Testimonials
First and foremost, thank you for arranging a wonderful trip for my father and me. We had an incredible time and truly appreciate all that you did in order to accommodate us and provide us with such a great experience. This trip has confirmed it for me. Ireland and Northern Ireland have the most breathtaking and exhilarating courses I have ever seen. We plan to be back very soon.
We both arrived Saturday, the 9th, after relatively painless flights and picked up our rental car in Dublin to make the drive up to Portballintrae and the Bayview Hotel. Very nice hotel, with a friendly staff and excellent food. We were put in a spacious room overlooking the water. Not a bad way to start the trip. Not wanting to get entirely overrun by Portrush the following day, we squeezed in a quick evening nine at Bushfoot, not three minutes from the Bayview. Pleasant course, with a fantastic opening hole.
Royal Portrush the following day was all that it is cracked up to be, especially the greens. We had a nice caddie and managed to get off in the middle of the members' tee times, so pretty much flew around the course. Weather was good, actually pretty easy conditions. We stayed at the Bayview again on Sunday evening, after making a quick trip to see Giants Causeway. Another very nice meal in the hotel restaurant. On Monday, we played Portstewart and Castlerock. Although it rained horizontally all day, we had a great time and actually both scored better than the previous day. I enjoyed Castlerock a little bit better, good variety of holes and some great drives between the dunes. Portstewart's front nine was excellent, though, some of the most dramatic dunes on the trip. And the flatter back nine provided a nice breather in the middle of a wet day of 36 holes. We had a drink and a bite to eat before and after the round at Castlerock. Lovely bar with a view over the course. And very nice barman, who gave us directions to Rosapenna.
We left Castlerock about 6:30pm and ended up getting to Rosapenna that night round 10pm after stopping a little over half way to get a meal. The Rosapenna Hotel was nice. Definitely has the feel of a place created for touring golfers. We had a quick drink in the bar that night before going to bed and then a very good full breakfast the following morning. (One of the best parts of all the hotels was the excellent breakfast.)
The Sandy Hills course at Rosapenna was awesome. Very challenging, a lot of fun to play, and stunning views. Not what I would consider a classic links, but very good nonetheless. Incredible dunes. It felt as though you were totally isolated on every hole, which was really cool. I would definitely play it again, and would be interested to see what the Old is like. We ran into a local guy, who says he comes to play the Old a lot, it is one of his favorites, but that he finds Sandy Hills too challenging.
After the round, we had a quick drink and then made our way to Ballyliffin. From what he barman at Castlerock had described to us, we were in for a treat. He was right. We arrived just before 4, and feeling invigorated from the round on Sandy Hills, decided to play the Old Links at Ballyliffin that afternoon. Faldo was my favorite player growing up, so it was especially fun to play a course he had remodeled. Without a doubt, it was one of my, and I think my Dad's, favorite courses on the trip. No doubt helped by the fact that we played well and had perfect weather, we had a great experience. I don't think I've seen as much natural undulation in the fairways other than maybe at the Old Course. All in all a classic. I may be biased, but I think Faldo has done a fantastic job with the additional bunkering to add more strategy to the holes. The Ballyliffin Lodge was very nice. Up to that point was definitely the class of the hotels. Dinner was excellent and there was a good bar as well. Another time, I think we would definitely spend some more time there and try and enjoy the other aspects of the hotel. But, there was far too much golf to be played to worry about that!
The Glashedy on Wednesday morning was tough. No two ways about it. In large part, this was due to the 30-40 mile per hour wind we faced, but the course itself was just challenging. Very fair and a good test, but not quite as much character as the Old. In the wind from the back, I think it would give the pros a good run for their money. Fairly drained from the morning round, we drove to Rosses Point that afternoon. Beautiful drive through the countryside. We got to the Radisson SAS Sligoabout 4-5 pm that evening and had a relaxing meal in the bar while we watched Man U-Celtic.
Rosses Point was one of our favorite places and courses on the trip. The town itself is an unspoilt seaside, holiday village and the club and course are classic. My favorite clubhouse I think for its simplicity. The course is fantastic. The second hole reminds a lot of Gullane No. 1 and the rest of the course was just a lot of fun to play. After you get down the hill, it reminded both my Dad and me more of the flatter Scottish links than many of the more dramatic, dune diving Irish ones. I think the next time I play 17, I'm going to forget laying up and just hit the driver.
That afternoon we made another beautiful and scenic drive further south and west into Connemara and to the Ballynahinch Castle Hotel. Wow. Thank you for putting us up there. Pretty neat place. Best dinner of the trip, coolest bar and nicest room (suite overlooking the river). Would love to stay there again. The following morning, Friday, we drove about 20-30 minutes from the Castle Hotel to what seemed to be the end of the Earth and the Connemara links. Every timewe thought the road couldn't get any smaller or windier, it did. Very cool. The course was a lot of fun. Probably the simplest layout, but challenging nonetheless, and we got it on a pretty calm day, so I can imagine how difficult it could be in a real wind. I thought the back nine and the finishing holes werethe strongest part of the course.
After that we drove to Lahinch. We had a wonderful time in Lahinch tracing some family history there and in the Limerick area. Thank you very much for setting up the Greenbriar B&B for us. Very nice and convenient place. We managed to get on the course the Saturday morning. I loved it. Flights back for both of us were easy. Now, all I need to do is get back on LA time!
Thank you again for all of your time and efforts in putting this together. And if you're still reading this at this point, I hope to have given you a little insight into the visitor experience at the different courses and hotels.
P.S. Everyone we spoke to raved about Carne and Murvagh. My Dad and I are definitely planning to make our way there at some point.
