The ultimate Ireland golf trip

Now, though, all 18 holes are true links and there is barely a weak moment.

What Rosapenna do with St Patrick’s Links, an amazing piece of adjacent land they now own that Jack Nicklaus was once going to turn into something special, remains to be seen. I just hope they choose wisely and stick with the decision.

Regrettably, after a couple of pints of Guinness, a good meal in the hotel’s restaurant and a restorative sleep it was time to leave Rosapenna.

Within an hour though we were in our element at Port- salon, one of the country’s most modest and under- rated links.

Make no mistake, it be- longs on your Donegal itinerary. The show-stopper here is the 2nd, where you drive over and across the sensational beach to the fairway beyond. It’s a world-class hole, but far from the only one.

There are double greens, dunes, winding fairways, mountains and sea views throughout. The inward nine, it’s true, is a little further inland and hinting towards parkland in places but there’s more than enough to make you want to do it all again even if the last hole, uphill all the way, has sapped your strength.

Paul McGinley used to come here on his child- hood holidays and he is currently acting as an advisor on course improvements.

Port- salon is the kind of club that belongs to the town and lives within its means, and so the first thing he told them was that they should fill in several bunkers that were not in play for the better player but expensive and time-consuming to maintain.

It’s entirely sensible, and means they can concentrate their efforts on the things that matter most, like the outstanding greens we putted on.