Links golf around Ballyliffin in County Donegal

It feels like a lifetime ago when I first heard of Ballyliffin, a mystical links at the very top of Ireland in County Donegal where there is much great golf to be found. A friend waxed lyrical about its beauty and its 36 holes. That it was so close to Malin Head, the northernmost tip of the country, only added to the allure. This is the wild north, where the ocean roars louder and the Aurora Borealis ripples above the horizon.

One of the club’s great joys is possessing two links layouts that share the same land but are of different persuasions. The Pat Ruddy-designed Glashedy is big and muscular, and sways like the rhythm of the tide, while the Old course teases more out of your game and entertains with an old-school bump-and-run groove.

A trip into the heart of the Inishowen Peninsula takes you to the village of Ballyliffin from where glimpses of the dunes stretch out to sea, and Glashedy Rock stamps its presence in deeper waters. It is a striking sight, as is the clubhouse which sits proud in the low-lying dunes, surrounded by golf holes. (There’s a nine-hole par-3 course here, too.)

A big course for the big occasion
Ballyliffin’s Glashedy Links hosted the Irish Open in 2018, and the Amateur Championship in 2024. That tells you its scale and quality. It also emphasises the sort of challenge it can present to the humble amateur.

Bunkering is voracious, hiding low in pools of shadow, especially around greens. You will quickly learn that to succeed here your approach play must be excellent. Greens are big but slopes around the edges can be treacherous, tugging balls towards sandy depths. The clever routing sees each loop of nine returning to the clubhouse, with both visiting the biggest dunes in one corner of the course.