The Old Tom Morris Links at Rosapenna lies beside Sheephaven Bay near Downings in County Donegal, where Old Tom Morris recognised the golfing possibilities of this Atlantic coast in 1891. Play began in 1893, making the course an essential part of one of Ireland’s earliest golf-travel destinations. Yet the round played today is not simply the nineteenth-century course preserved intact.
Its two nines reveal different architectural eras. The modern Strand Nine occupies broken, relatively low dunes, while the Valley Nine returns to the bay and the older linksland associated with Morris, Harry Colt and generations of subsequent alterations. Their contrast gives the round its identity: not one designer’s signature repeated eighteen times, but the continuing evolution of golf on the same extraordinary coast.
Why You Should Play Rosapenna Old Tom Morris Links
Old Tom Morris is the Rosapenna course for golfers who enjoy understanding how links design develops over time. It lacks some of the overwhelming dune scale of Sandy Hills and the vast open canvas of St Patrick’s. In return it offers something neither of those modern courses can replicate: two recognisably different generations of architecture joined into one round, with the ground and bay tying them together.
The Strand Nine introduces a contemporary test of driving positions, bunker placement and precise approaches through irregular dunes. It asks you to consider the green before choosing the tee shot, yet its challenge is not purely visual drama. Once the round enters the Valley Nine, the feeling changes. The land becomes more closely connected to Rosapenna’s older seaside golf, where contours, small shifts in angle and approaches along the ground bring a quieter strategic pleasure.
That difference makes Old Tom Morris an appealing choice for players who like the running game and the subtlety of classic links rather than only bold carries or elevated greens. The walk is generally less imposing than Sandy Hills, which may also suit a group with mixed playing abilities. It is no soft alternative: the Black tees measure 6,867 yards (6,279 metres), par 71, and the wind above Sheephaven Bay can make every choice feel more consequential.
It is tempting to view this as the resort’s heritage round and leave the architectural analysis there. That would undersell it. The pleasure is seeing how two nines shaped in different periods can offer different answers to the same question: where should the ball land to give the next shot its best chance?
The Strand and the Valley: Two Forms of Links Golf
The modern outward half was created in the 2000s by Pat Ruddy, with refinements to greens and bunkers involving Eric Iverson of Renaissance Golf. The Strand Nine opened in 2009, replacing the older Coastguard section within the main eighteen-hole course and avoiding repeated crossings of a public road. That practical change produced a more coherent round, but it also made the contrast with the original links far more interesting.
Strand winds through lower, broken sandhills. A fairway can look straightforward until the shape of the green makes it clear why one driving line is more useful than another. The challenge lies in positioning and in judging how the ball will behave on firm ground, rather than in trying to reproduce a heroic carry on every hole.
The Valley Nine has a different tempo. The fairways draw closer to the bay, older dune forms frame the approaches and the architecture has the accumulated character of a course worked on by more than one generation. The inward side is not an unaltered Old Tom Morris relic; that is precisely why it remains so compelling. It shows how great links ground can absorb changes without losing its essential identity.
The fourteenth captures the attraction. This par three plays to a plateau green beyond a hollow, with dunes rising behind it. The golfer must judge the carrying distance and the movement of the ground at the front. It is not a shot made memorable by spectacle alone. The green’s relationship with the valley is enough to make an ordinary iron choice feel important.
From Old Tom Morris to the Present Eighteen
Morris’s visit in 1891 helped give Rosapenna its early reputation, and the course opened in 1893. Harry Vardon, James Braid and Harry Colt were subsequently associated with its development, with Colt contributing significantly to the older Valley routing. A round here therefore offers a living record of how architectural ideas were revised as the game and its equipment changed.
The creation of the Strand Nine in 2009 was another substantial intervention, not a cosmetic refresh. It changed how golfers enter the course and how its halves relate to one another. The contrast is now part of the experience: a modern outward nine followed by linksland with deeper roots in the history of the resort.
That history has not kept Rosapenna from hosting competitive golf. The course staged the Irish Legends in 2021, when Thomas Bjørn defeated Phillip Price in a playoff, and again in 2022, when Price won. Those events brought experienced professionals to a course where controlling flight and the first bounce often matters more than headline distance.
Three Rosapenna Courses, Three Reasons to Play
The choice is unusually interesting because all three Rosapenna eighteens are genuinely different. Sandy Hills sends players through much larger, steeper dunes, with enclosed corridors and demanding elevated approaches. St Patrick’s Links, designed by Tom Doak, spreads across a much broader landscape, inviting players to choose routes through open ground and use the contours to their advantage.
Old Tom Morris is the course to choose for architectural history and the evolution of the ground game. It is also an excellent second round after either modern course, precisely because the comparison sharpens your appreciation of both. A golfer who wants only grand scale may gravitate toward Sandy Hills or St Patrick’s; one who enjoys noticing small differences of placement and terrain will find plenty to think about on the older links.
Visitor Golf, Green Fees and the Walk
The 2027 standard day-visitor green fee is €210 on the Old Tom Morris Links from April 1 through October 18, while eligible hotel guests pay €160. Winter golf is also offered: €50 in January and February 2027 and €60 from March 1 to March 21, subject to conditions that can include mats and temporary greens.
An optional senior caddie costs €90 per bag, with gratuity additional. Arranging caddies and any equipment in advance is worthwhile, especially if playing several Rosapenna courses in a short stay. The selected Strand & Valley card measures Black 6,867 yards, Blue 6,495, White 6,064 and Red 5,150; the Red markers play to par 72, while the other three are par 71.
Old Tom Morris is an enjoyable course to walk, and the lower dune landscape makes the outing feel different from Sandy Hills. The best tee is the one that leaves room to appreciate the architecture rather than simply pushing the round to its longest possible version.
Staying at Rosapenna and Exploring Donegal
Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort gives visitors a natural base for all three links. Old Tom Morris and Sandy Hills use the Golf Pavilion, while St Patrick’s operates from a separate Links House roughly three miles away. That detail matters for scheduling, but the bigger advantage is being able to compare three distinct courses without changing hotels.
An additional round at Portsalon Golf Club extends the trip onto the Fanad coast. The Northwest Ireland guide shows how these courses fit into the wider region.
Old Tom Morris does not need to out-dazzle Rosapenna’s modern stars. Its value is the older and quieter pleasure of discovering how generations of designers found different ways to use the same linksland, one well-chosen shot at a time.