As hucksterish as it may sound, it really is true that you can hardly make a mistake when choosing a region of Ireland for your first journey to the land of marvelous links. You can stay in the Dublin area, hit the Southwest, the West, the Northwest or even go to Northern Ireland – a separate UK country, of course – and your biggest challenge will be which stunning courses to leave out.
So, we’ve done the choosing for you. With apologies to all, from Dooks to the Dunluce, we’re headed to the West of Ireland for your inaugural trip.
First, let’s land in Dublin. Most Americans will arrive in the bustling capital city in the early morning following an all-night flight. My personal jet lag strategy is to beg to get in my hotel room as early as possible and try to get no more than one hour of sleep before, say, noon. Assuming you’re likely traveling at the May-through-September peak, that leaves you plenty of time for a late-afternoon round or at least nine to clear the cognitive fog.
Where to stay in Dublin? This summer, I stopped at the stylish Portmarnock Resort (7 miles east of the Dublin Airport), where the recently refurbished Jameson Golf Links (1995, Bernhard Langer design) offers restful views of the five-mile Velvet Strand Beach and, if you’re lucky, a quick first tee history lesson from crusty John the Starter, who will remind you that just eight minutes down the road at the historic Portmarnock Golf Club (1894), American Hubert Green won The Irish Open in 1977. https://www.portmarnock.com/
“Most Americans don’t even know who he is,” John assured me, with some accuracy, as he surveyed the rumpled landscape of the testy younger course, which has hosted the 2008 and 2009 Ladies Irish Open, and the 2021 Irish Challenge.
Another approach for your first night in Dublin would be to stay in the leafy village of Malahide, also near the airport, at The Grand Hotel, a stately Irish landmark built in 1835 that puts you just a short walk from a host of good restaurants. https://www.thegrand.ie/ A third and completely novel idea just a 20-minute walk to Malahide village would be the new family-run Hidden Acres Guesthouse, where visitors can stay in the six finely-appointed bedrooms or in the four “glamping pods” near the on-site herb garden and a corral full of friendly alpacas, sheep, goats and donkeys. Lovingly managed by co-owner Sarah Ruiter and family, Hidden Acres is like a restful upscale farm, yet you’re just minutes from the airport. https://hiddenacres.ie/
Just across the shallow estuary at Malahide you can see The Island Golf Club (1890), https://www.theislandgolfclub.com/ a lovely test of rugged golf where the dunes are considered the highest among courses on Ireland’s east coast. The course was designed by an estimable trio of Fred and Martin Hawtree and Eddie Hackett, the architect laureate of Ireland, and is perennially among the ten best courses in Ireland, yet somehow The Island still manages to be overlooked by many travelers who mistakenly think Dublin has little great golf.
Carne seems more mountainous than any course in actual mountains.
After a blissful night’s sleep, we’re headed about four hours west, via mostly good roads, to Belmullet and Carne Golf Links, which, until proven wrong, seems to rightly claim the highest dunes of all the Irish links, and thus, probably the entire golf world.
Seriously, Carne seems more mountainous than any course in actual mountains. Bring some used balls because unless you’re Korn Ferry-bound your wayward shots will find terrain at a 40-degree angle covered in waist-high marram grass and the thought will occur, “Let’s drop in the fairway.” Goats would get sprained ankles here.
Yet, Carne’s invigorating 27 holes are exactly why you’ve come to Ireland. You’ll be faced with shots you’ve never imagined, much less practiced, and the views of the sea and farmland will warm your cockles. Belmullet has barely a thousand people year-round, but it has a fine boutique hotel (The Talbot), the adjoining Seafood Bar and Anchor Restaurant, and the elegant Phoenix Chinese Restaurant across the street, plus just steps away, one of the country’s best pubs, McDonnell’s, where the live music is vibrant and strangers are embraced. https://visitbelmullet.ie/gowilddetails/mcdonnells-the-lobster-pot/
As a home base for the next several days, one might consider staying in Enniscrone at the comfortable and convenient Diamond Coast Hotel, the Radisson Blu in Sligo or perhaps The Ballina Manor or Mount Falcon Estate in Ballina. All of them know the local golf scene and some may offer stay-and-play packages.
