Ireland is above all links country: fairways laid out among the dunes, where the wind has as much say as the player. The south-west holds much of it. In County Kerry, Ballybunion, Tralee and Killarney, by the lakes and beneath the mountains, can be played on a single trip; in County Clare, Lahinch has held its own since 1892. Further south, Cork combines Fota Island with the cliffs of the Old Head, while Galway opens onto Connemara. On the east coast, Dublin offers Portmarnock, Royal Dublin and the K Club, host of the 2006 Ryder Cup.
The ideal season runs from May to September, with long evenings that allow late rounds. The links are played in winter too, windy and with short days, but several great courses then close to visitors, such as the Old Course at Ballybunion, Old Head and Portmarnock. We arrange tailor-made chauffeured trips there: tee times reserved on the great courses, country-house hotels, pubs and tables along the coast.
Ballybunion, a small seaside town in north County Kerry at the mouth of the Shannon, has two eighteen-hole links in the dunes: the Old Course, regularly ranked among the best courses in the world, and the Watson Cashen, laid out by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and redesigned by Tom Watson and Graeme Webster. Golfers come for dune golf and wind beside the ocean, with Tralee about forty minutes away. The best season runs from May to September.
Cork, the Republic of Ireland's second city, is the base for three very different courses: Old Head Golf Links, set on a headland above the Atlantic near Kinsale; the Deerpark Course at Fota Island, host of three Irish Opens; and Cork Golf Club at Little Island, reworked by Alister MacKenzie. Golfers come for the cliffs, the harbour parklands, the coastal cooking and Midleton whiskey. The best season runs from May to September.
Dublin is one of the few capitals where you can play great links less than 40 minutes from the centre: Royal Dublin on North Bull Island, and Portmarnock and The Island on the dunes of the north coast. The K Club's Palmer North, venue of the 2006 Ryder Cup, adds a parkland course about 45 minutes to the west, and the city offers a two-star table, neighbourhood favourites, theatres and pubs. The best season runs from April to September.
Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, offers three courses less than half an hour from the city: The Hawthorn, laid out by Christy O'Connor Jnr on the Renville peninsula; Galway Golf Club at Salthill, facing the bay; and Bearna, on Connemara bogland. The Connemara links, designed by Eddie Hackett, is about an hour and a half's drive west. Golfers come for the Atlantic, a lively city and the oysters of the bay; the best season runs from May to September.
Killarney, in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland, is the inland base for a Kerry golf trip: Killarney Golf & Fishing Club lines up Killeen, four times host of the Irish Open, and Mahony's Point on the shore of Lough Leane, facing MacGillycuddy's Reeks. The Dooks links is about 35 minutes away, Waterville about 1 hour 15 minutes. Golfers come for golf between lakes and mountains and for the national park; the best season runs from May to September.
Lahinch, a seaside town in County Clare on Ireland's Atlantic coast, is home to one of the country's great links: the Old Course, laid out from 1892, revised by Old Tom Morris and then redesigned by Alister MacKenzie in 1927. The club's Castle Course and the Doonbeg links, about 35 minutes away, complete a stay of three to five nights among dunes, surf and the Cliffs of Moher. The best season runs from May to September.
Tralee, the county town of Kerry at the head of the bay of the same name, is the ideal base for Tralee Golf Club, the only course Arnold Palmer designed in Ireland, opened in 1984 on the dunes at Barrow. Dooks, one of the oldest links in the country, and two characterful nine-hole courses, Castlegregory and Ballyheigue Castle, complete the trip, with Ballybunion and Killarney about forty minutes away. The best season runs from April to September.
