Sligo or Ballyliffin?

[DaveP043]

I'm planning to return to Ireland in June of 2016 with a group of couples.  Most of the women play golf, and our tentative plans are to base ourselves in Killarney and Lahinch, and play several of the more famous Irish links, probably including Waterville, Ballybunion, Tralee, and Lahinch.  I've been to this area before, and I know it'll be brilliant.

At my wife's suggestion, since I'll be turning 60 in January, we're looking to stay a few more days on our own, and I'd like to explore a little further north.  After reviewing a little information, I'm considering two destinations.  The area near Sligo has three courses that look lovely (Eniscrone, Strandhill, and Rosses Point) and is only about a 3 hour drive from Lahinch, according to the AA route planner.  Balliliffin is another 2-1/2 hours driving, and has two very good courses.  Have any of you been to either, or both?  Any experiences or advice will be very welcome.

BTW, if any of you would like a book of outstanding photography of many of the links courses in Ireland, I can highly recommend one called Emerald Gems:The Links of Ireland.  Its pretty expensive, but the photos will make you drool.

[VOX]

Ballyliffin is good but remote. I would suggest staying in Sligo (Yeats hotel is nice) there are many more options for golf. Enniscrone is one of the best kept links in Ireland. You are also in easy reach of Donegal.

[Golfbreaks]

Either of those two bases would be a brilliant trip. That North-West corner is really wild and beautifully remote.. none of the crowds of touring golfers that can sometimes be found in the SW.

If you're looking at Sligo and Enniscrone don't forget Carne - another absolute gem with giant dunes - as well as Donegal.

Further round is a truly magical stretch of coastline. Rosapenna has a great hotel on site and two sensational courses in spectacular surroundings (the new one, Sandy Hills, is a Pat Ruddy classic - he of 'The European' fame). It's bit, tough and incredibly scenic.

Portsalon is also a glorious throwback, a proper old-school links played around a remote bay - the 2nd hole is reminiscent of the 1st at Machrihanish, hugging the coastline and tempting you to cut the corner. It's stunning.

Drive further on and you've got two big bruising links at Ballyliffen - hard to say which is the better one really. A day ticket there is a real treat that's for sure.

I'd go back there in a heartbeat, it's a great area to play and the welcome is always warm. Consider flying in/out of Derry depending on where you're going to/coming from.

Happy choosing!

Richard

[DaveP043]

Thanks, Richard, now you've given me LOTS more to research.  Of course, the research is a big part of the fun, and I have months before I need to make a final decision.

[DaveP043]

OK, my trip is getting longer.  Considering some of the driving involved, and my difficulties in making a choice, we're planning  to spend most of a week in the Northwest.  The first couple of days off the plane will be around Sligo, perhaps in Ballina, and hoping to play at Enniscrone and Carne.  Then we'd take a day to drive to Ballyliffin, and play both courses there.  Following that, we'll have a long day's drive south to join up with our friends around Killarney.  That puts me back in familiar territory.

So to my questions.  First, I'd welcome any advice or experiences with lodging and/or dining in either of the two areas.  Second, as its just my wife and I, does anyone think its reasonable to plan golf only a day or two in advance, rather than making (and paying in advance for) tee times at the courses.  I did just that in Scotland a few years ago, and didn't have any trouble making arrangements to play at courses like Panmure and Lundin Links with only a day's advance notice.

Thanks to all

[DaveP043]

A few weeks later, and my plans are almost finalized.  As it turns out, we'll be visiting BOTH Ballyliffin and Sligo.  We get into Shannon early on a Sunday morning, and drive the 5 hours to Ballyliffin.  We'll have 4 people in a minivan, so we'll have at least two awake at all times.  Hopefully, one of those will be the driver.  We'll play both courses at Ballyliffin on the Monday and Tuesday (18 a day), and drive south to Enniscrone on Wednesday.  Thursday and Friday will be golf at Enniscrone and Carne, then a Saturday drive down to Killarney.  Sunday is a day for tourist stuff.  Then golf at Tralee, Waterville, and Ballybunion Old.  Thursday is a short travel day to Ennistymon, Friday is golf at Lahinch, another tourist day on Saturday, and finally home on the Sunday.  Two weeks, 8 rounds of golf planned, a fair bit of driving, and lots of fun.

[mchepp]

Sounds like a great time. Be sure to take pictures to show where you went and give a mini review if you can so some of us can live vicariously through your experience.

[pganapathy]

@DaveP043, Dave, I suggest you book in advance and ask about the refund policy in case of any unforeseen circumstances.  It should be cheaper if you pay in advance.  Also, you don't want to wind up there and discover that for some reason (tournament, maintenance etc.) that the course is closed the day you have planned for it.  Just my 2 cents

[DaveP043]

1 minute ago, pganapathy said:

@DaveP043, Dave, I suggest you book in advance and ask about the refund policy in case of any unforeseen circumstances.  It should be cheaper if you pay in advance.  Also, you don't want to wind up there and discover that for some reason (tournament, maintenance etc.) that the course is closed the day you have planned for it.  Just my 2 cents

Thanks, we've decided to do  just that.  At this time we haven't booked Carne, they haven't opened their internet bookings for that.  Our hotel in Ballyliffin has suggested that we won't need to book more than a day or two in advance, but I'm keeping an eye on the internet bookings, and if it starts to fill up, I'll pull the trigger there too.

 

@mchepp, I'll definitely be keeping notes and taking pictures.  I'm not sure how much time I'll spend while in Ireland (I can't let posting photos here get in the way of my pub time), eventually I'll get around to posting stuff.  After my 2011 and 2012 trips to Scotland, I posted trip reports in www.tripadvisor.com.