County Sligo Golf Club

At Rosses Point, as the locals refer to it, Harry Colt and Charles Alison wisely let the land speak for itself.

Raised tees, at times massive three-club greens, heaving fairways and a winding burn through several holes comprise the test.

I found it to resemble a Scottish links more than the two previous Irish links on this trip. It is devoid of the hulking dunes I encountered the first two days. Still, wind is one of the main defenses in Sligo’s arsenal.

It is a brute of a walk up the first two holes, then back up again on the 17th hole, however, in the valley near the beach that make up the bulk of the routing are a firm, but fair examination.

What Rosses Point has going for it is exceptional vistas toward Benbulben. Drumcliffe Bay frames the heart of the course as well.

Staff - from starter, to pro shop, to bar were among the friendliest I’ve ever met in my travels.

We had played 18 at Enniscrone earlier in the day so this was the second 18 and we were tired. It was a great walk and fairly easy on the legs, which was going to make us give it good marks regardless.

But the layout was neat and I loved how well maintained the grounds were. There were sharp, solid contours and the greens were terrific. The views were especially beautiful too and you could see how vast that part of the country was from many of the tee boxes. In fact, photos don't quite do some of the views justice.

A perfect way to cap a long, 36-hole day.

On the back end of a 36-hole day, County Sligo was the perfect course to play. Though the front nine wasn’t particularly memorable (save for the dramatically downhill tee shot on the par-5 fifth), the course really opens up around the turn. Both of the back-nine par 3s are spectacular, and if you can push your match to the final few holes (sigh), then you’ll be in for a treat with the watery 15th, windy 16th, brutal 17th and blind 18th. A really solid track, made even better if it’s 70 and sunny, like it was for us.

A fantastic links along the Wild Atlantic Way...with views, undulating greens and some great par three holes.
Staff were friendly and helped out with additional hire sets. The Guinness in the bar is also great.
The view of Rosses Point from the 12th/13th is awesome. The team at the American Golf store - located on site - were also very helpful. Worth a visit. If short on time there’s a smaller nine hole course and a driving range 5 minute walk from the reception.

When booking our tee times we were not informed that they had just punched the greens. Nice course with great views but it sure would have been nice if they told us about the greens and perhaps offered some compensation for this. Frankly the greens detracted seriously from enjoying the course.

Arrived at the course around 8.30am for a 9am tee time. When I arrived there was a course closed sign up...disaster since I had driven 3 hours to get there. Pro shop was closed for the winter months but club manager assured me that the course would open within an hour (frost delay). He kindly gave me a range token and asked me to come back in 45 minutes to get an update. Practice facilities are superb!

Right enough the course was fit for play when I returned from the range. It truly is a spectacular piece of links land - the views are spectacular and the layout is superb. Some real dramatic tee shots from high to low early on in your round. Would say you have to make your score on the front 9 with the back 9 being the tougher of the two. 3 hours 10 minutes for the round and a nice pint after.

Can't recommend Rosses Point highly enough.