St Patrick’s Links

The new St Patrick’s Links shines the brightest of spotlights on one of Ireland’s mystical beauty destinations: Co. Donegal. The county already boasts more than a dozen links courses and now the acclaimed Rosapenna Resort can add one more. Here, you will find 54 holes comprising the Old Tom Morris (1893), Pat Ruddy’s recently softened Sandy Hills (2004) and Ireland’s youngest course – the first new Irish links in 20 years – designed by Tom Doak.

Opened in July 2021, the contrasts between the three are substantial, but be in no doubt – St Patrick’s Links will stamp its mark not just on Irish golf but on the global order.

Charting a new path

The links is laid out on terrain occupied by two former courses from 20 years ago, but St Patrick’s is entirely reimagined. The design by Doak – one of the modern greats – shows just how big that imagination can be.

This is a vast rollercoaster adventure charging through deep dune valleys and soaring over more open, tumbling terrain next to Sheephaven Bay. The creative envelope has been well and truly pushed with natural, rippling fairways, raw and rugged bunkering and greens unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Their shapes are hypnotic and every green complex promises a putting adventure or inspires the ingenuity to try something out of the ordinary. Make sure you bring along your creativity and let soft hands do the talking.

A question of ranking

A modern masterpiece as remarkable as this will make a significant dent in Ireland’s top-ten rankings. It will be a challenge to position it among the established and illustrious links because it has an air of individuality that makes comparisons difficult. The wide fairways (the 16th may be the widest in Ireland) and green complexes that constantly bamboozle mean each hole has multiple ways in which it can be played. And yet it is always accessible, playable by golfers of all handicaps. How do you allow for that in a ranking? Play it and find out.