The best links courses to play during your golf holiday
- Ballybunion Golf Club. Ranked in the Top 20 in the World by Top 100 Golf Courses, Ballybunion Golf Club is a must-visit during your golf holiday in Ireland.
- Lahinch Golf Club. Celebrating 125 years of golf, Lahinch Golf Club is one of the iconic links golf clubs lining the Irish coast.
- Tralee Golf Club. ...
- Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg. ...
What are the best golf courses in Ireland?
What is the hardest course in Ireland?
- Druid’s Heath (Co.
- Enniscrone (Co.
- Headfort (New) in Co.
- The European Club (Co.
- Scrabo (Co.
- Dingle/Ceann Sibéal in Co. Kerry is so exposed to the Atlantic winds you may not be able to stand upright.
- Carton House (Montgomerie) in Co. Kildare.
- Carne (Co. Mayo).
What are the best courses in Ireland?
Top 10 courses in Ireland
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What is the most famous golf course in Ireland?
Top 10 best golf courses in Ireland
- Royal County Down, Co. Down – tee off at the Mountains of Mourne. ...
- Royal Portrush, Co. Antrim – truly one of the best golf courses in Ireland. ...
- Lahinch, Co. Clare – one of the Ireland golf courses worthy of its ranking. ...
- Ballybunion, Co. ...
- Portmarnock, Co. ...
- Rosses Point, Co. ...
- Ballyliffin, Co. ...
- Waterville Golf Links, Co. ...
- K Club, Co. ...
- Mount Juliet, Co. ...
How many golf courses are there in Ireland?
What are best golf regions in Ireland & which one is right for you?
- South West Ireland. This region put Irish golf on the map globally and is centered around County Kerry but also takes in courses in County Clare and also County Cork.
- Dublin. ...
- Northern Ireland. ...
- West of Ireland. ...
- Donegal. ...
What does links course mean in golf?
A links golf course is the oldest style of golf course, first developed in Scotland. The word comes from the Scots language and refers to an area of coastal sand dunes, and also sometimes to open parkland. It also retains this more general meaning in the Scottish English dialect.
What is the difference between a golf course and a links?
The difference between a links golf course and a regular course is that the golfer is forced to work with the natural elements of the course. The links course is not manufactured and maintains the original lay of the land. This emulates how it was in the earliest days of the game.
Are links golf courses always by the sea?
So what is a links golf course? "The links" isn't a term specific to golf courses. It is simply a strip of generally undulating, but always sandy, terrain linking the sea and the arable farmland around the edges of the British Isles.
Is Pebble Beach a true links course?
In fact, less than 1% of all the golf layouts in the world would be defined as “true links,” with just a handful in the U.S. Many of the most famous American golf destinations – including Pebble Beach, Whistling Straits and the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island – are links-style courses.
Is the Open always played on a links course?
The Open Championship has always been played on links courses (mostly treeless golf courses that are built along a coast and retain the natural uneven terrain of their locations). From 1860 to 1870 the Open was played exclusively at Prestwick Golf Club. Since 1872 it has been played at a number of courses in rotation.
Why is it called a links course?
Links course The term derives from the Old English word hlinc meaning rising ground or ridge and refers to sandy area along coast. While many courses claim to be links, call themselves links-style, or have the word links in their name, the category is more specific than that.
Are links golf courses harder?
It is often said that links courses are far more difficult for golfers to play due to the layout of the course. There is also a wind element that blows the ball around and can cause scores to climb during a golf tournament.
Do links courses have trees?
Links courses rarely have any trees because the land that they are built on isn't suitable for large plant life. The sandy area doesn't provide the nutrients and stability for trees to grow. Instead, these links courses will have natural seaside grasses and bushes that can survive in these harsh conditions.
What is the number one golf course in Ireland?
The number one golf course in the Republic of Ireland is The European Club in County Wicklow, according to the Golf Monthly UK&I Top 100 Golf Cours...
How many golf courses are there in Ireland?
Ireland has a total of 494 golf courses according to 'Golf Around the World 2019', which was released by The R&A.
What is the oldest golf course in Ireland?
Royal Curragh Golf Club in County Kildare is home to the oldest golf course in Ireland. The course sits on the Curragh plains, which is the oldest...
Where is Waterville Golf Links?
With a location on the world-famous Ring of Kerry, Waterville Golf Links has it all: a heady combination of dunes, gorse and native grasses, sod-faced bunkers and subtle putting surfaces. Right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, the landscape at Waterville changes color with the shifts in weather, making it look just as dramatic in clear sunshine as in cloud. According to Course Designer Tom Fazio, “Everything at Waterville is spectacular – the setting is one of the best that I have seen anywhere in golf”. Little wonder then that it regularly features as one of the top 100 courses in the world.
How many holes are there in Royal Portrush?
It may have started life with just 9 holes back in 1888, but it was only a matter of a year before Royal Portrush was an 18-hole charmer. Among others, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson have stalked the greens here on Antrim's enchanted coast while the "Royal" part of the club’s name derives from its patron, the Prince of Wales (later to be known as King Edward). When 2011 PGA champ Keegan Bradley arrived here for the Irish Open in 2012 he described it as a homecoming. You may well relate. The course had a major upgrade before The 148th Open, the world’s oldest Major, was held there in 2019.
