DESTINATIONS
Cruit Island, a worthy first stop to this Ireland adventure.
Ireland’s wild Atlantic way by tom bedell
T
he ink was barely dry on the morning’s papers last July 22 when a band of U.S. golf writers wandered into a petrol convenience store barely two hours north of Dublin. About the first thing we saw was a rack of a half-dozen newspapers all proclaiming the joyful news that Shane Lowry had captured the title of Champion Golfer of the Year at the 148th Open Championship. Moreover, the Irishman had pulled off his feat at Royal Portrush, the first time the Open had been held in Ireland since 1951. (Pour yourself another bevy if you know that the winner of that title was Englishman Max Faulkner.) Even early on a Monday morning, Lowry’s lifting of the Claret Jug seemed to be doing the same for the country, putting it in an ebullient mood. No question our group was eager; we weren’t heading into Northern Ireland, but we were heading north and west, to what the Irish tourism folks like to refer to as the Wild Atlantic Way. That actually stretches south to West Cork, but we stuck to the north and played links courses over the next few days in County Donegal and County Sligo. And without question, they never 42
put the Atlantic out of sight or mind. Wild it could be, too; the wind rarely let up, and was occasionally moist, though hard rain never washed us down or out. Some of the crew had come over from the Open; the rest of us had just flown into Dublin and found our first course to be the perfect jet lag round — nine holes at the Cruit Island Golf Club. It was also a perfect example of why it’s sometimes smart to put one’s travel plans into the hands of a local expert. Simply checking off the names of well-known Irish courses would never have turned up this unheralded gem. Sure, you may have heard of such northwestern courses as Enniscrone, Donegal Golf Club, Rosapenna, County Sligo or Portsalon. But the Cruit Island Golf Club in Kincasslagh? Even if you have heard of it, you may not have heard it quite correctly.
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County Donegal touches but a bare border to the rest of the Republic of Ireland. Mostly it cruises north and borders Northern Ireland to the east. That has led to a local marketing slogan, “Up here it’s different,” and there’s a dialect in the county that can be knotty to untangle. Cruit Island, for one, is actually pronounced “Critch Island.” No matter, one’s golf swing is the same, unless you’ve found ways to adapt to the wind. There’s plenty at Cruit, which may be more exposed to the Atlantic Ocean than some of the other tracks we played, although there are also some lovely views of the distant Mt. Errigal. Looking out from a tee across the watery expanses you may hear from one of 160 friendly members the oft-repeated line, “Next stop is America.” The course is easily in the running for one of the world’s best hidden links, and if you’ve W W W.GOLFOKL AHOMA.ORG