About an hour east of Belmullet is one of Ireland’s greatest links courses, beloved by Irish stars like Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry, yet it’s still unknown to most Americans. Enniscrone Golf Club, founded in 1922 and designed by Eddie Hackett and Donald Steel, has all the rapturous beauty of the Wild Atlantic Way and the golf cred of Ballybunion or Waterville, but well into the late 1980s it suffered financial problems that made it difficult to maintain such a rugged dunesland. https://enniscronegolf.com/
As word spread of Enniscrone’s grandeur and the sheer fun of Steel’s redesign, Enniscrone soon attracted visitors from as far as Sweden, South Africa and Japan, and eventually cracked Golf World’s top 100. “We still get a lot of first-time Americans,” I was told by Deirdre Moylett, a member for 30 years who had the privilege of learning the game from Charlie McGoldrick, a selfless cherished former club pro who influenced generations of Enniscrone members. Be sure to ask about the town’s legendary seaweed baths.
What makes Enniscrone a bit more fun and less brutal than Carne are some big vista let-it-rip tee boxes combined with a few blind shots that require real precision. And during my round, true to the club’s festive multi-colored logo, we saw four different rainbows in a late September afternoon. Our day was made complete by finding just three minutes away, La Pizzeria, a popular wood-fired joint owned by friendly Sardinians.
Though just 6,200 yards from the tips, Strandhill is a joy to play and full of welcoming members.
Next stop, and a beautiful one hour drive east along the North Atlantic, is Strandhill Golf Club, another joy to play but regrettably overlooked by many tour groups because its back tees are only about 6,200 yards. https://www.strandhillgolfclub.com/
When I arrived just after 5 p.m. on a Sunday, the pro shop was closed, but I was quickly welcomed at the bar by some veteran members and told to go enjoy myself. It’s hard not to on this charming landscape of quirky delightful holes, populated with couples, students, serious players and Dublin retirees like Frank Carroll, who walks to the course from the home he built some 25 years ago.
“It’s a great course, shorter than most, but here it’s all about the social side of it, the friendships,” said Carroll, as he chipped on to the first green. (He raved about the Irish-designed SEED ball, billed as Tour quality but bargain-priced.) Just days after the murder of the American right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, Carroll found himself more mindful of the value of socializing with those of a different stripe. “These people, young people mostly, who just live on the internet. That’s not healthy,” he said. “They don’t know how to talk to others or themselves.” Funny how our frustrating short games lead us to philosophy.
I only got in five holes before dark, spending most of my time chatting and hitting multiple wedges to the tricky No. 5 green, protected by a minefield of moguls, but like everyone I spoke to afterward about this gorgeous spot, I can’t wait to return to Strandhill.
In almost everyone’s top ten Irish links, there is County Sligo Golf Club or, as it’s known to locals, Rosses Point. We’re not big on signature holes, per se, but it’s difficult to forget the golf panorama one enjoys here from the lofty fifth tee. Facing the flat-topped Ice Age mountain known as Benbulbin, a brooding formation that seems lifted from the Navajo Rez, you can survey about seven holes of exceptional links golf. It’s an invigorating moment in the middle of your day, a reminder of the community spirit underlying our game.
Built in 1894 and extensively redone in 1922 (Harry Colt, John Alison), 2014 (Pat Ruddy) and most recently (2024) by Mackenzie & Ebert, whose work is on display at Royal County Down, Portmarnock and The Island, County Sligo (7,157 yards from the tips) has remained a fresh and endlessly challenging track for decades. Ireland’s best players, from Christy O’Connor to Rory McIlroy, who won the West of Ireland Championship here at age 15 and 16, have raved about its distinctive nuanced holes that require more than sheer length.
As fate would have it, I caught County Sligo on a horrendous day – gusts of 42 mph blowing balls off their tees, icepick rain, and naturally, the locals were inside having breakfast while the only humans braving the elements were 50 Americans who looked like members of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition.
“When I came here in 2010,” general manager David O’Donovan told me, “about 15 to 20 percent of our rounds were international, and now that’s about 85 percent and most of those would be American and Canadian. We depend on them.” (International memberships cost about $12,000, plus $200 per year.)
With prime summer rounds at Sligo now pushing $375, O’Donovan and many of his colleagues at the premier Irish links wonder when the bubble might burst.
“The price of golf has got to stop somewhere,” he cautioned, “but there are some visitors, mainly Americans, who think if they haven’t paid at least 300 euros or more that maybe your product has declined…Honestly, what I’m more concerned about is what’s happening in the world. With the uncertainty of Trump, if war were to break out in Europe, say, Russia invading Poland, the American visitors would simply not come.”
Another good reason to vote sanity in 2026.
There you have a solid week of fantastic golf, with all kinds of options – parkland courses, rambunctious nine hole tracks – that we’ve not even discussed and might be more attractive to the beginning or bargain golfer. But if you’re determined to play the prestige layouts, now is the time to make your reservations and prepare for a life-changing trip.
Bruce Selcraig has written for The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated and The Atlantic, among others. Selcraig@swbell.net