At Discovering Ireland we have put together a list of Ireland's best golf courses ideal for the perfect golf trip
Review our guide to golf in Ireland, check out the many golf resorts and Golf Hotels in Ireland and begin planning your golfing vacation to Ireland.
North West
We offer pre-booked, pre paid and guaranteed tee times at preferential rates with many of the Ireland golf courses for Ireland Golf vacations. However, to cover our costs a nominal booking fee of €10 per tee time reservation applies.
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How many golf courses are there in Ireland?
According to the R&A's Golf Around the World 2019 report, there are 494 golf courses across the entire island ...
When did golf start in Ireland?
During the nineteenth century the Republic of Ireland, or Éire, was part of the United Kingdom and records state that British troops brought golf to the Emerald Isle in the 1850s.
What is Ballyliffin Golf Club?
Ballyliffin Golf Club is often described as “the Ballybunion of the North” or “the Dornoch of Ireland” and the reason is simple; all the aforementioned are set amidst towering natural sand dunes.
How many courses are there in Northern Ireland?
We believe there are approximately 100 courses in Northern Ireland, therefore the Republic of Ireland may lay claim to around 400 courses (give or take) which are scatted far and wide across the Emerald Isle.
When was Curragh Golf Club founded?
The Curragh Golf Club (now Royal Curragh Golf Club after the club finally decided in 2013 to use the royal title that was granted in 1910) was founded in 1858, twenty-three years before the formation of Royal Belfast (1881) and twenty-seven years before the formation of Royal Dublin (1885).
Who built the Trump International Golf Links?
Trump International Golf Links - Ireland. Doonbeg is the course that Greg Norman built, but it was redesigned by Martin Hawtree over a two-year period after the property was acquired in 2014 by Donald Trump and renamed Trump International Golf Links.
Where is the European Club?
The European Club is located in the garden of Ireland, between the coastal towns of Wicklow and Arklow, about 30 miles south of Dublin. Read More >>.
When was Portmarnock Golf Links built?
A Bernhard Langer design built in 1995, Portmarnock Golf Links doesn't have the historical pedigree of its neighboring club. Instead, the 6,444-meter course (roughly 7,050 yards) excels in offering a welcoming atmosphere and more affordable green fee.
How many Irish Opens are there at Portmarnock?
The 27-hole Portmarnock Golf Club, which dates to 1894, has hosted 13 Irish Opens in the modern era of the European Tour, crowning champions from Ben Crenshaw in 1976 to Jose Maria Olazabal in 1990 and Michael Campbell in 2003.
How many yards is the Jameson golf course?
Instead, the 6,444-meter course (roughly 7,050 yards) excels in offering a welcoming atmosphere and more affordable green fee. The land used to be part of the Jameson family's private golf course, developed in 1858 as one of the earliest golf courses in Ireland.
Royal Portrush, County Antrim
It may have started life with just 9 holes back in 1888, but it was only a matter of a year before Royal Portrush was an 18-hole charmer.
Waterville Golf Links, County Kerry
With a location on the world-famous Ring of Kerry, Waterville Golf Links has it all: a heady combination of dunes, gorse and native grasses, sod-faced bunkers and subtle putting surfaces.
Old Head Golf Links, County Cork
Humpback whales splashing in the swirling waters, swooping seabirds, and scampering hares – you’re certainly at one with nature’s immense power on this beautiful links in County Cork, at the southernmost tip of the Wild Atlantic Way.
Lahinch Golf Course, County Clare
Part and parcel of the fabric of Irish golf for 125 years Lahinch's Old Course has undergone many changes since Old Tom Morris came over from Scotland to create it in 1894.
Portmarnock, County Dublin
Founded in 1894 on a sandy peninsula that was once only accessible by boat, this wonderful links course is renowned worldwide. A purely natural course, Portmarnock has hosted 19 Irish Opens as well as the Walker Cup and the Canada Cup – now the World Cup of Golf – and its finishing holes are regarded as some of the best to be found anywhere.
The Island Golf Club
Gary Murphy, an Irish European Tour pro from Drogheda, calls County Louth Golf Club a "historic place." The links has hosted the 2004 and 2009 Irish Opens on the European Tour.
Dooks Golf Club
Dooks Golf Club in County Kerry is the odd course out among the star-studded stretch of links in the southwest of Ireland.
Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links
Similar names and the fact that they're neighbors regularly causes confusion between visitors seeking out Portmarnock Golf Club and Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links.
Portsalon Golf Club
Those who do brave the back roads of rural County Donegal often stop for 36 holes at Ballyliffin Golf Club and 36 more at the Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort.
Portstewart Golf Club
The Dunluce Course at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland remains the only Emerald Isle course to have hosted a British Open, way back in 1951. It's so revered that Portrush fans are clamoring for a return to the Open rota.