Enjoy a golf holiday in Ireland
If you enjoy golf, you will certainly enjoy a golf holiday in Ireland. If you like people who are friendly, hospitable and always willing to spend half an hour chatting, then you will love a golf holiday in Ireland. On top of that, you’ll play some magnificent courses, and many have splendid views of the sea or low-lying mountains. The best thing about Ireland is that there are many golf courses and visitors are welcome at almost all of them. Also, the Irish are very casual, so you can often just show up and play. Of course, I recommend that you call in advance to find out if you can play.
Although the Irish are casual, you will find that jeans and T-shirts are not considered proper golf clothing on many courses. It is common courtesy to wear collared shirts and more normal chinos or trousers. Of course more ovens are fine!
Get off the plane or ferry and start playing
So where do you play golf on your golf vacation in Ireland? You can get to Dublin, Shannon, Cork, Belfast or anywhere in the two countries (Northern Ireland is part of the UK, while Eire or the Republic of Ireland are a separate nation) and play some great golf close by. You can also cross the border with the minimum of formalities, and on many roads you will not know that you have gone from one country to another.
Many links courses around the long coastline.
Most of the courses around the coast are links courses, among the best you can find anywhere.
The South West of Ireland is a popular holiday area and is also good for golf holidays. There are some great courses including Killarney, a must play in my opinion, Ballybunion, Waterville, a new version of a disused course, Dooks and Old Head. All the courses are excellent, and you will also find many lesser known courses; this is true throughout Ireland. There are also excellent courses in the south-east, including Rosslare, close to where one of England’s ferries docks, St Helen Bay, Carlow, Waterford Castle and Faithlegg.
Further up the east coast are Royal Dublin, the K-Club, which is a very tough track, Mount Juliet, Druids Glen and the great Portmarnock.
In Northern Ireland you’ll find courses like County Down, Castlerock, Royal Belfast, Bushmills and Malone, while to the west you’ll discover courses like Lahinch, Bearma, Connemara, Carne, Rosses Point, Enniscore and Westport. If you really love playing golf in a park on your golf vacation, you’ll want to head to the center of Ireland. Here you will find beautiful courses such as Esker Hills, Glasson, Headfort, Mullingar, Nuremore and Slieve Russell.
Not only will you find and enjoy many great courses in Ireland, but you will also have a lot of fun being in such a friendly country, where the pubs can be very large or just a counter in a shop.