Murray's summary:

Wild country, secluded links.

Birdies:

•  Remote locations

•  Wild links golf in the middle of nowhere

Bogeys:

•  Remote locations

•  Distance between courses

Why go

The scenery is what draws most vsiitors to Donegal.  Wild, almost deserted landscapes and long Atlantic beaches make the scenery in the Northwest corner of Ireland like nothing you will find elsewhere.  In amongst this verdant wilderness are some superb golf courses, well worth the effort to get to the 1st Tee.

When to go

Golf is played all year round on these sandy soils, however Winter is probably best avoided as the you will have trouble keeping the ball on a tee once the wind whips up!  The rest of the year is fine and even school holidays do not swamp the roads and beaches of Donegal's seaside towns.

Where to stay

For golf on-site Rosapenna is a the best location, with two courses and a small seaside town for essentials.

Buncrana is another option, a larger town and quite well placed  fro gettinmg around with the Swilly Ferry right on your doorstep.

If you want to get away from it all, Ballyliffin is a secluded holiday resort, busy during the Summer months but beautifully peaceful the rest of the year and the two courses will keep you very well entertained.

What to see

Atlantic scenery and the open rolling hills are the reasons most people come to Donegal and there is plenty of it - whichever direction you choose to head in.

Ballyliffin - Old

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Murray's word

Ballyliffin Golf Club sits in the middle of a wide bowl between the hills and the North Sea in its own sea of small to medium dunes and marram grass; a wild looking place about as far north as you can go in Ireland.  The Old Course was created in the traditional style, they just cut the Fairways and selected 18 Greens.  Consequently they course has a feel of Mother Nature and hardly a flat spot once you leave the Tees.  Fairways are a cacophony of bumps and hollows that throw your ball in all directions and guarantee you an uneven stance.  Lovely old style links golf in total isolation.

Ballyliffin - Glashedy

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Murray's word

The Glasheedy has a more designed feel to it and the Fairawys have been ironed out to a degree so you get a more predictable bounce and run on the ball.  The course makes use of the highest dunes to create the most dramatic hole, the par three XXX downhill to a small Green beside a pond.  The rest of the course is good links fare, often through gullies in the dunes.  If you are not used to (or just don’t like) the “rub of the Green” you will find on the Old, then the Glasheedy will suit your game better.

Rosapenna - Old

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Murray's word

The Old Links at Rosapenna is rich in golfing history, having been designed originally by Old Tom Morris closer to the beach and town; evolving over the years at the hands of James Braid and Harry Vardon amongst other legendary names into the course and location it occupies today.  A front nine that is on the inland side of the Sandy Hills dunes and the back nine that runs between the big dunes and the beach.  A more subtle course, where the best route towards the pin is not always the obvious one: a course that grows on you, so worth playing more than once during your stay.  Some great views from the back-9 Tees that border the beach.

Rosapenna - Sandy Hills

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Murray's word

A bold course that may well take your breath away, quite literally.  From the swarm of large, central dunes, Pat Ruddy has carved 18 exceptional holes that rise and fall, twist and turn with every shot.  The strength of the natural hazards almost makes bunkers unnecessary – there are only 19 on the entire course!  If that wasn’t enough, the original Greens were deemed a little flat, so Tom Doak was called in to spice them up a little.  It is a fantastic place to play golf with great views from the higher ground taking in the Ocean, beach, Lough XXXX and the Harry Blaney bridge that leads over to Portsalon.  The course does not return to the Clubhouse before the 18th, so take whatever supplies you might need.

Portsalon

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Murray's word

A stunning drive to get here, from whichever direction you are travelling and a course that sits right on the beach at the surprisingly busy seaside resort of Portsalon.  The course is an old-style mixture of links and near parkland on the closing, inland holes.  A layout designed more by Mother Nature with holes that follow the intricacies of the landscape over rocky outcrops, streams, thickets of woodland and a few surprising corners too: Greens are generally small.   Being right on the beach the Club has a real Summer holiday feel to it.  Not too hilly so can be walked easily enough.  Well worth a stop off if you are travelling between Rosapenna and Ballyliffin.

Northwest (Buncrana)

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Murray's word

On the south side of town and very close to both the Swilly Lough ferry and the Inishowen Gateway Hotel the North West GC is a 120 year old course that is wedged onto a flat stretch of land between the road into town and the waters of the Lough.  Often overlooked by golfers dashing to Ballyliffin, it is however a course that is worthy of a little more respect.  The holes are on the short side and close together but certainly no pushover with small Greens, many with abrupt run-offs that will test your ability to get up never mind down!  The course is great value, considering the high standard of maintenance and the beautiful location.  Small Clubhouse with a warm welcome.

