Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort

Translated by AI

Two fantastic links courses on Ireland’s northwest tip, combined with a classic-style hotel.

Rosapenna has been at the top of Irish golf for more than 120 years. Names like Old Tom Morris, James Braid and Harry Vardon have left their mark on this unique facility in the northwest of Donegal. The first course, the Old Tom Morris Links, opened for play as early as 1893.

In the second half of the 1990s the ball was passed to Pat Ruddy, with the task of completing Eddie Hackett’s idea of designing and building a new, modern 18-hole links and then moving 9 holes from the slope north of the Carrigart–Downings road to an area south of the same road. Pat was entrusted with designing 27 new holes and, as far as possible, restoring Old Tom’s Valley closest to the beach. See the course descriptions below.

In addition to the two golf courses, there is also a five-star hotel on the property. For anyone who wants to practice and/or just play a few holes, Rosapenna is nothing short of paradise. For one thing, there are greens and fairways all around the hotel, with flags here and there that you can hit balls at. On top of that, there is a driving range and a former military 9-hole course across the road from the clubhouse. There is something here for every golfer, and if golf doesn’t fit into the day’s plans, a walk on the beach may be just the thing for peace and harmony.

Nearby is Downings Bay, with several hotels and restaurants, and on the other side of the bay is the famous pub Harbour Bar, so genuinely Irish that it almost becomes a parody.

The Casey family owns the Rosapenna Hotel and the two courses. The hotel is only a couple of hundred meters from the clubhouse. Around the hotel there are several short holes, putting greens and other practice areas. The family recently bought St Patricks GC, with two more courses. These adjoin Rosapenna but lie south of the Rosapenna property. We look forward with great interest to seeing how the 72 available holes are developed.

This page by Bo Sjosten was originally published in Swedish on our sister site Golfjournalen.se. It has been translated by AI.