The best of Northern Ireland’s golf resorts

Top of the ultimate golfing holiday list has to be the Slieve Donard Resort & Spa in scenic County Down. 

The luxury resort has just been named Northern Ireland’s Best Golf Hotel at the 2020 World Golf Awards, with its next-door neighbour, Royal County Down Golf Club, picking up the award for Northern Ireland’s Best Golf Course.

Nestling at the foot of the Mountains of Mourne, the Slieve Donard Resort & Spa stands in six acres of immaculate private grounds, leading to the mighty links of Royal County Down – voted the number one course in the world by Golf Digest for three years in a row and a perennial in the ‘top’ lists of every recognised golf critic and publication there is.

A magnificent challenge, there is no finer place to play golf and no better place to relax and unwind afterwards. 

With 181 comfortable and stylish bedrooms, magnificent views of the Irish Sea and the mountains, plus a luxury spa with sauna, steam room, aerobics studio and a well-equipped gym, Slieve Donard Resort & Spa is the last word in golf havens.

After your round there are plenty of refuges from the rough, barstools to recount your glories and fine dining in three different eateries for celebrating at the nineteenth, all of which has been enjoyed by golfing icons such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els.

Now in their seventh year, the World Golf Awards, held in Park Hyatt Dubai, celebrate and reward excellence in golf tourism. There were seven nominees in the Northern Ireland’s Best Golf Hotel category, highlighting that golf lovers are never more than a short drive from an excellent course and premium resorts. 

Other nominees included Lough Erne Resort, one of the top golf destinations on the island of Ireland. Set in the beautiful County Fermanagh lakelands, it offers two award-winning courses – the Faldo Course, designed by six-time major winner Sir Nick Faldo, and the nearby Castle Hume parkland course. With water hazards galore, a variety of new and different golfing challenges backed by gorgeous lakeland vistas await. 

Galgorm Resort & Spa is fresh from hosting the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the Northern Ireland Open in September. Located less than 30 minutes from Belfast on the celebrated Causeway Coastal Route, this lush resort is home to the Galgorm Castle championship course and one of the most luxurious spa set-ups in Europe, famous for its next-level pampering.

Also nominated was the Portrush Atlantic Hotel, just a mile away from the beguiling Royal Portrush, venue for The 148th Open Championship in 2019. With top drawer golf available – Tiger Woods called its Dunluce Links “incredible” – all the delights of Portrush, a fantastic seaside destination, and the Old Bushmills Distillery, historic Dunluce Castle and the famous Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge nearby, there is much to delight golfers on and off the course.

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