Top Things to do in Ireland
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What to do and see in Ireland, Ireland: The Best Golf Courses
Woven with wild greenery and Gaelic legends, the Emerald Isle is one of Europe’s most prized jewels. Rugged Atlantic beaches and mystery-shrouded sites rub shoulders with the cosmopolitan cities of Belfast and Dublin, where literary history and warm Irish hospitality are always in abundance.
Restaurants in Ireland
1. Waterville Golf Links
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 197 reviews
Reviewed By cherylh903 - Durham, United States
The folks in the clubhouse were great and treated us just like they treated their members. The driving range was huge with many targets and they had nice putting and short game areas. I always love a visually appealing course and this one was. The course winds its way between the dunes and heather/gorse with unbelievable views of the beach and ocean. Many of the holes had commemorative plaques memorialize the building and play of the course, including the Mass Hole which is considered sacred land due to the banned religious ceremonies that were held there. You can not avoid the wind on the course but I did not find myself in any of the gaping bunkers (a first for me) that were found throughout the layout. After golf we stayed for dinner and the service was excellent and the Guinness stew was tremendous.
2. Dooks Golf Club
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 156 reviews
Reviewed By FinneyCo
Dooks was always known for being the Best golf course around , always top of the charts for best panaramic views found anywhere in Ireland , but now they have really gone and spoilt us visitors and members by upgrading their Barfood to a fine haute cuisine restaurant and the best of fine dining in a cozy friendly relaxed athmosphere .Merci Beaucoup Eric for a wonderful meal , top class from start to finish , we will most definitely be back .
3. Ballyliffin Golf Club
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 84 reviews
Reviewed By Golf18GetAway - Jacksonville, United States
Links golf at it's best at Ballyliffin. The Od Links is an exciting layout - rippling fairways - ocean's edge - natural dunes - breathtaking mountain views. Truly a remarkable place to play links golf. Course was in great condition. Course you could play every day and still enjoy the round.
4. The Island Golf Club
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 104 reviews
Founded in 1890, this is one of the oldest and highest ranked Links golf courses in Ireland and a true links golf experience. Located only 15 minutes from Dublin Airport and 30 minutes from Dublin City Centre, the Island Golf Club will challenge your game while presenting beautiful vistas.
Reviewed By paulied70 - Asheville, United States
On our second day, of a week of Irish golf, we played The Island Golf Club.. This is a true links course, right on the Irish sea, and absolutely beautiful.. We were fortunate enough to be able to play 36 holes on this day.. we walked all 36.. This course is challenging, but fun to play.. Paul in the pro shop, Steve and Dave made us feel welcome and gave us some tips on how to play this course...We finished with a late lunch and found it to be outstanding.. This would be #1 on my list of courses to recommend when playing golf in the Dublin area.. Thanks to all who made this a great experience
5. Esker Hills Golf Club
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 174 reviews
Esker Hills, Tullamore, Co. Offaly is regarded as one of Ireland's leading inland golf courses. It is a challenging championship golf course where no two holes are remotely alike. It is noted for its distinct links feel, superb sand-based greens, all-year playability and warm welcome.Awarded "Irelands Bestest Hidden Gem" in Leinster at The Golfers Guide To Ireland Awards 2012.
Reviewed By 105JohnT - Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
Can’t thank ray and the staff for there hospitality looking after 28 lads the course was in great condition see you next year
6. Headfort Golf Club
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 58 reviews
Headfort Golf Club is an outstanding 36 hole parkland complex dominated by magnificent specimen trees and river scenery. Both courses take full advantage of the natural beauty of one of Ireland's oldest and finest estates. Located near the picturesque heritage town of Kells in County Meath, it is easily accessible via Exit 10 of the M3 motorway (35 minutes drive from Dublin) "It's the finest piece of land I have worked with and could host the Irish Open without any trouble," said Christy O'Connor Jr. New Course designer and Ryder Cup hero. The Headfort New Course is consistently ranked in the Top 10 parkland courses in all Ireland. Golf Societies and Group Visits are welcome. There is a Proshop on site offering golf equipment and hire and lessons with a professional. The Clubhouse has an extensive restaurant and bar and is also available for private functions. Special value overnight accommodation packages are available with the nearby Headfort Arms Hotel.
Reviewed By tomo618 - Faithlegg, Ireland
Two top class golf courses - Headfort Old is a traditional tree-lined parkland course and the Championship course is a great challenge for all levels of golfer, with lots of water to make you think about every shot, while at the same time you can enjoy the natural beauty of the courses unique trees and wildlife. After the golf, you will be looked after in the clubhouse with a warm welcome, good food and friendly staff. All in all a wonderful place to visit.
7. Old Head Golf Links
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 523 reviews
Ruggedly beautiful golf course overlooking the Celtic Sea.
