The 14th at St Patrick’s Links at Rosapenna. Picture: Clyde Johnson

The new St Patrick’s Links at the Rosapenna Resort in Donegal has been named as one of the World’s 100 best golf courses.

We could leave it at that - after all, the plain, unadorned fact of the matter is impressive enough in itself - but this moment should not pass without pausing to admire scale of this achievement, to remark on the vision and audacity that has landed this stretch of linksland on Ireland’s north-west coast in the centre of the golfing world.

A little context before we go any further. The 2021-22 GOLF Magazine (Golf.com) list, published on November 2nd, is the most respected ranking of its kind (it is to golf courses what the Michelin Guide is to restaurants). Make no mistake. These people take themselves, and more importantly, golf, very seriously. This kind of recognition isn’t handed out for the price of a table at an awards dinner, or as a favour to mates. It is earned. It is deserved.

So congratulations to everyone at Rosapenna. They now find themselves in elite company, which is to say Pine Valley Golf Club, Cypress Point, the Old Course at St Andrews, Shinnecock Hills GC and the National Golf Links of America - the top five on the list, as well as five of the most storied, most historic and, save for the Old Course, most private golf courses on this blessed earth. In Ireland, the St Patrick’s Links joins an elite group of Royal County Down, Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush, Ballybunion, Old Course at Lahinch and Portmarnock, all of which have been deserved regulars on the list for a long time.

“As a long-time Doak fan, I am happy to argue it is his finest work; a masterpiece that is everything a golf course should be”

— Lawrence Donegan

There are five “new” courses on the Top 100 list this year. St Patrick’s - at number 55 - is the most highly rated of them all. It is also the most accessible, an attribute to be greatly admired in an era where the great golf clubs (and golf courses) have misguidedly embraced “exclusivity” as their unique selling point. No such attitude exists at Rosapenna, or in Donegal for that matter. When St Patrick’s opens up again for the Spring 2022 season, all that is required to get tee-time will be a simple visit to the website or a quick call to the Golf Pavilion.

With any luck the phone might be answered by Frank or John Casey, the two young brothers who along with their steady-handed father Frank Snr, had the guts to think they could build a world-class golf course at Rosapenna. And if you did get Frank or John on the line, you might ask them what kind of madness/vision/hubris/call it what you like possessed them when they conceived the idea of building a golf course of global significance in their backyard.

The 16th at St Patrick’s Links at Rosapenna. Picture: Clyde Johnson

My guess is they’d prefer not to answer - modesty being something of a family trait - so let me try and answer for them. They did it because they love Rosapenna and want to see the resort grow. They did it because they want to see their local economy prosper. They did it because they want to see Donegal and the North-West thrive. They did it because they were lucky enough to get their hands on a magnificent stretch of linksland where European Union laws would allow a golf course to be built (the last of its kind in Ireland). They did it because they love golf. And they did it because they know golf.

How much do the Casey brothers know about golf? This much. Once upon a time, the land where St Patrick’s now sits was in the hands of another owner, who hired Jack Nicklaus to build a golf course there. There’s no bigger name in the world of golf than Mr Nicklaus but not even the great man could hold back the tide of an economic downturn.

Fast forward a decade and the Casey’s brought in the golf course architect Tom Doak to realize their dream.

The name Tom Doak might not mean much to the non-golfer or even the casual golfer but in the small circles where golf nerds and obsessives gather to debate the finer details of golf course set-up and greens shaping Doak is a legendary figure. He has designed and built a small handful of truly great golf courses around the world, from Tasmania to the Oregon coast, some even of which you’ll find on the GOLF Magazine Top 100 list. And now he has built the St Patrick’s Links at Rosapenna.

As a long-time Doak fan, I am happy to argue it is his finest work; a masterpiece that is everything a golf course should be - challenging, playable, fun, daring, wild, calming, scenic, and memorable. Did I mention fun and memorable? I was there in summer with my son, a few weeks after the golf course first opened, and the experience still resonates with us six months later, like a well-struck four-iron.

I could go on to describe the beauty and imagination of the St Patrick’s greens, or the sheer genius of Doak’s routing of the layout, which makes the most of the stunning coastal landscape, but I think it’s fair to say that the new GOLF Magazine Top 100 in the World list says more than every word in my limited vocabulary.

St Patrick’s Links at Rosapenna. Best new golf course in the world.

It certainly is.