Rosapenna Hotel****

Murray's Word

The Rosapenna Hotel has been around for quite sometime, invented, extended and continually refurbished by the Casey family who still actively manage the resort.  The hotel has standard rooms and luxury Suites in a new wing that overlooks the beach.  Standard bedrooms are large with good bathrooms and plenty of facilities.  The public areas are spacious too with a vast lounge, sunny conservatory, impressive restaurant (many locals come here to dine), an eleganty traditional bar and even a snooker room.  The hotel has the best accommodation and dining in the Rosapenna area by far.  The spa area offers the chance to swim indoors in a good-sized pool, bubble in the jacuzzi or sweat it out in the sauna and steam room.  The Suites offer much larger bedrooms with space for two Double beds and still room for a settee too, roll-top baths and separate showers, balconies overlooking the beach and a small fridge for keeping your Tonic Water cool: all very luxurious.  An excellent, well planned and run hotel with everything a golfer could want.  N.B. It is 500yds to the Clubhouse, so you may need to drive around to play, although there is a path you can walk.

Inishowen Gateway Hotel**** - Buncrana

Murray's Word

The Inishowen Gateway sits on the south side of Buncrana, a minute from the Northwest Golf Club and the Swilly Ferry (it also has the municipal 9-hole course as its back garden, not a bad little course at all!).  The hotel is of modern design and construction, complete with adjoining health club, plenty of parking in front of the building and an overall feeling of efficieny.  The bedrooms and bathrooms are still nearly new, so clean and tidy; the bar on the ground floor is quite large, whereas the restaurant beside it is cosier.  The staff are friendly and helpful so you are sure to enjoy your stay.  The indoor pool and gym is a real plus point if you enjoy a swim but find the North Atlantic a little too bracing.  The Inishowen Gateway is a ten-minute stroll into town, where you will find all the bars and restaurants that Buncrana has to offer.

Dining out in Rosapenna

The local village of Rosapenna is very small and functions mainly over the Summer months for beach necessities such as kites, bucket and spades and ice-cream.  Most golfers therefore stay in and dine at the Rosapenna hotel.

If you do want to eat out then try

Dining out in Ballyliffin

Another tiny town, although less of a holiday type set-up as there is a larger community hidden amongst the folds of the Donegal hills (believe it or not!).

The hotels in town have good restaurants; the Ballyliffin Lodge is the better of the two.

Dining out in Buncrana

Buncrana is a slightly larger town and operates all year round as it is a convenient through route via the Swilly Ferry.

The High Street has a number of good cafes and restaurants, plus most of the bars serve reliable solid fare (although most finish early evening).  The art deco Oscars (074 936 3642) is arguably the best restaurant in town and serves great coffee and lunches; running it close is the Ubiquitous Restaurant (074 936 2232) is good as is the Agra (074 936 3222) an Indian restaurant to which you will need to bring your own drinks, but it is open late if and will offer Murray's Members a 10% discount.

Nightlife

As always in Ireland the bars are the main source of entertainment one or another in town is sure to have somebody playing and singing on any given evening! 

If you stay in Buncrana then there are a couple of "nitespots" - China's Disco in McAllisters bar is normally quite lively or try the more informal dances in An Tuam Nuah at the other end of the High Street.

Flights

The most convenient airport for Donegal is Derry (there is a Donegal airport too however flights are scarce).  Other options are Belfast (plenty of services) or Knock (Ryanair/Aer Lingus).  From either of these it will take you about three hours by road to get into the heart of Donegal and its golf courses.

Hover on a logo to see the available routes, clicking the logo below will take you directly to the airline's website to book your flights.

A very useful site that searches all the major airlines and some of the "lo-cost" carries for you is Sky Scanner.  You can alter depature and arrival points, dates and times at will and the website will come back with several options almost instantly.
Click the logo to give it a go.

Hire cars

Probably the most flexible way to get around during your visit.  Both airports offer the full range of hire-car companies: Avis, Hertz, Budget, Europcar, Sixt et cetera, whose contact details are shown opposite (if you have not already been offered a hire-car by your airline when you booked your flights!).

Holiday Autos offer a 10% discount to Murray's Members off their already low rates.  Simply click on their logo opposite to be taken to their specially discounted website.

Ferries

By sea there are routes from the UK into Larne from Cairnryan or Belfast from Liverpool.  From Belfast it is about three hours drive across some great scenery to get into Donegal and out to the northwest coast, Larne is slightly further, but maybe more convenient depending on where you are coming form in the UK.

Hover on a logo to see the available routes, clicking the logo below will take you directly to the ferry company's website to book.

Discounted ferry prices for Murray's Members - just click on the logo to lower the gangway to our exclusive Member rates.

Swilly Ferry

A very handy short cut across Lough Swilly from Buncrana to just south of Portsalon.  A simple roll-on-roll-off open deck vessel, just turn up and buy a ticket at the quayside.  Ferries depart around every hour, so you won't have long to wait.

Local transport

If you would prefer to leave the driving to somebody else then there are a number of local travel agents who will take care of all you transfer arrangements.