Reviewed By mpjmay86 - Athy, Ireland
What an experience it was to play this course has to be up there with the best in the country everything from start to finish was top class from the pro shop staff to tee starter even the green keeping staff everyone went out of there way to back it an enjoyable day out and as for the views around the course there worth the green fee alone just to see them. Would recommend you play this course at least once in your life you will not regret it trust me.
8. Royal Portrush Golf Club - Dunluce Links
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 197 reviews
Players require a lot of skill and concentration to master this challenging 18-hole Championship Golf Course.
Reviewed By willbangor - Bangor, United Kingdom
Enjoyed a Monday Open day at Royal Portrush with Open Sunday pin positions. Made to feel extremely welcome from the moment I drove in through the front gates. Staff could not have been more friendly and welcoming. Excellent pro shop with a fine selection of mementos of the day. Driving range and Trackman experience prior to teeing off were welcome opportunities to warm up. Definitely arrive 60-90 minutes early to make use of these facilities. The course itself is immaculate and more than lived up to its billing. Tee boxes, fairways and greens are out of this world and the rough, whilst penal, generally will allow you to find a ball hit offline. If you get the chance to play Royal Portrush Golf Club, definitely grab it with both hands!!
9. Ballybunion Golf Club
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 388 reviews
Breathtaking views and natural design make this one of the few "timeless" courses found throughout the world.
Reviewed By maritimeexplorer - Nova Scotia, Canada
Last fall I was part of a group of Canadians headed for Ballybunion, a course that Tom Watson almost single handedly revived from relative obscurity and helped create the golfing stampede to southwest Ireland that exists today. It's hard to believe that a course that is currently ranked #16 in the world by Golf Digest could ever have been 'obscure', but until Tom Watson's friend and former USGA President Sandy Tatum convinced him to come here in 1981, it was not on the worldwide golf radar. After playing here several times Watson firmly declared that Ballybunion was, in his opinion, the best golf course in the world. Considering that no American has won more British Opens than Tom Watson, five to be precise, that is high praise indeed. He continued to visit on a regular basis, using it as a tune up to the links courses on which the Open is always played and in 2000 even acted as Club Captain, a position taken very seriously at courses in Ireland and Great Britain. Until the Tom Watson shout out in 1981, Ballybunion was not played a lot by golf tourists to the Emerald Isle, largely due to its remote location and the fact that it does not have the pedigree of many other Irish courses. No Old Tom Morris, Harry Vardon or Harry Colt were commissioned to work on the design of the first or any subsequent revision of the layout. Instead, it seems have been designed by committee, starting with nine holes in 1893 and after several flirtations with bankruptcy, expanded to eighteen in 1927 by Carter and Sons of London of which I can find no information. The course did not hold its first important golf championship until 1957 when the Irish Professional Championship (Irish PGA) was held here with Harry Bradshaw winning his 10th and last PGA title. It returned once more in 1967, but has not been back since. Ballybunion hit the big time in 2000 when its one and only Irish Open was contested here with the rather unknown Swedish golfer Patrick Sjöland hoisting the trophy. So if it's clearly neither the fame of the golf architects or the championship history of the course that draws people to Ballybunion, what is it? Well, it actually started before Tom Watson's lionized 1981 visit, when the doyen of American golf writers, Herbert Warren Wind declared it to be one of the ten best courses on the planet. This was from the guy who termed the phrase 'Amen Corner' at Augusta, was the original writer on Shell's Wonderful World of Golf , collaborated with Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen and Jack Nicklaus and wrote the definite The Story of American Golf. Just like in the old E.F.Hutton ads, when this guy spoke, people listened. And came to play. By the time of Watson's visit, the course had already retained Robert Trent Jones Sr. to design a second course, The Cashen which opened in 1984. Regretfully we do not have time to play that course on this visit and will limit our round to the Old Course. So clearly, Ballybunion's laurels come simply from the quality of the golf experience it has to offer. Let's go find out if those accolades are deserved. The first thing you will notice on approaching Ballybunion is the enormous modern clubhouse and in all likelihood the lower parking lot full of mini buses like ours with group of golfers from four to forty. Like it or not, this is golf on an industrial scale, but in fairness the debarkation process runs smoothly and there's more an air of excitement than resentment that the place is not the quaint little backwater that it is often portrayed as, and perhaps once was. The posted green fees of €230 also make it clear that this is not just another Irish country course that you can play a round on for for a few euros, if any of those still exist. The check in process goes smoothly and the staff are very friendly despite the throngs of people checking in and dropping big bucks on high end clothing and accoutrements from designers like Peter Millar and Galvin Green. Like most links courses power carts (aka buggies) are not permitted, but you can take a pull cart (aka trolley), which I opt to do. For some reason we forgot to book caddies for our round today, so we'll be hoofing it on our own. This is despite the fact that the course web site states that every group must at least have a forecaddie. The practice facility at Ballybunion is a ways from the first tee