a — Golfing Gems on the Emerald Isle —

ENNISCRONE GOLF CLUB
Enniscrone, County Sligo, Ireland

Enniscrone Golf Club
Enniscrone, County Sligo,
Ireland
Tel: +353 (0)96 36297
Fax: +353 (0)96 36657
Email: enniscronegolf@eircom.net
Web site: http://www.enniscronegolf.com

        Enniscrone has 27 holes, is ranked #20 in Ireland, and, in 2002, was added to Golf World’s Top 100 courses outside the US. Enniscrone is a classic Irish links. Set on sandy wasteland jutting into Killala Bay, the rolling sand dunes that separate the sea from the course form the perimeter and shape the character of this magnificent links, which is playable year round. Its location—on the Bartragh Peninsula, with grand views of the Ox Mountains extending across Counties Mayo and Sligo, and the untamed Atlantic Ocean rolling without interruption from North America—makes the Enniscrone links not only challenging, but also quite scenic (bring your camera!).

LENGTH & PAR of the Championship "Dunes" Course:
    Blue Tees: Par 73, 6,948 yards
    White Tees: Par 73, 6,814 yards
    Green Tees: Par 73, 6,372 yards

GREENS FEES:
    Adults:         €50 Mo-Fr; €65 Sa-Su & Holidays
    Husband & Wife:   €75 Mo-Fr; €85 Sa-Su & Holidays
    Junior/Student:    €25 Mo-Fr; €30 Sa-Su & Holidays

VISITORS WELCOME: No minimum handicap
    • Course open all year
    • Weekdays (Mo-Fr) better than weekends
    • Pre-arranged tee-times strongly recommended

RESERVATIONS:
    • Tel: +353 (0)96 36297
    • Fax: +353 (0)96 36657
    • Email: enniscronegolf@eircom.net
   • LET HOME AT FIRST BOOK YOUR TEE-TIME AT ENNISCRONE as part of your Ireland travel plans.
        There is no service charge for making your booking.

FACILITIES:
    • Practice Area & Putting Green
    • Club rental
    • Pull-cart rental
    • Motorized cart (buggy) rental
    • Caddies available weekends & summer months
    • Pro shop
    • Bar & Restaurant

DIRECTIONS: off the R297, Enniscrone road, just west of Enniscrone (Inishcrone) town (1/4 mi.); Ballina (Co. Mayo) 8 mi. south; Sligo (county town of Co. Sligo) 33 mi. east; 34 mi. from Horan Int. Airport (Knock); 33 mi. from Sligo regional Airport.

NEAREST HOME AT FIRST LODGINGS: In and near Sligo Town, 45 minutes east.
More information about HOME AT FIRST's travel program to Counties Sligo & Donegal: NORTHWESTERN IRELAND

NEIGHBORING COURSES:
    • Country Sligo (Rosses Point) G.C., just north of Sligo town
    • Connemara G.C., Ballyconneely, Co. Galway
    • Carne Golf Links, Belmullet, Co. Mayo.
    • Bundoran G.C., Bundoran, Co. Donegal
    • Donegal Golf Club, Murvagh, Laghey, Co. Donegal

