We are slow learners. Google maps presented three options to drive the nearly three hours from Sligo to the Cliffs of Moher. We chose our route based on what appeared to be major roads for much of the way and strong secondary roads to finish. Indeed a good chunk of time was spent zipping along the M18 motorway at 120kph/70mph. Then……the blue line did us again. I think I actually heard the irritating voice assist snicker. We traversed everything from single lane tracks with outside mirrors nearly slapping the hedges on both sides to the “luxury” of laneways one & 1/2 cars wide. I can’t imagine what Irish drivers must think when they travel in North America. Perhaps; “Who knew you could build roads that can accommodate two cars and have space for a shoulder on each side?” Obviously we got our route choice wrong but did finally end up safely, with heart pounding, at the Cliffs despite the cross country trek.

We were fortunate to have another warm day which actually meant a degree of uncertainty as to what to wear given the upcoming hike and ocean winds. Given a slight overcast we started in long sleeves but one layer/short sleeves turned out to be more than enough.

The cliffs run for about 14 km/9 miles. At their southern end they rise 120 metres (390 ft) above the ocean and just near O’Brien’s Tower they reach their maximum height of 214 metres (702 ft).

We climbed to O’Brien’s Tower where we had a picnic lunch on the steps and took pictures looking south towards Hag’s Head, the southern end of the Cliffs.

We descended from the tower and started hiking south. The gravel path reflected the Irish road system. Some stretches were four people wide, some you had to squeeze past returning hikers while being careful not to catch on the barb wire or touch the electric wire fence along the adjacent farmer’s field.

The Cliffs are typically the most popular tourist attraction in Ireland with more than 1.3 million visitors last year. We think many of them were there with us given the huge number of touring buses (wonder what road they took!) and jammed car park.

The Cliffs are an incredible sight worthy of its UNESCO status. Four thumbs up.

Tomorrow it’s a short hop from our farm house Airbnb to Lahinch to golf on the #41 course in the world. Already thinking about the roads.

We packed up our Derry digs and headed back to the north coast for one last round in Northern Ireland. Unplanned but extremely fortunate scheduling meant we missed the start of the Northwest 200 by 12 hours. This massive motorcycle racing festival attracts over 120,000 spectators. Held on the roads between Portrush, Portstewart and Colraine the entire area is effectively shutdown. We managed to get in, golf and get out before the roads were closed.

Portstewart is a Willie Park Jr design from 1894 although the club is in the midst of a significant renovation of a number of holes on the back nine.

The course is a tale of two distinct nines. The front nine is played amongst some of the largest dunes and narrowest fairways of any Irish course.

The ladies faced an equally difficult task and sometimes, things went a little wayward.

The front nine included some serious elevation changes with very little margin for error. A shot coming up 10’ short became a 25 yard pitch.

The back nine is much more open, flatter and less imposing. Recognizing this, the club is making a number of changes to holes 13, 14 and 15 to increase the challenge. In particular, the 15th green will be lowered 7 feet given its abrupt upslope and tabletop design.

As you can see it was a short sleeve or one layer day for the most part. 23C/73F, sunny and just enough wind to make one question whether you held the right club. Very un-Irish May weather. A very pleasant day all around.

From the club we heading south west, back past Derry and into Ireland arriving at our hotel in Sligo around 9 pm. This last minute change was done to reduce the driving time on Saturday to the Cliffs of Moher where, despite it being a Pit Day, we will no doubt put in many more thousand of steps seeing the sights.

Sandy Hill Links is the middle child at Rosapenna having opened for play in 2003. Laid out between the Old Tom Morris Links (1891) and St. Patrick’s (2021) it distinguishes itself by having both up and down elevation changes on the same hole, infinity greens which seem to perch on the horizon and a layout where each hole seems secluded giving the feeling you are alone on the course.

It was a very special day given the sun shone, the wind was minimal, one layer of clothing was sufficient and we remembered the sunscreen (now that’s something you don’t expect to hear on a golf trip to Ireland in May).

Most of the holes run north south along the dune ridges. Half a dozen run across the top the dunes creating serious elevation changes.

Then there are the humps and bumps in front of the greens that throw back shots that come up short.

Designed as a course to host championships, Sandy Hills is relatively narrow with the ever present marram grass cloaking the dunes just steps off the fairways. It’s described as exacting and tough but rewarding. We agree.

Sandy Hills is right up there on our list of courses but our criteria is changing daily given we’re now eight rounds in. Our ranking list is in shambles. Although the dunes give each course a similar backdrop, yet again we felt there were enough differences to set it apart from the others.

