heard the work that Hanse did in the redesign is amazing. Not sure if you use the site linked below, but it’s a good source for course reviews.

 

https://www.top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/narin-portnoo

[puttnforthe8]

On 3/29/2022 at 9:16 AM, ajgoodal.704 said:

We are booked for our trip in June and may end up with a free day to book an extra round.  We are staying near Benbulben and have County Sligo, Strandhill and Enniscrone booked already.  Considering taking a little drive to either Narin & Portnoo, Donegal or Lough Erne.  Any recommendations?  

If you are ok with parkland, I would strongly consider Lough Erne - it is one of my favorites in all of Ire for may reason.  If you want links, just go to N/P for sure.

 

Random options:

 

If you want a pure links course, Mulranny is a 9 hole course with great views and was always kept well with good greens.  It used to be just turn up and play, but maybe not these days.  It is a flat wide open piece of property in a beautiful setting.   

 

Westport used to be good, but they changed ownership or some sort of issue and I heard conditions went downhill.  So if you get any recent info that says it is in good shape, then I would consider it.

 

 

[ajgoodal.704]

I'm not opposed to parkland and I've wanted to play Lough Erne since the first time I saw Crossfield and friends play it on the Tube.  We are playing a parkland round at Ballinrobe as our jetlag round on our way from Shannon to Sligo.  Our links rounds are at Strandhill, County Sligo, Enniscrone, Carne, Lahinch and Doonbeg.  Ballinrobe and Galway Bay being our two non-links rounds.  We were originally going to play Westport, but switched to Galway Bay instead.  So many choices.  Definitely think that County Donegal and Portrush will be the next trip.  

[Chanceman]

Donegal (Murvagh) is very good but its a long and tough course. Connemara is a bit similar and in a pretty rugged area. Take a wind breaker to be sure!

Edited March 31, 2022 by Chanceman

[El Gringo]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:16 PM, ajgoodal.704 said:

We are booked for our trip in June and may end up with a free day to book an extra round.  We are staying near Benbulben and have County Sligo, Strandhill and Enniscrone booked already.  Considering taking a little drive to either Narin & Portnoo, Donegal or Lough Erne.  Any recommendations?  

For me the three obvious choices are Donegal GC, Mulranny and Narin and Portnoo. Donegal is by far the easiest day trip, but the low key atmosphere of Mulranny appeals the most. Would like to see the changes at N&P, but I am not convinced it's worth the extra hour twenty drive time more than Donegal. If I go to N&P Cruit is a major add on. So for me N&P is for another trip and Mulranny is just too far. 

[Hawkeye77]

16 hours ago, Chanceman said:

Donegal (Murvagh) is very good but its a long and tough course. Connemara is a bit similar and in a pretty rugged area. Take a wind breaker to be sure!

Connemara is the first play of our trip!  Looking forward to it.

[ajgoodal.704]

On 4/1/2022 at 10:12 AM, Hawkeye77 said:

Connemara is the first play of our trip!  Looking forward to it.

I wish Connemara wasn't a nearly 3 hour drive from Sligo.  I had the chance to play it back in 2019 (stayed at the Connemara Sands down the road), but my wife got sick that morning and I ended up not playing.  

[Hawkeye77]

5 minutes ago, ajgoodal.704 said:

I wish Connemara wasn't a nearly 3 hour drive from Sligo.  I had the chance to play it back in 2019 (stayed at the Connemara Sands down the road), but my wife got sick that morning and I ended up not playing.  

Rats!  We're making our first trip and, of course, had to make choices - wish we could be there a month but we can't.

 

We are basically making a straight line to the Connemara area from Dublin then working our way south for a couple of days then roosting in the Tralee/Killarney area for a little over a week, then a couple days back to Dublin.  Originally wanted to start with a round at Carne, but it was 100% booked the only day we could have played and it makes more sense to drop it and start out by driving to Roundstone, so that decision was made for us and happy to now start with Connemara, which we wouldn't have played otherwise.  About 60 days and we are off!

[ajgoodal.704]

We leave exactly two months from today.  You will not be disappointed with the Connemara region.  Roundstone was fantastic.  There is a little café there that has good coffee and snacks.  I recommend picking some up and checking out Dog's Bay beach before heading to Ballyconnelly.  I could easily spend a whole week in Connemara, hiking, golfing, horseback riding, etc.  If you like seafood, Killary Harbour mussels are really good.  