so they shuttle you there and back. As such facilities go I would rate it about average for a course of this magnitude, but we're here to golf not practice. What follows is a hole by hole description with photos set out in chronological order of play. At last we arrive at the first tee where the starter gives us our instructions, some of which I like - no cell phones on the course, and some I don't - no booze on the course. Seriously? Aren't we in Ireland and not Saudi Arabia? Ballybunion is not a long course by today's professional standards; only, 6739 yards from the tips, but a challenging 6,383 yards from the whites. There also a green tee option of 6,020 yards which is what we select. The ball rolls a long way on links courses so distances are not necessarily as long as the card might suggest. However, if the wind is in your face all the rules about distance go out the window. Luckily we're here in pretty benign conditions with the wind blowing a nice breeze and not a gale as it was at Waterville. But we still wimp out and opt for the green tees. The first hole is a 348 yard par four that plays considerably downhill. It has to be one of the most interesting starting holes in golf, because as the name suggests, there's a cemetery on the right which is very much in play. However, my ball flight is right to left so that's not a problem, but what is a problem is the 14th green that is literally right beside the #1 fairway. The course occupies quite as small piece of land with next to no room between the holes. If I had one complaint about Ballybunion, it would be the fact that it would very easy to either hit someone or get hit on more than a few holes. In terms of conditioning, both the greens and fairways were in superb condition. The traps are numerous, but not nearly as punishing as those on some links courses. One thing I've only seen at Ballybunion is the use of brushes to clean the traps and not rakes. I'm not sure if this is an affection or a cherished tradition, but they seemed to work as well as the traditional rakes. No 1. turned out to be a fairly easy par four and a good starting hole, if only because you have hundreds of dead people watching you play. If No. 1 was an easy par four, No. 2 the opposite. My photo shows a view of the fairway from the green tee. What you can't see is Kitty's Creek which lurks just on the other side of the mound and while not as bad as the Burn at Carnoustie, still manages to devour a surprising number of balls on a number of holes. Number 2 is almost 400 yards from the greens and is the No. 1 handicap hole. From the tee you get your first glimpse of the dozens of small hillocks around which the course winds its way on most of the holes. Even if you do manage to get a great drive in here it's still a long way to this uphill green. This is a tough, tough, tough hole. No. 3 hole is called The Stile. For those who are not Irish country walkers, a stile is a small ladder like contraption used by them to cross over fences during their rambles. I saw no sign of one on this extremely long par 3. It doesn't look it from the picture, but this hole is 199 yards from the green tees. Not the prettiest of holes with a trailer park in the background, it's the middle of five that play alongside the highway and the town on the other side. I don't know if it is wise or not to get your most unscenic holes out of the way early on in the round, but Ballybunion has definitely opted for that approach. To take your mind off that, there is a plaque commemorating the late great Payne Stewart's ace on this hole. No. 4 is a par five that continues the play alongside the road. It's a fairly pedestrian hole and a par should not be hard to come by. It's another par 5, coming in at 501 yards to #4's 480 yards. If you can avoid the out of bounds that is all the way down the right side of these two holes you should be able to score two easy pars. You can see from my photo of this hole that it's beginning to get quite foggy and I can only hope that this will be temporary as it often is on links courses. This is a 355 yard par four dogleg left that finally leads toward the ocean and away from the roadway and the town. Still the netting down the right side takes away from much of the ambience this hole might have. The fog persists. The 390 yard par four 7th is the first of the many great holes at Ballybunion, although #2 has its fans. It fully utilizes the ocean setting. By now those whose misses are consistently left to right will be tearing their hair out as this is the seventh straight hole where the trouble is on the right. I truly wish the fog had lifted as this is a stunning hole to play. Oh, it's really hard as well. #8 is the second par three on the front nine and at just 139 yards it's much more forgiving than #3.In a matter of minutes the fog has lifted and the hole is clearly visible. The biggest problem here is avoiding the bunkers and the swails that will inevitably kick your ball away from the green. Still a good chance for par. Also, the first hole where there is no more significant trouble on the right than the left. After the respite of #8, things get very tough with this 413 yard par four that requires two really good shots to reach. Doubtful that most people playing from the greens will even be able to get their tee shot for enough down the fairway to get a clear shot due to the substantial dogleg right. On top of that it's an elevated green making it even longer. Instead of being called Sailor's Grave this hole might have instead been called Golfer's Decent Nine grave because I suspect many a good front nine has gone down the toilet on this hole. As with almost all links courses there is no return to the clubhouse after nine. Since you can't buy a beer here that's no big deal. What is a bit concerning is that only one hole on the front nine played along the water and most of the views were really not that great. Let's hope it picks up on the back nine. However, the name of this hole does not bode well. A killasheen is similar to the famous Irish wailing ghost called a banshee and anyone who's