Tomorrow, given a small travel schedule change, we’re packing up and heading out of Derry. Following golf at Port Stewart on the north coast we’ll start the journey south west for the next segment of our adventure.

Back in the car heading north east to Rosapenna, we took for granted Google maps would ensure safe, swift passage to our destination. It started well but total reliance on the blue line meant a 10 mile segment on a country lane that at the best of times was 1.5 cars wide. Blind corners, one lane bridges, sheep in the road and more dips and bends than can be imagined we emerged unscathed, white knuckled and sweating. Not the normal lead in to a round of golf.

Rosapenna is a huge complex comprised of three courses plus another few hundred acres of pristine dunes land. It’s massive. We played the newest of the courses, St. Patrick’s Links.

On land that originally encompassed 36 holes, Tom Doak designed an 18 hole challenge that is only three years old but feels older. While it might appear similar to other courses we’ve played thus far it had enough different elements to warrant very high grades.

The available land gave Doak the ability to introduce variety not found elsewhere. The routing goes between, over and around the huge dunes. There are steep hills both up and down and holes that run along Sheephaven Bay. And some greens have humps and swales normally not found on putting surfaces.

It was warm (only a three layer day) and dry for the most part (a bit spitty near the end) but quite breezy. We’re not good at estimating wind speed but every shot including many putts was impacted to some extent.

All courses have bunkers. St. Patrick’s Links has BUNKERS!!

Our return journey, needless to say, took a different route home. A bit longer miles wise but at least the road had a painted center line until we reached the motorway.

Back to Rosapenna tomorrow to play the Sandy Hills links. We can only imagine.

To ensure a balanced description of this community one must acknowledge there are two distinct populations and each identifies the city by a name that reflects their religious allegiance. Notwithstanding that, we enjoyed a wonderful tour of the city, focusing on the massive walls that still surround the downtown, with a side trip to Bogside to learn more of the “Troubles” that consumed Northern Ireland in the early 70’s with the ramifications still being felt today.

As we are staying on the east side of the River Foyle which bisects the city, our natural point of entry was to cross the Peace Bridge, erected in 2011 to reflect better relations between the largely unionist (Protestant) east bank with the largely nationalist (Catholic) Cityside on the west bank, by improving access between these areas.

The wall is massive. It stands 26 feet high in places and 30 feet wide with the top providing a one mile loop around what today is the bustling central area of Londonderry.

There are numerous century old buildings within the city including two churches.

The epicenter of town is the Guild Hall, now a local government edifice and information center.

It contains eclectic holdings including John Humes Nobel Peace Prize medal, wonderful stained glass windows and a huge pipe organ.

No tour of Londonderry would be complete with wandering through the Bogside neighbourhood which was a Catholic stronghold during the troubles from 1969-1994. In particular is the memorial to Bloody Sunday, January 1972, when protesters were shot by the British Army. Murals and commemorations exist to this day.

Despite the passage of time one can almost still feel the anger and anxiety that existed given the numerous signs, banners and plaques that are on display.

So despite being a day off we still walked many thousands of steps but took away a much better understanding of a city still somewhat divided.

Even though all of our golf destinations are worthy, RPR is truly iconic. Golf was first played on the site in 1888 and in 1929 Harry Colt created the Dunluce Links which opened for play in 1933. Host to many championships, RPR has the distinction of being the only club in the past 100 years to hold the Open Championship outside of the nine Scottish and English courses on the R&A rota (can you name them? Answer below), first in 1951 and more recently in 2019. The Open will return in 2025.

Located on the north coast of Northern Ireland we had high hopes given the weather forecast said warm, dry and little wind. We got 1 1/2 out of three. It wasn’t warm, it was dry and there were some cool gusts but given the possibilities, it wasn’t all that bad.

Arriving early has its costs – literally.

RPR climbs and descends the dunes along the ocean with no two holes traveling in the same direction.

The rough was cut, thankfully, last week and apparently won’t see a mower until next year’s Open is concluded. Even so it was penal. Yikes.

RPR was a treat to play, notwithstanding the slowly descending temperature and chilly breeze. Lots of great memories. It definitely merited a top three position on our golf played to date list.

Tomorrow is a Pit Day when we plan to explore Derry/Londonderry (that’s the proper, official name to avoid any bias). Probably cover more steps than an average round of golf!

Although the Open Championship has been played at many venues since its inception in 1860, until the reintroduction of Royal Portrush, the R&A had settled on a rotation of nine courses to host the tournament: Carnoustie, Royal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool, Royal Latham & St Annes, St Andrews, Muirfield, Royal Troon, Turnberry, Royal St Georges.

