DUBLIN - My long held suspicions are now confirmed after a recent trip to Northwest Ireland — it’s my favourite golf destination in the world. The judgment isn’t made lightly as I’ve played the ancient game in 50 or so countries, including 22 different lands during a year of roaming with clubs in tow for my book Around the World in 80 Rounds.

Simply put, Northwest Ireland has everything a true golf explorer desires: joyously dramatic seaside links-style courses played through incredible dune land; comfortable accommodations for all budgets to recharge in nightly along the way; and gracious Irish hospitality that’s as prevalent as the myriad green pastures dotting the terra firma of this magical land. It’s tough to beat.

Above: The lovely links of Donegal Golf Club.

The courses that I most liked:

Enniscrone Golf Club (http://www.enniscronegolf.com)

On several previous visits to Ireland, I’d somehow overlooked playing Enniscrone Golf Club in County Sligo.

What a mistake!

I could happily tee it up there on the Dunes Course for rest of my golfing life and be as happy as a leprechaun finding the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

It well deserves to be put in the same conversation with Royal County Down, Ballybunion and Royal Portrush as a “must play” when visiting Ireland.

Why so good? Well, the seaside layout is routed through as fine an example of dune land as you’ll find. The original layout first took shape in 1918, but it took several decades before the expertise of famed (and ubiquitous) Irish course designer Eddie Hackett fashioned this marvellous swath of turbulent topography along the beaches of Killala Bay into an absolute gem. The holes are never less than first rate, several are extraordinary.

Case in point, at perhaps the farthest point from the welcoming clubhouse, the 9th hole is all the par 4 you’ll ever want. At 395 yards from the back tees, the hole parallels Scurmore Beach and is accented with a mesmerizing view out to sea as the ever-changing sky and cobalt ocean form a tranquil tapestry. Flat lies are rare on the rippling fairway. Three unforgiving front bunkers must be negotiated successfully on the approach. The tricky elevated green is enticingly perched into a craggy sand hill. The whole endeavour is natural and perfect and really, really good.

My scorecard notes are redundant with superlatives. “Marvellous” is the accolade for No. 10 as the par 4 also plays alongside the eye-catching beach.

The inland turning par-4 12th earns “joyous.” The 542-yard par-5 14th wends through towering dunes that may be the biggest and most perfectly shaped I’ve seen.

I could go on and on, but my plea is clear. Play Enniscrone when in Ireland.

Left: Enniscrone  Golf Club. Right: Carne Golf Club.

Carne Golf Links (www.carnegolflinks.com)

I’ve been raving about Carne Golf Links for years. Situated just outside the sleepy seaside village of Belmullet, tucked away in the upper northwest corner of Ireland, the Eddie Hackett-design is big, bold and an absolute blast to play. The 18 plays through enormous sand hills sculpted through the ages by the steady winds and elements coming in hard and vociferous off the Atlantic. Many of the dunes are so majestically steep, hoofs rather than soft spikes are better suited should one attempt to hike up to retrieve a wayward ball. Thankfully, the firm fast fairways provide plenty of room to have a lash at it.

Few courses are more natural looking. The routing constantly surprises with greens dramatically set in hillocks and fairways careening to and fro amid dune-flanked alleyways and dells. My favourite hole, if I had to pick from the bounty of Carne’s wonders, is the stout 17th. Playing at 435 yards (usually into a stiff wind), two strong pokes are required to reach the Promised Land in regulation. There are no fairway bunkers and plenty of room for the tee shot, but the undulating fairway doesn’t seem to have a level bit of turf anywhere. An insidious green-side bunker lurks on the left exactly where your second shot seems to want to go. It must be avoided at all costs or you might be raking for a spell.

The excellent new Kilmore nine plays adjacent to its older mate and is cut through the same rolling geography and gigantic dunes. Carne Golf Links never fails to excite and surprise.

Above: Ballyliffin Golf Club.

Donegal Golf Club (www.donegalgolfclub.ie)

Just a short drive from the charming town of Donegal (my favourite in Ireland), the Donegal Golf Club, also called Murvagh, is outstanding. No less an expert than Irish golfing great Darren Clarke calls it “one of my favourite courses in the world.” I wholeheartedly agree.

A sense of splendid remoteness prevails at Murvagh as you drive along a tree-lined back road for a mile or so before reaching a vast clearing of handsome golfing ground venturing off toward the sea. Is there anything better in golf travel than that feeling of being away from it all with 18 to play and nowhere to be afterwards? Not for me.

