North-east Donegal

As far north as Irish golf can venture, the Inishowen Peninsula boasts a 36-hole wild and wonderful masterpiece. Kevin Markham heads to beautiful Ballyliffin

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It feels like a lifetime ago when I first heard of Ballyliffin, a mystical links at the very top of Ireland. 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 more of 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 available here, too.)