The second 18 at Ballyliffen was built in 1995. Unlike its sister, the Old Links, which involved minimal earth moving, Glashedy Links is definitely man made. The fairways are more familiar given their graded nature. Greens have drop offs and bunkers that collect slightly offline shots. It utilizes the natural elevation change on the east side of the property to great effect so there are uphill and downhill shots. Oh and the views are spectacular.

The day was relatively warm with minimal wind meaning less clothing layers.

The course was in very good condition as it prepares to host the British Amateur in mid June when 288 of the best amateurs in the world (you must have an index of at worst, +1.5 to enter) descend on Ballyliffen.

The fairways were ribbons carved out of the knee high fescue. The rough was spongy grass that played havoc with stance and ball contact.

Our post round tea now includes a “where would you rank today’s course” debate. By majority, not unanimous, vote, Glashedy Links sits in third place.

Standings to date: Royal County Down, Ballyliffen – Old Links, Ballyliffen – Glashedy Links, Ardglass, County Louth – Baltray. Having said that, all are fantastic and have been a treat to play.

Tomorrow Royal Portrush.

Ballyliffen, on the very, very north coast of County Donegal in Ireland, proved no four courses are alike (we’ve now play four different courses, each unique in one way or another). By Irish standards, the Old Links is not old having started as a 9 hole course in 1947. Additional land was purchased in 1970 and a new 9 holes was built, with the full 18 opening in 1973.

With fingers crossed that the rain would hold off we drove the 45 minutes from Londonderry. There is no apparent border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland other than the speed limit signs suddenly change to Km/hr. Very little narrow lane driving today but just enough to warrant full attention.

The course was blanketed by a layer of mist or an Irish marine layer. For the first few holes it was thick enough that without caddies we would have been lost. Our pictures don’t capture how misty it was.

Fortunately it cleared enough that the true character of the land was revealed. Our pictures also don’t truly display the rippling fairways as the locals call them. Imagine a ski hill covered with moguls of different shapes and sizes, laid flat and covered with turf. Dozens and dozens of such bumps and mounds dotted most fairways. A flat lie or stance was the exception. It also meant some shots on the ground deflected well off line.

The rough was ROUGH with spongy fescue and tall grass everywhere.

We agreed, over our now traditional post round cup of tea, the Old Links was a very enjoyable experience and a first rate course.

We’re back at Ballyliffen tomorrow to play the other course, Glashedy, which is in fact the championship designated 18.

A Pit Day, ie no golf, meant a strong list of tourist stops. From our townhouse Airbnb in Londonderry it was a 50 minute drive to the north coast. Spectacular weather – sunshine, 13C/56F and nary a breeze.

First stop, the Giant’s Causeway. A World Heritage site, movie set and geological marvel it has turned into a tourist magnet. Our tour guide, Emma, was a superb hostess with tons of information and insight. We walked down the hill past the various bays until voila.

The symmetry of the more than 40,000 columns is amazing but tourists kept cluttering up the pictures.

Then, per our normal, we chose to hike along the headland for different picture angles before ascending the cliff via a step stone stairway to reach the top trail.

From the top, the views were amazing.

Back in the car and further along the coast is the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Built to allow fishermen access to small islands off the coast in search of salmon runs, the bridge has existed for more than 250 years.

Again the tourists kept jumping into the frame.

Climbing back up the hill from the bridge meant more stairs but again, the effort paid off in the views. On a clear day you can see across to Scotland!

To finish the day we stopped at the Bushmills distillery for a tasting of a few of their products. All were deemed quite worthy.

Back to golfing tomorrow as we head north west to our first Round at Ballyliffen.

Ardglass, green mountains in Irish, hangs on the edge of the east coast 30 miles (yes they use miles in Northern Ireland) south east of Belfast. The Ardglass golf club began in 1896 and presented another distinct style and architecture versus our first two outings. It also holds the record of having the oldest building to house a clubhouse.

Unlike our previous experiences Ardglass isn’t a links course but many holes skirt the sea and wind is a MAJOR factor.

Did I mention the wind. Typical is 8-12 mph. We had 25-30 although with the ups and downs of the terrain there were some sheltered areas. On top of the hill the par 3 17th at 163 yards dead into the wind played 50 yards longer.

A great day made better by the very comfortable temperatures and excellent caddies.

Following our round and a cuppa tea we set off for Londonderry, 2 1/2 hours north east. That will be our home for the next nine nights as we explore the north coast and enjoy six rounds of golf. Tomorrow is a “pit day”, I.e. no golf so lots of touristy things on the agenda.