The Golf Collection
St Patrick's Links: How To Play, Stay And Eat
Tom Doak's Donegal links, the resort around it, and the far north of Ireland.
Photo supplied by Marcus Hartwall
St Patrick's Links opened at Rosapenna in 2021, and within five years it had become the new course American golfers ask us about first. Tom Doak was given dunes big enough for two courses and built one. Rosapenna now quotes GOLF Magazine placing it 44th in the world.
It is also the most remote great links in Ireland, on Sheephaven Bay in north Donegal, three and a half hours from Dublin by the resort's own estimate. That distance is the point. Three links, one hotel, and a trip that has to be planned properly.
Four chapters, in order. Play, plan, eat, book. Every price, date and hour in them is taken from Rosapenna's published 2027 terms.
Read In Order
Four chapters, in sequence.
The way we walk visiting friends through St Patrick's Links. Play first, plan second, eat third.
- I
Chapter I
How To Play
The card hole by hole, which tees to play, and why the walk is the whole experience.
7 min readRead chapter → - II
Chapter II
Three Days Around
Three links in three days, the airports that matter, and the Glenveagh afternoon.
7 min readRead chapter → - III
Chapter III
Where To Eat
The Vardon Restaurant, the Coach House Bar, and the Wednesday problem.
7 min readRead chapter → - IV
Chapter IV
How To Book
The 9 April to 17 October season, the resort guest rate, and the Three Links Ticket.
7 min readRead chapter →
The Parallel Fairway
The Rosapenna Day
A mill shop, a headland drive, and a castle garden under Errigal.
St Patrick's is walking only, which puts the round closer to five hours than four. Add the three miles each way from the hotel and the day is genuinely yours until early evening.
- IMid-morning, once the golfer has left
McNutt of Donegal, Downings
Ten minutes from the hotel, in the village
A working weaving mill with a shop attached, still making the tweed and lambswool that Donegal is named for in the trade. Buy the throw rather than the scarf, and buy it here rather than in Dublin, where the same cloth carries a city markup.
- IIEarly afternoon
The harbour at Downings
Beside the pier, five minutes on
Crab and langoustine landed at the pier the day you eat them, in a room that does not care how you are dressed. This is the least ceremonial lunch in the collection and the one our guests describe most often afterwards.
- IIIAfternoon, allow three hours with the drive
Glenveagh Castle and its walled gardens
About an hour inland, under Mount Errigal
A lakeside castle at the end of a glen with a garden that has no business surviving this far north, and does. The walk from the visitor centre along Lough Veagh is the part people remember, not the house.
If it rains
Donegal rain arrives sideways. Swap Glenveagh for the Atlantic Drive around Rosguill, which is at its most theatrical in weather, and take the mill shop slowly instead.
What to bring
A proper shell, not an umbrella. The wind here takes umbrellas apart.
What we would skip
Trying to reach Malin Head and back in the same day. It is three hours of driving for a headland you will see for twenty minutes.
Continue Planning
The trip around St Patrick's Links.
Where to sleep, how to shape the wider week, and which destination to open next.
Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort
The only sensible base: 70 rooms on Sheephaven Bay, and a €50 per round saving on St Patrick's for resort guests.
Build a northern golf week
Rosapenna, Portrush and County Down in one trip, planned around the tee times you can actually get.
Open the itineraryBefore You Book
What visitors usually ask about St Patrick's Links
- Where is St Patrick's Links?
- At Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort on Sheephaven Bay near Downings, in the far north of County Donegal. The course is about three miles from the hotel entrance, and Rosapenna does not run a shuttle to it.
- How much does it cost to play St Patrick's Links in 2027?
- Rosapenna lists €380 for a day visitor and €330 for a resort guest in 2027. The Three Links Ticket, one round on each of the resort's three links within seven days, is €710 for off peak tee times.
- When is St Patrick's Links open?
- In 2027 it opens on Friday 9 April and closes on Sunday 17 October. The resort's other two links have a longer season, from 22 March to 31 October.
- Is St Patrick's Links walking only?
- Yes. Rosapenna does not permit drive buggies on St Patrick's, with or without a medical certificate. Caddies can be requested at €90 per bag plus gratuity, and we recommend one on a first visit.
- Can we combine St Patrick's Links with Royal Portrush?
- Yes, and it is the trip we would build. Fly into Belfast, play Portrush and County Down on the northern arc, and treat Rosapenna as its western end with two or three nights and all three links.
The Booking Decision
How we would book St Patrick's Links.
St Patrick's Links opens 9 April and closes 17 October 2027. The green fee is €380 for day visitors or €330 for resort guests. The Three Links Ticket, €710 for all three courses within seven days, opens 1 November, is off peak only and is blacked out 1 to 24 September. Book with the room, request caddies at €90 a bag, and remember it is walking only.
All prices, dates and terms were checked in September 2026 against Rosapenna's official green fee, Three Links Ticket and contact pages. Rates are in euro and set by the resort; confirm before paying.
Play it if
- You want the newest great links in Ireland with almost nobody on it.
- You are happy to be remote and to make the resort the whole trip.
- You want three courses inside one week from a single base.
Skip it if
- You want a town, restaurants and options within walking distance.
- You need a buggy. St Patrick's does not allow them.
- Your dates sit at either end of the season.
Time it takes
Walking only and closer to five hours than four, and the resort is the base, so the day needs no driving.
What we would book today
- Room and golf together through Stay and Play reservations.
- St Patrick's at the €330 resort guest rate.
- Caddies, requested in the same email.
- The Three Links Ticket from 1 November if your dates are off peak.
What we would not bother with
- A late March or late October trip built around St Patrick's.
- The Three Links Ticket for early September 2027.
- Assuming the Irish resident rate applies. It needs an Irish licence and a Golf Ireland index.
- A buggy booking. St Patrick's does not allow them.
Where we would sleep
Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort
The only sensible base: 70 rooms on Sheephaven Bay, and a €50 per round saving on St Patrick's for resort guests.
Read the staySt Patrick's Links or Royal Portrush
Choose St Patrick's Links
- You want an empty tee sheet and modern links architecture.
- Three courses from one room suits the group better than touring.
- Donegal's remoteness is the appeal, not the obstacle.
Choose Royal Portrush
- You want the Open venue and the name.
- Non-golfers need attractions rather than a peninsula drive.
- You would rather be an hour from Belfast than three.
Play it if, skip it if and the head to head are our judgement. The fees, windows and rules above are the club's own published terms.
Before You Play
The working manual.
Five planning questions we get asked every summer, answered honestly.
The CaddieMost relevant here
How much to tip
The €60 on the eighteenth green that changes the round.
ReadThe Bag
Renting clubs in Ireland
Which pro shops carry the good sets, and when to reserve.
ReadThe Clubhouse
The real dress code
What Irish clubs actually enforce at the door.
ReadThe Freight
Shipping your clubs
Courier or Aer Lingus, and where the bag should land.
ReadThe Ballot
Which courses need a handicap
Where a certificate is checked, and where it is not.
ReadThe Budget
What four days actually cost
The honest line-item number, green fees to the last pint.
ReadThe Walk
Caddie, buggy, or trolley
Where buggies are banned, and where the caddie is the point.
ReadThe Solo Round
Playing Ireland as a single
Which clubs pair a party of one, and which times to ask for.
Read
The questions we answer before every Ireland golf trip, gathered in one index.
The full planning Q&A