I was changing in the locker room after play and a fellow golfer was singing that happy song ‘What a Day for a Daydream’ to himself. It kind of summed up the feeling of the day for all those invited to play in Paul McGinley’s recent press day at Donegal Golf Club.
I arrived the afternoon before into the heart of Donegal Town for the first time. It reminded me of the rural towns in Spain with the ‘Plaza Mayor’ or main square right in the heart of the town, which oozed a warm welcome. There was a buzz of
excitement around a country and western concert being held in the town that night and the local lads were expecting many lassies from the hills to come to town that night!!
My friend Aubrey and I went for a drink in the original snug of McCafferty’s pub on the square before dinner. The locals were friendly, talkative and fun. There is a wildness about Donegal that comes out in the humour of its people. The pub was extraordinary and arguably the best Irish pub I have ever been in. It wandered from snug to snug, fireplace to fireplace, for about 100 yards back into a stage area and outdoor seating area with screens for sports. Every inch of the walls was covered with genuine Irish memorabilia from old Sweet Afton and Guinness posters, to press cuttings from ‘The Rising’ to an old Honda 50 on a shelf on the wall.
There is live traditional music most nights and I could think of no better experience for the visiting golfers to Donegal. We ate in a lovely Italian restaurant in town before checking into Harvey’s Point hotel on scenic Lough Eske and the five-star breakfast setting over the lake was worthy of a painting.
The drive to Donegal Golf Club through a thick autumn coloured forest was unique and unexpected. I wondered as I was driving through where was the sea and the dunes land that I had heard about? Then WOW! it appeared like magic. There was great excitement from the local members to welcome their son of Donegal back home. Paul’s parents were from Donegal and he spent many happy summers here in his youth playing GAA and golf.
The golf course, originally routed by Eddie Hacket and Pat Ruddy in 1971, is set on the most beautiful vast canvas of pure links land and sand dunes with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Donegal Bay on the other, set against the backdrop of the mountains. It was a pure joy to play and one could not but be blown away by the spectacular scenery and unique color of the Donegal sunshine we were blessed with that day. The beaches in Donegal were recently voted by Lonely Planet as the ‘4th best region’ in the world for beaches.
Paul explained how he is helping to upgrade three courses in Donegal with subtle renovations mainly based on making them more playable and enjoyable for visitors. This will be achieved by raising tees and opening up opportunities to get better views and clearing the lines to greens to make them more visible and approachable. His bunker work is some of the best I have seen. He has kept the personality of the wicket riveted bunkers but made them playable. It is also a female friendly course which Paul referenced always thinking about his mother, who played off 21, when placing the ‘ladies’ tees!
Paul is the brightest ‘Tour Pro’ I have met over the last 40 years in the business and he brings that intelligence to his design approach. He is a student of golf design and the fundamentals of his design philosophy go back to the legendary Harry Colt who designed Portrush, Muirfield and Sunningdale to name but a few. Paul has played all the great golf courses in the world and over the years has picked the brains of the other great designers like Crenshaw, Nicklaus, Dye, Fazio, Hanse and Doak. It shows in his work. Simple is better, less is more, very much the Crenshaw / Coore approach and it works.
The improvements to the Donegal Golf Club and the other courses will raise the profile of this unique North Atlantic Links cluster of courses and place them in the affordable ‘Hidden Gems’ category, which is a growing segment as the Trophy
courses price themselves out of the market, especially for the UK and European markets. With Donegal Town as the hub for ‘the craic’ it will be hard to beat.
On the way home we stopped in at the great Rosses Point golf club for ‘old times’ sake to look at the winner’s board for the West of Ireland. It brought back great memories of travelling there as kids to Sligo with my five siblings to see my father win ‘The West (12 times) and my solo win in 1971.
Couldn’t believe it was that long ago!