First off on a cheerful sunny morning, as the sun peeked through puffy white clouds holding little threat of rain, I had the course to myself as the vivid beauty of the rugged Murvagh Peninsula gave way to the Bluestack Mountains on the horizon. I set off with my clubs on my shoulder, a song in my heart, and gratitude to be on another Eddie Hackett gem.

While the dunes aren’t as dramatic and the topography a bit flatter than Enniscrone and Carne, this is true championship golf providing a stern test as it plays to almost 7,400 yards from the tips. Thankfully, there are several sets of tees for we mere mortal golfers to have an easier time of it, but you still need your thinking cap on and golf shoes tied tight. The front side runs counter clockwise around the perimeter, the inward half proceeds in the opposite fashion as every bit of land is used perfectly. This is 18 holes of the highest order.

Ballyliffin Golf Club (www.ballyliffingolfclub.com)

As a lover of golf, the fact that County Donegal’s Ballyliffin Golf Club is the northernmost in Ireland merely adds to its alluring charms. The Old Links layout there has long been underrated; thankfully travelling golfers have begun including it on itineraries. And with the splendid accompanying Glashedy Links (designed by Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock in 1995), this marvelously violent golfing terrain has 36 holes to play to your heart’s content.

What I love most about Ballyliffin is how wonderfully wild and wooly it looks. Before teeing off, venture up to the second floor of the modern clubhouse and take in the view of the two courses from the balcony near the bar. You’ll see the ground’s ripples and bumps and swales spreading off to the shoreline as fairways tumble along amid camelback-shaped dunes before giving way to greens looking like they are exactly where they need to be. It’s a visual primer on how links golf looks at its best.

My advice is to camp out in Ballyliffin for a few days and play both the Old Links and Glashedy course several times each. It’s one of those places on Earth I’m reluctant to leave. I just want to go around one more time.

Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort (www.rosapenna.ie)

On previous visits to Northwest Ireland, I’d played (and loved) the Old Tom Morris Links at Rosapenna. In 1893, Old Tom ventured out from his beloved St. Andrews to lend his design expertise on this enticing links land bordering idyllic Sheephaven Bay. The layout features exceptional seaside golf that’s wholly natural and requires every club in the bag to be hit throughout the round. Old Tom sure knew what the heck he was doing.

On this trip, I was fortunate to play the “new” Sandy Hills Links at Rosapenna, which opened in 2003. Pat Ruddy, the esteemed golf writer turned esteemed course architect, created a layout permeated with a timeless feel as if it had been residing alongside the older course since Old Tom trod there over a century ago.

Most every hole travels through corridors framed by hefty sand hills creating an atmosphere of peaceful tranquility from the outside world. Many feature elevated tee shots hit down to serpentine fairways that pinball your drive with reckless abandon. The par-4 420-yard 6th hole at the far end of the course is a treasure. The drive plays over a crest that offers a mesmerizing vista of the bay, bucolic farmland across the way, and imposing Muckish Mountain straight ahead in the distance. It’s one of those holes you just want to savour, but that’s the way I feel about all 36 at Rosapenna.

Narin & Portnoo Golf Club (www.narinportnoogolfclub.ie/)

Smackdab on the rugged, weather-beaten Atlantic coastline with dramatic views of the endless whitecaps of Gweebarra Bay, Narin & Portnoo Golf Club is nothing but fun to play. This is as authentic a golf experience as you’ll find with its old-fashion ambience reminiscent of classic old Scottish gems like Brora Golf Club and Crail’s Balcomie Links. The course plays hard and fast through sand hill mesas and fiercely undulating turf. Run-up plays closer to the ground are the better option as the blustery sea winds will smack high shots out of the sky like a Roger Federer overhead.

Similar to the Old Course at St. Andrews, the routing classically plays “out and back” with the green of the superb par-4 9th as far from the clubhouse as it’s possible to get. Many of the tee-boxes are built into the dune pinnacles or the tiptoe edge of seaside cliffs, so jaw-dropping views are the norm.

Similar to most of the great links courses in the world, and Narin & Portnoo is certainly in that category, the layout looks like Mother Nature knew a spectacular course was there through the ages and was just waiting for the ancient game to come along in the mid 1500s.

This is golf exactly the way it should be: natural, pure and thrilling.