Lough Erne is one of Northern Ireland’s premier golf resorts. This five-star property sits in the heart of County Fermanagh in the southwest of the province on over 600 acres approximately 90-minutes from Belfast International Airport and two hours from Dublin airport. The hotel houses 120 luxurious bedrooms and suites as well as self-catering lodges. The resort has a superb Thai Spa, three different dining options, two bars, and numerous activity options to ensure that guests are well catered for. It has hosted many national and international events including being the host destination for the 39th G8 Summit of World Leaders in June 2013.
The resort also provides a 36-hole golfing experience featuring two championship courses; the award-winning Faldo Course and the Castle Hume Golf Course and Golf Academy with state-of-the-art facilities as well as an all-weather floodlit driving range.
The Faldo course, designed by Sir Nick Faldo, extends to just over 7,000 yards from the back tees. It is an exciting challenge for golfers of all abilities and has a great mix of holes that encompass woodland, the lakes, and some exceptional rolling terrain. It is situated between Castle Hume Lough and Lower Lough Erne, and fourteen of the eighteen holes have water in play.
A good short game will significantly help with the par threes on the course, the last of which is the tough 18th. The course is nicely laid out in a series of several small loops that snake its way back and forth across a spit of land between the two loughs. A raised wooden footbridge takes you across the wetlands and reeds before the first five holes wind their way around some evergreen woodland and offer a tough start to your round.
The 10th on the Faldo is the signature hole and features the first of two island holes “the Emerald Isle” where the green is surrounded on three sides by water. You can take some time out at The fabulous Halfway House situated behind the ninth green, with stunning views over Lower Lough Erne. The finishing stretch at Lough Erne is one of the toughest you will find in Championship golf in Ireland and also one of the prettiest, with 16th, 17th, and the 18th all having varying degrees of the Castle Hume lake to avoid. A superb finishing stretch.
Castle Hume is a Championship parkland course with stunning views, manicured fairways, and well-contoured greens. The 18-hole, Par 70, 6,205 yards course is the lesser of the two courses but also consists of a great layout in beautiful surroundings. It is a short and gentle course but does host numerous water hazards and over 7,000 trees. The 18th is a very memorable hole with two water hazards before an approach to a well-guarded green.
When visiting this part of Northern Ireland, it would be a travesty not to take in Enniskillen and Lough Erne, which brings old world charm with new world luxury together, creating an unforgettable golf experience.
