Favourite Hole: The 6th grabs the headlines but the
par three 16th plays through a ring of dunes to a green
that is tilted towards you.
What's in the Bag? Staying on fairways is critical to
your score.
Rosapenna (Sandy Hills)
Co. Donegal’s rich set of golf courses includes the highly impressive
Rosapenna. There are 45 holes here – with more to come – and
Rosapenna combines the very old with the very new: Old Tom
Morris came here in the 1890s, while Sandy Hills was designed
over 100 years later by Pat Ruddy. Given this stormy sea of dunes
crashing over high ground, Ruddy must have been in his element as
he carved fairways through the natural, rolling contours. Elevated
tees promise delicious tee shots onto tossing fairways before rising
to beautifully positioned greens. At times it feels as if you only come
up for air between holes, to be met by the stunning vistas that are
ever present over Sheephaven Bay and beyond (wait until you play
the 6th). Sandy Hills is a stern test and definitely not for the faint
of heart as the rough is treacherous, the wind tenacious and the
bunkering far too magnetic.
www.rosapenna.ie
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