Ballyliffin GC.
cavernous peat-riveted bunkers, large
contoured greens, fairways that twist and
tumble between towering dunes and a
collection of exciting par-3s.
Signature Hole: Hole 7 (Loch na nDeor),
Par-3, 174 yards. It’s tricky to pick just one
signature hole at Glashedy as each has its
own charms, but this par-3 hole played from
the course’s highest point to a green sited
100 feet below, with water to the right of a
green defended by four pot bunkers sticks in
the mind.
ballyliffingolfclub.com
Overnight Stay: Ballyliffin TownHouse
DAY 3: PORTSALON – County Donegal
Portsalon Golf Club used to be one of
the best kept secrets in Irish golf. It still
isn’t quite as well known as some of the
Emerald Isle’s other links, but word is
gradually getting out. Nestled under the
Knockalla mountains on the picturesque
Ballyliffin TownHouse
Fanad Peninsula and stretching along
Ballymastocker Beach, which was voted the
second most beautiful beach in the world
by Observer readers, Portsalon is one of
the oldest golf courses in the world, with
golf being played here since the 1880’s. The
course has an out and back feel to it, and
the opening stretch of holes in particular,
from 1 -7 running out alongside the beach
with raised tee blocks set in the dunes,
rumpled fairways and contoured greens
are as good as you will find anywhere. To
sum up, Portsalon may not have a posh
clubhouse, any practice facilities or even a
yardage book, but what it does have is an
engagingly old-fashioned links course in a
superb setting bristling with local character
and charm.
Signature Hole: Hole 2 (Strand), Par-4, 396
metres. Offering a fantastic vista, this
blockbuster par-4 is played from a high
tee to a fairway running diagonally along a
sea inlet and then across a river to a well-
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