 

We fly into Shannon on a Saturday, driving 90 minutes north to play Ballinrobe before setting up camp at a really nice B&B right under Benbulben in Sligo.  Playing Strandhill, County Sligo and possibly Castle Dargan if we decide on 36 one day.  The other round (Lough Erne, Donegal or Narin & Portnoo) is still up for discussion.  From there we play Enniscrone and spend a couple of nights in Belmullet.  Going to see Downpatrick Head and Ceide Fields on the way.  27 at Carne is the followed by heading south to play Galway Bay, Lahinch and Doonbeg.  We can't wait.  We booked this trip in 2020 for 2021 and had to do the whole thing over.  

[Hawkeye77]

We are Lahinch on the 9th!

[ajgoodal.704]

Nice.  We at at Galway Bay that day and Lahinch on the 10th!! 

[Hawkeye77]

59 minutes ago, ajgoodal.704 said:

Nice.  We at at Galway Bay that day and Lahinch on the 10th!! 

I’ll fix my ball marks!

[hammergolf]

My late Sept plans have changed. So I think I may do a Sligo Ireland trip instead. Thinking of Killeen Castle on the drive over, then Carne, Enniscrone, Strandhill, County Sligo, Donegal, and Narin and Portnoo. Had such a great trip to SW Ireland last October I think I’m going back again. 

[ajgoodal.704]

18 hours ago, hammergolf said:

My late Sept plans have changed. So I think I may do a Sligo Ireland trip instead. Thinking of Killeen Castle on the drive over, then Carne, Enniscrone, Strandhill, County Sligo, Donegal, and Narin and Portnoo. Had such a great trip to SW Ireland last October I think I’m going back again. 

That's a great trip!!  I had mapped out a similar trip coming from Dublin, but instead of Killeen Castle I had Slieve Russell or Lough Erne.  We opted for going in and out of Shannon on this trip.  Lahinch was high on the guys list.  I can't blame them.  I played there a couple years ago and it lived up to the hype and then some.  

[ajgoodal.704]

When I played there in 2019, I don't think I ever had a pitch mark.  That turf is crispy.  

[hammergolf]

9 hours ago, ajgoodal.704 said:

That's a great trip!!  I had mapped out a similar trip coming from Dublin, but instead of Killeen Castle I had Slieve Russell or Lough Erne.  We opted for going in and out of Shannon on this trip.  Lahinch was high on the guys list.  I can't blame them.  I played there a couple years ago and it lived up to the hype and then some.  

Yeah Lahinch is great, I mean where else in the world can you play holes like Klondike and Dell? My group loved Lahinch, and were pleasantly surprised at Doonbeg. We knew it would be well conditioned, but the quality of the layout was much better than we thought. Tralee was everyone’s favorite though. We had a friend who lives in Ireland come to our rental house a couple nights for dinner, and he was the one recommended the Sligo area. So it was on the list to visit. Since my plans for a trip to Lancashire (was looking to finish my bucket list of The Open Championship rota courses) has changed since I couldn’t get on Hoylake I’m going to do Sligo instead. I can’t wait to read about your trip! 

[ajgoodal.704]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:29 PM, hammergolf said:

Yeah Lahinch is great, I mean where else in the world can you play holes like Klondike and Dell? My group loved Lahinch, and were pleasantly surprised at Doonbeg. We knew it would be well conditioned, but the quality of the layout was much better than we thought. Tralee was everyone’s favorite though. We had a friend who lives in Ireland come to our rental house a couple nights for dinner, and he was the one recommended the Sligo area. So it was on the list to visit. Since my plans for a trip to Lancashire (was looking to finish my bucket list of The Open Championship rota courses) has changed since I couldn’t get on Hoylake I’m going to do Sligo instead. I can’t wait to read about your trip! 

 

I haven't met anyone who has been to Sligo say they didn't have a good time.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts on using it as a hub for your trip.  There is good golf within 90 minutes in any direction.  I've thought about doing a Donegal / Lough Erne 36 day.  They aren't too far from each other.  

[hammergolf]

1 hour ago, ajgoodal.704 said:

 

I haven't met anyone who has been to Sligo say they didn't have a good time.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts on using it as a hub for your trip.  There is good golf within 90 minutes in any direction.  I've thought about doing a Donegal / Lough Erne 36 day.  They aren't too far from each other.  

Actually thinking about extending my trip to 2 weeks and make a loop to play around the northern coast of Ireland/NI and back down to Dublin. 
 

