Ballybunion Golf Club in Ballybunion, Ireland.
Gary Lisbon
The Irish love their golf, in fact, they usually’ve acquired a deep connection to the sport to show it. Since the mid-1800s, when the nation’s first identified golf membership — Royal Curragh — was established, the sport has unfold like springtime clover, giving rise to scores of world-class programs which have turned the Emerald Isle into a marquee vacation spot for avid golfers far and broad.
“Golfers travel to Ireland with high expectations, based on their own experiences and stories from friends,” says Gordon Dalgleish, president of golf journey operator PerryGolf. “Invariably, those expectations are surpassed due to the genuine friendliness of locals, which, combined with the quality of the courses, delivers memories that only grow stronger with each passing day.”
The 6 greatest golf programs in Ireland | GOLF Top 100 Courses within the World
Jessica Marksbury
Given the breadth of choices — which vary from treasured sleepers to fabled championship hyperlinks — the query isn’t whether or not a trip is value it. It’s how to take advantage of a getaway. To assist together with your planning, we’ve highlighted 5 golf-rich regions in Ireland and Northern Ireland, together with a sampling of the programs that await in every.
Southwest Ireland
“The jewel in Ireland’s golfing crown,” in accordance to golf journey operator Golfbreaks, the Southwest sparkles with dozens of hyperlinks gems. Ballybunion. Tralee. Lahinch. Doonbeg. Dingle. The record goes on, as does the shoreline. Heaving with dunes and framed by dramatic bluffs, it yields dramatic vistas practically in every single place you flip, whether or not you’re driving a ball on the arresting grounds of Old Head of Kinsale, well-known for its cliff-edge fairways, or driving a automobile alongside the Ring of Kerry, one of many world’s most scenic seaside routes. An simple drive from the Shannon airport, the Southwest can be dwelling to the Blarney Stone, which, when kissed, is claimed to endow the kisser with the reward of gab. That’s not a dangerous concept. You’re going to have a lot to gush about.
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Dublin/Capital area
As a vibrant cosmopolitan heart, Dublin makes a really perfect base for a golf extravaganza suited to all pursuits. The numerous constellation of sought-after programs consists of pure hyperlinks playgrounds (suppose Portmarnock Old, Royal Dublin, County Louth and the Island), pedigree parkland layouts akin to Adare Manor and The K Club (host web site of the 2006 Ryder Cup) and epic designs that defy strict definition (see: the European Club). Beyond the golf equipment and pubs, there’s, in fact, a main metropolis’s-worth of points of interest and diversions, whether or not it’s a visit to Trinity College or a tasting tour of the Guinness Storehouse, the place you can see how all that good things you’ve been consuming will get made.
Gary Lisbon
Northwest Ireland
Remote golf is all the fad nowadays. But in Northwest Ireland, it has by no means gotten fashionable. It is solely the way in which golf has at all times been. When you pack your golf equipment for this rugged, unspoiled area, you are signaling each your curiosity in journey and your eagerness to unplug. The far-flung hyperlinks right here are close to and expensive to the hearts of design aficionados, highlighted by the country likes of Ballyliffin, Donegal, Port Salon and Rosapenna, a 36-hole resort that not too long ago minimize the ribbon on St. Patrick’s Links, a Tom Doak design that ranks forty ninth on GOLF’s record of Top 100 Courses within the World. All across the Northwest, the turf runs quick however off the course, the tempo of life is as leisurely because the hospitality is heat. Sometimes, getting away from all of it is identical as getting precisely what you need.
Clyde Johnson
Northern Ireland
As energy {couples} go, it’s arduous to high the pairing of Royal County Down and Royal Portrush. Ranked sixth and sixteenth, respectively, on GOLF’s record of Top 100 Courses within the World, each additionally rely as tough-to-come by tee occasions (particularly now that Portrush has returned to the Open Championship rota; having hosted the occasion in 2019, it should do the identical once more in 2025). And but golf in Northern Ireland is greater than this twin-billing. A dream itinerary to this golf-steeped nation would additionally embrace stops at Castlerock, Ardglass and Portstewart, together with a detour to any variety of understated inland programs, akin to Holywood, the place home-grown hero Rory McIlroy realized to play the sport.
Courtesy Tourism Ireland
West Ireland
Play sufficient golf in Ireland and you quickly study that fairly a few programs go by multiple identify. What you name Connemara, for instance, a native may refer to as Ballyconneely, which can be the identify of the small coastal city the place the course is laid out. By any label, although, what you get is identical: 27-holes of tough and tumble hyperlinks, on a peninsula buffeted by Atlantic winds, in an unspoiled area that’s nicely definitely worth the effort it takes to attain. Other choices within the space are each bit as uncooked and exhilarating, starting from Carne to Enniscrone to splendidly rumpled County Sligo, which is the native means of claiming “Rosses Point.”
Courtesy Photo
Book your Irish Golf Getaway Now
Trip 1: Enjoy a scenic tour of the Northwest and play a number of the most pure hyperlinks golf programs on the earth.
Offer stay dates: April 1-Oct. 15, 2024 (From $2,249/individual) / Learn extra and guide HERE
Trip 2: Visit Ireland’s capital metropolis and play some nice golf together with Royal Dublin, Island Club and extra.
Offer stay dates: April 1-Oct. 15, 2024 (From $2,385/individual) / Learn extra and guide HERE
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