old enough to remember Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People will still have nightmares about it. The problem is that if you see a banshee and presumably a killasheen as well, then you are going to die very soon. Let's not keep our eyes open for one. No. 10 is a short 319 yard par four that features a blind tee shot. This is definitely the type of hole that the knowledge of a caddy would be invaluable as it's anyone's guess as to what the proper line on this hole should be. As it turns out, if you keep the ball out of the deep rough it's a pretty forgiving hole with a view of the ocean from the green and no killasheens in sight. Finally we reach what every golf writer and most player's revere as one of the greatest golf holes in the world. It is an amazing 385 yard par four that plays as difficult as any hole of that length could. The views are stunning and from the tee it doesn't look too bad - just hit it out straight and see what happens. But then you come to what I called the steps - three distinct plateaus that are unlike anything I've seen in golf. You can't see the dip from the fairway and it creates a temporary sense of confusion. The shot into the green almost looks impossible from whatever level of the steps you end up on. Tom Watson loved this hole so much that they named it after him. #12 is the most aptly named hole on the course. It is a 174 yard par three that plays so much uphill that the green is like an unbreachable fortress, which is why it is called The Citadel. Trying to guess what club to use here without a caddy was next to impossible. My photo shows the group in front of us who all came up woefully short. Even seeing this foursome of failure we didn't learn the lesson and we all did the same thing. Don't be embarrassed to hit a driver on this hole, especially if the wind is in your face. You still might come up short. The reward for making this climb to the top of this Everest of golf is the best view of the course. However, I was so out of breath I forgot to take a picture. Next time I'll remember. My photo on the next hole shows the view from the tee box on the short 468 yard par five 13th. Looking out you would think the course is nothing but tall grass and hills with very little fairway in between. But actually the fairway on this hole is quite wide. The problem is Kittty's Creek ( I refuse to call anything this small a river). It winds its way through the fairway at such an angle that shorter hitters like me are almost certainly going to find it at some point. If you do clear the creek then you are liable to be in one of the huge mounds that protect both sides of the green. I managed to both find the creek and then lose a second ball in the deep grass on the left side mound. #14 is the shortest and allegedly easiest hole at Ballybunion at only 127 yards from the green tees. But then the last hole that I tripled was supposed to be the third easiest. Not as daunting as The Citadel, club selection is everything here as it plays much longer than its yardage. Still by the standards of this course it's a pretty forgiving hole. #15 is the third par three in four holes, Black Rocks is easily the best of the five at Ballybunion. At 192 yards and usually into a wind coming off the Atlantic, it's also the toughest, although Citadel certainly gives it a run for the money. This is an absolutely gorgeous hole, at least from the tee. Most golfers don't take enough club and end up in a gully well below the green where things don't look as rosy, but still this hole was a joy to see and play. The final par five at Ballybunion features another beautifil view from the tee and at only 466 yards from the green tee should be quite doable for most golfers if you can hit the fairway with your drive. That's a lot easier said than done with absolutely zero room on the right and plenty of tall grass on the left. If you do land in the fairway you still have to contend with the most severe dogleg on the course and a very narrow blind approach shot. But hey - the sun's coming out and there's only two holes to the 19th where I do expect they sell beer, so all is well. #17 Devil's Elbow is another beautiful seaside hole with a lot of character. At 350 yards it doesn't seem too long and there's a generous landing area. My photo gives you an idea of why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle with an absolutely green as green can be fairway. The problem is the second shot. This is a view looking back to the tee from the green. There is indeed a devilish elbow to be negotiated with very little room for error. The 18th at Ballybunion is a great finishing hole and caps off what has been a spectacular back nine. It plays much longer than its length of 369 yards with a very unconventional bunker that runs a good fifty yards along the left side almost up to the green - hence the name Sahara. Your legs will feel weary by the time you reach the multi-tiered green and all will be more than ready for a Guiness or whatever your favourite potable might be. So, is Ballybunion really as great as Tom Watson declares? Well, first of all who am I to disagree with Tom who's played a lot more golf courses than me? However, I do think much of the front nine is not great, but by the time you play the back nine you won't be thinking about that. Yes, it is a great course, just not the greatest.
10. Donegal Golf Club
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 84 reviews
Situated on the Murvagh peninsula in Donegal Bay, this links course is isolated from the outside world by a forest of evergreens on one side, and the distant Bluestack Mountains on the other.
Reviewed By I7594WTjameso
The course at Murvagh is fabulous - even in foul weather. The par 3s are all very testing and the par 4s pose all sorts of problems and choices. If the wind is in the right direction the par 5s may give you a chance of birdie, if not be grateful if you have a chance for par. The course is spectacular and there are great views. Donegal Golf Club is worth the drive and every penny of the green fee. It is a bucket list course.