Carne

Enniscrone

Strandhill

Rosses Point

Donegal

Narin & Portnoo

Dunfanaghy

Rosapenna (Morris & Patrick)

Portsalon

Northwest

Ballyliffin (Glashedy)

Portstewart

Portrush

County Down

 

Working on the logistics and not sure I can make it work but it would be an epic trip for sure. Looking forward to hearing about upcoming trip! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ajgoodal.704]

18 hours ago, hammergolf said:

Actually thinking about extending my trip to 2 weeks and make a loop to play around the northern coast of Ireland/NI and back down to Dublin. 
 

Carne

Enniscrone

Strandhill

Rosses Point

Donegal

Narin & Portnoo

Dunfanaghy

Rosapenna (Morris & Patrick)

Portsalon

Northwest

Ballyliffin (Glashedy)

Portstewart

Portrush

County Down

 

Working on the logistics and not sure I can make it work but it would be an epic trip for sure. Looking forward to hearing about upcoming trip! 

 

 

That is an epic journey!  I can't imagine how sore my body would be playing two weeks straight of rock n roll golf.  

[hammergolf]

Yeah that is what I am thinking. Might build in a day or two rest days.

[sabram]

On 4/12/2022 at 1:12 PM, hammergolf said:

Actually thinking about extending my trip to 2 weeks and make a loop to play around the northern coast of Ireland/NI and back down to Dublin. 
 

Carne

Enniscrone

Strandhill

Rosses Point

Donegal

Narin & Portnoo

Dunfanaghy

Rosapenna (Morris & Patrick)

Portsalon

Northwest

Ballyliffin (Glashedy)

Portstewart

Portrush

County Down

 

Working on the logistics and not sure I can make it work but it would be an epic trip for sure. Looking forward to hearing about upcoming trip! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did almost that exact same trip in 2015 . Played Sandy Hills at Rosapenna as St Patrick's wasn't there yet. You should consider adding Cruit Island which is not far from Narin & Portnoo, and make sure to add the Valley course when you play the Dunluce at Royal Portrush

[hammergolf]

4 hours ago, sabram said:

I did almost that exact same trip in 2015 . Played Sandy Hills at Rosapenna as St Patrick's wasn't there yet. You should consider adding Cruit Island which is not far from Narin & Portnoo, and make sure to add the Valley course when you play the Dunluce at Royal Portrush

I’ve had to adjust to only 8 days. So I’ll be playing Carne, Enniscrone, Stranhill, Rosses Point, Donegal, and Narin & Portnoo. How would you compare those to Lahinch, Ballybunion, and Tralee?

[sabram]

12 hours ago, hammergolf said:

I’ve had to adjust to only 8 days. So I’ll be playing Carne, Enniscrone, Stranhill, Rosses Point, Donegal, and Narin & Portnoo. How would you compare those to Lahinch, Ballybunion, and Tralee?

I haven't played in the Southwest of Ireland. It's still on my bucket list so can't give you a comparison. Carne and Enniscrone are outstanding and have a similar feel to one another as they both play through very  high dunes, (similar to the Island  and Royal County Down as opposed to links like Portmarmock or Royal Dublin which flatter and not as wild). Rosses Point is among my favorites. I think it's very under rated. Narin & Portnoo was a really good course before the Gil Hanse work. I can't wait to see the updated version. Strandhill and Donegal (Murvagh) were not quite in the same class as the others, but are still very good courses. You'll have a lot of fun with that itinerarary. If you can squeeze in Cruit Island between Donegal and Narin & Portnoo, it's worth it. It's a hoot..

[hammergolf]

3 hours ago, sabram said:

I haven't played in the Southwest of Ireland. It's still on my bucket list so can't give you a comparison. Carne and Enniscrone are outstanding and have a similar feel to one another as they both play through very  high dunes, (similar to the Island  and Royal County Down as opposed to links like Portmarmock or Royal Dublin which flatter and not as wild). Rosses Point is among my favorites. I think it's very under rated. Narin & Portnoo was a really good course before the Gil Hanse work. I can't wait to see the updated version. Strandhill and Donegal (Murvagh) were not quite in the same class as the others, but are still very good courses. You'll have a lot of fun with that itinerarary. If you can squeeze in Cruit Island between Donegal and Narin & Portnoo, it's worth it. It's a hoot..

Cruit is going to have to be on the next trip. I LOVED the dune holes at Tralee, Ballybunion, and Lahinch. Just by looking at pics and videos it seem Carne and Enniscrone are every bit as good. The changes Hanse made at Narin & Portnoo have received rave reviews. The elbow of 7,8, and 9 look like really fun holes.