One of the reasons we planned this trip was to visit the North of Ireland. Growing up in Dublin in the 1970s and 80s, Northern Ireland was basically off limits to us. Whilst you could visit, very few people from the south crossed the border - indeed the times we drove up to Donegal on holiday or for work we would take the long way round and go via Sligo rather than drive through the North.

So neither Thérèse or I had ever visited Northern Ireland before this trip.

Leaving Mayo, I had a long day with sightseeing in Sligo in the morning, golf in the afternoon and then driving to Newcastle on the East Cost in County Down.

Rosses Point (aka County Sligo) Golf Club

First stop was Rosses Point / County Sligo Golf Course.

Course Rating - 8.5

My score 31 points

A more open links style with far less tight high dunes (more like St Andrews). However a gem in its own right - highly rated. Played with a couple of locals. Great conditions with reasonable (but not ridiculous) wind for about 14 holes … until the rain came!

Golfers will of course know that there is only one reason to go to Newcastle … Royal County Down. Consistently ranked in the top 5 golf courses in the world it is a pilgrimage for most golfers.

I started with a warm up game at their second course, called the Annesley course. Definitely not in the same league as the other courses played on this trip, it was however a good introduction to the RCD style.

13th green on the Annesley (a difficult par 3) with 7th green in background

But the only reason to be here is the Old course at Royal County Down.

Course rating - 9.0

My score 33 points

A really long, traditional dunes type course. I played in group of solid to very good golfers (one off scratch) and we were recommended to play off the yellows (they have whites and blues also!) and that was tough enough! As an indication of how tough, my handicap was 6 shots higher than my GA handicap off the yellows - god only knows how many more off the blues. In any event, the blues would be unplayable for an average golfer like me - you need to be able to carry 250Y (225M) to get to the fairway on many of the holes from the blues.

Dunes are relatively low compared to many others and tops are covered with bushes and gorse rather than the grass type dunes seen at other courses.

Whilst it is excellent, I didn’t feel it is as strong as it is rated to be (top 5 in the world depending on source). I felt there were a couple of holes (13 through 15) that were quite weak - to rate higher I would want to see 100% strong holes. But still a great experience.

After Royal County Down, I met up with Thérèse in Belfast, but in this post I’ll round out the golf in Northern Ireland before talking about the touring we did together across the North in further posts.

Next stop was Portstewart (Strand Course… … another of the top courses in Northern Ireland.

Rating - first 9holes - 9.5, second 9holes - 7.5

My Score - 32 points for 16 holes

Course starts out very impressively with the first 9 holes cut through high dunes. As good as any I played on this trip. Unfortunately the back 9 comes out of the dunes and is largely played on flatter ground with some small dunes around it, some of which look to be clearly man made (they were changing holes 13 and 14 whilst I was there to try to make them more like the front 9). Last two holes (which I skipped as it was getting very late in the evening and I still had a long drive to do) appeared to be quite boring up and down par 4s from the clubhouse.

Next stop Royal Portrush (Dunluce course).

Course rating - 8

My score - 32 points in strong but not ridiculous wind

We played off shorter tees (6,700 yards) and all holes were still quite long. First 3 holes were pretty weak, but it quickly picks up into a traditional open style links course. Lots of challenges with hidden greens and choices as to whether to lay up or go for it.

Heading into Northern Ireland for the first time