Is Ardglass the greatest course in Northern Ireland? No. But it is an astonishingly beautiful course, with some of the most dramatic shots you will encounter in golf. What stood out to me about Ardglass is the way it navigates a truly wonderful property.

Ardglass occupies a rocky, fish hook-shaped coastline. The manner in which you explore the vast and diverse landscape is well thought out. You start in town, with the dramatic first playing up onto the rocky cliffs that line the next few holes. Then the routing plunges down to the lower coastal section, where the holes play out, back, and across each other.

The routing reaches its peak with the dramatic downhill 10th, the farthest point on the course from both the clubhouse and the town. 10 plays at Coney Island and its beach, before the routing turns for the epic 11th and 12th holes, playing below the cliffs on a narrow bit of coastal land. The course plays inland for the majority of the closing stretch, but comes back to the cliffs on the 17th and 18th holes, bringing back the dramatic theme introduced at the start of the round and giving players a chance to relive their shots on the first and second holes. The 18th plays downhill and brings you back to town, completing a journey through one of golf’s most unique settings.

Players will tee off from a castle, bound around cliffs, plunge down to the water, straddle a few true coastal holes, climb up to something like an open Irish countryside, and return back to the dramatic cliffs and warmth of the castle home.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter as part of a special series of Eggsplorations dispatches, sponsored by Tourism Ireland. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.