St Patrick’s Links @ Rosapenna Golf Links - July 2021
Truely heaven on earth - undoubtedly the last great new links to be built within a Special Area of Conservation in Ireland.
“the middle of the fairway – except for perhaps once a round for the sake of variety – should never be the true line to the hole” Tom Simpson, Golf Architect
After 4 days of immersing myself in all things golf related at St. Patrick’s Links, Co. Donegal, I returned to Dublin energised by my experiences. The following day I happened upon a fellow member at the golf club, he too had made a recent visit, on a windless, 27 degree summers day (they do very occasionally happen in Ireland!), after exchanging pleasantries, our conversation drifted to his initial observations on the newly opened golf course:
‘Way too easy’ extolled my fellow member
‘Those greens are tricked up’ he opined slightly later on in our conversation
‘I was level par through 7 holes’ exclaimed Mr. Chopper (he never mentioned whether he managed to post a worldy 43 points...somehow I suspect not!)
‘A bit too raw’, says he ‘they should have waited to open until 2022’.
Fast forward a couple of months and Golf Magazine now rank St Patrick’s at #55 in the world, undoubtedly Mr. Chopper is not on their ranking panel and has almost certainly been scratching his head since that news broke.... he seems to prefer golf from the old testament where the level of difficulty is directly proportional to a courses length and the amount of fun is a derivative of how many balls he has to look for....each to their own I suppose, but if I was to agree with any of his points above....well one of us would be wrong!
Having visited Rosapenna for a few days back in September 2020 and peered inquisitively over the fence, from the remove of the Sandy Hills Links, I wondered what golfing delights were being lovingly crafted. The few glimpses I was able to steal emboldened me to return, I was even offered the chance of a preview round, however, C19 restrictions scuppered these plans.
Given the anticipation levels were ramped up every time that Mr. Doak mentioned St. Patrick’s on the Fried Egg Podcast with the ever informative Andy Johnston, I was very happy to return to the embrace of Rosapenna in July 2021 for a 4 day mission to unearth some of the many layers that have been built into the St. Patrick’s design.
Ordinarily when we think of quality Irish links golf most visiting golfers thoughts are initially drawn to three specific areas, namely Dublin and the East Coast, the Southwest coast (Kerry & Clare) and the north coast (RCD, Royal Portrush and Portstewart).
Over recent years the county of Donegal has started to flex its muscles in becoming a significant destination in itself. Ballyliffin has held the Irish Open , Narin & Portnoo has had a recent Gill Hanse and Jim Wagner facelift and the viral reach of places like Cruit Island and Portsalon have continued unabated
Where once Rosapenna Golf Resort boasted 18 holes, the Casey family now have an expanded offering of 63 holes for the delectation of links golf connoisseurs. Shrewd operators as they are, they have partnered with one of the very best design and build teams about, and for that the wider golfing public can be eternally grateful.
World renowned minimalist Tom Doak has spent much of past three decades dreaming about designing a golf course on the Emerald Isle. He nearly got there with the Kilshanning Cross project in Co. Kerry in the mid noughties, alas the mooted Renaissance Design project, in addition to a complimentary Coore & Crenshaw course, never progressed beyond initial site visits and conceptual routing plans.
An introduction from Larry Lambrecht, golf photographer extraordinaire, to the Casey family was ‘all’ it took to finally realise this long held ambition on an exceptional site stretching to circa 370 acres.... no pressure so!
The Donegal coast in Northwest Ireland is big sky country, where picture perfect golden sandy beaches meet machair, bog, lough and angular mountains, such as the foreboding Muckish and the pyramidal Errigal.
The St. Patrick’s development at Rosapenna has been raised, phoenix like, out of the ashes of a proposed Jack Nicklaus signature development. The Golden Bears part of this story was short lived, hitting the proverbial fan along with the Celtic Tiger circa 2008. Prior to Mr. Nicklaus’ dalliance the St. Patrick’s property had at one point been the home to a 36 holes developed by a local hotelier in the early 1990’s.
The Casey family purchased this adjoining mothballed site in 2012, bringing their linksland holding to some 1100 acres in total, with the initial routing plan for the Renaissance designed St. Patrick’s being completed in 2013, however, initial construction work did not commence until the summer of 2018 when a number of greens were shaped and irrigated under the watchful eye of the project team led by TD himself and lead associate Eric Iverson, ably assisted by Clyde Johnson and Angela Moser.
Covid 19 restrictions would conspire to keep Tom Doak away from the remaining parts of construction; however, the wonders of modern technology allowed him the benefit of monitoring progress from the confines of Renaissance HQ in Traverse City, Michigan.
Incidentally, Doak didn’t return until just prior to the official opening in June 2021, where ‘despite’ a few small surprises he was very well pleased with the end result.
The sites’ expansive canvas afforded the Renaissance team opportunity to utilise fairway width, often with significant contour, bunker scale and internal green contour to such great effect that the course resonates with a real sense of place, in other words it perfectly mirrors its’ achingly beautiful surrounds.
The routing brings the golfer on an exquisitely paced perambulation, initially through a dramatic blow-out inspired landscape on route to the coast and the valley below. Tacking onwards to an inland stretch that leads to the highest point of the property at the 14th tee. It is here that we happen upon a very special vertiginous panoramic reveal, tumbling onwards on the return to the valley head and the closing stretch featuring the whimsical 17th and short par 18th.
The rhythm of the round is perfectly pitched.... drama, intrigue, deception and variety interplay within the specific puzzle that each particular hole represents. Repeated play is recommended, remember that TD is a MacKenzie fan boy (revisit the Tom Simpson quote above and you may start to appreciate the nuances at play), in committing to this approach you are rewarded in better understanding the specific questions that are being asked of you.
Disclaimer... there is nothing else quite like St. Patrick’s, think Tara Iti meets one of the largest expanses of dunescape in the world. Rosapenna Golf Resort is now arguably home to the finest golf offering in Ireland where the Old Tom and Sandy Hills courses have been augmented by one of my all time favourite courses. Who knows where the ceiling is for this beauty.
In conclusion, this course will be in high demand in 2022 and beyond, my advice to interested visitors is to book early and often. This is some of the most fun you can have with your clothes on!
Tell Frank Junior that Shane Derby sent you!