HISTORY: Golf has been played on the dunes at Enniscrone since 1918. The original 9-hole links at Enniscrone was expanded in 1974 when minimalist Irish architect Eddie Hackett designed a 18-hole links across the rugged dunelands. Like all of Hackett’s low-cost designs (including the wonderful links courses at Murvagh and Connemarra, and the parkland course at Nenagh) the resulting championship course at Enniscrone offers a challenging array of interesting holes that requires a full bag of clubs to negotiate.
        A modest, religious man, Hackett, interviewed shortly before his death in 1996 for the book Links of Heaven (by Richard Phinney and Scott Whitley, Baltray Books, Ogdensburg, NY) said, "I’ve been very lucky in my life. Most people never get to design a links. I’ve done ten. When I’m out (on the course) I pray to the Lord to give me the light to do what’s right."
        The Lord apparently heard Hackett’s prayer when he was stepping off the 18 holes at Enniscrone. Its meager cost to the club belies the quality of the resulting course. Played from the backs, Enniscrone deserves its championship moniker. From the whites and the forward greens the course modifies its configuration appropriately for shorter hitters, but still requires shot making in conditions often tight, usually windy, and always rolling. Typical of an Eddie Hackett course, Enniscrone offers numerous elevated tees to show off the grand peninsular geography, and, perhaps, distract the golfer from the task at hand. Another Hackett signature are the four exquisite par-3’s on Enniscrone, which serve to reinforce the idea that links golf is not about length, but all about shot making.
        In the years since we last visited Enniscrone, the course has changed again—and not simply tinkered with. When we heard that fully 1/3 of the course had been replaced with six new holes, we feared the worst. Old Eddie was barely cold in the ground when Enniscrone retired Hackett’s first six holes—using them as part of a new 9-hole links course ("Scurmore")—and replaced them with six new holes carved among more rugged undeveloped dunes on the peninsula. We feared the ambitions of little-known Enniscrone town to become northwestern Ireland’s leading entry in the proverbial "best new seaside resort" fixation in the British Isles would convert Hackett’s sublime vision of a course that fit the site nobly to a new-fangled gimmicky golf amusement park. Then we heard that Donald Steel was to design the new holes.
        Steel, if you don’t know, is a Scottish golf architect with a penchant for links courses, and a philosophy for minimal environmental intrusion that would have done old Eddie Hackett proud. Steel’s been lauded for his design of the Carnegie Castle links course at Skibo Castle near Dornoch, Scotland. He’s also directed redesigns at Turnberry (Scotland) and Royal County Down (Ireland), and serves as a design consultant for the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. Donald Steel’s six new holes among the dunes of Enniscrone, eliminate what had been the weakest part of Hackett’s design and compliment the final twelve of the course, Hackett’s best work. The resulting revision, now called "The Dunes" course, can rightfully be called new and improved.

THE COURSE AND SOME NOTABLE HOLES: Despite the fact that Enniscrone has hosted the Men's and Ladies' Irish Close and the West of Ireland Championship, the course remains one of Ireland’s great unknown links courses. The course features three par-5’s in the first seven holes (and 5 par-5’s overall). While these can be very challenging in rough weather, the first classic holes are two new back-to-back par-4’s: the 450-yard-long 5th (#2 handicap) and the 424-yard-long 6th (#4 handicap). A high tee at the par-4 10th (#5 handicap) with views over Killala Bay and the Ox Mountains kicks off the back nine dramatically. Enniscrone's great finishing holes begin with the punishing par-4 12th (#3 handicap). Number 14 (542 yards) is Enniscrone’s most difficult par-5 (#7 handicap), with a green sloping away from the approach. The toughest hole on the course is the par-4 15th with a 3-level green following 421 yards through sharply undulating dunes. Even the "easier" holes leave no margin for error, like the tight 140-yard, par-3 17th (#17 handicap) which requires a shot toward the ocean from an elevated tee to a tiny green. Flatly, every hole is a new adventure now at the "new and improved" Enniscrone. Here are a couple of the "easier" challenges:

• HOLE 3, "Devlin", 208 yards, Par 3, #16 handicap: a testing par-3 with a narrow, bumpy approach and a deep greenside bunker. An accurate drive here can reward you with a birdie opportunity, but the rough, moguls, and the big, bad bunker can steal your luck here.

• HOLE 13, "The Burrows", 350 yards, Par 4, #13 handicap: Neither long nor especially hazardous, the 13th at Enniscrone can provide a birdie opportunity with two accurate shots. But, if just one goes astray, there will be a struggle to make par here.

LOCATION & ACTIVITIES: County Sligo is best known for its favorite son, W.B. (William Butler) Yeats, the Irish poet and playwright whose literary artistry reflected and inspired Irish nationalism during the first decades of the 20th century. His gravesite is near Carney just 5 minutes north of Sligo town. The region is characterized by dramatic landscapes and seascapes. Villages and towns are few and far between in this underpopulated part of Ireland. Walking the hills, fishing the streams, lakes and sea, shopping for authentic Irish crafts and woolens, pursuing Irish ancestral roots, and playing championship golf linkses are excellent reasons for visiting this part of Ireland. Visitors will be impressed by the friendly welcome they receive everywhere in Ireland’s great northwest.

Home at First offers independent, flexible, fly/drive travel
to four regions of Ireland. Plan your own trip, with our expert help.
For information on Home at First travel to Ireland, see:
IRELAND

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including some of the greatest tests of golf in the world?
See our SCOTLAND, IRELAND, ENGLAND, and WALES Course Guides for more information.