5 Great Golf Courses for Your Trip to Dublin

 

Ireland is a small island in geographical terms but a large one when it comes to top class golf courses. That perhaps explains why players like Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry are world leaders in the professional golfing ranks as the choice and variety of courses they could play on as they matured is quite incredible.

If you’re planning on spending some time in Dublin in the near future and want to make the most of the many quality golf courses in and around the city, then read on to discover five great golf clubs which will test your golfing qualities to the maximum. Pick a budget hotel in Dublin like Travelodge Dublin Hotels where you can take off your spikes and leave your clubs after your round and use as an ideal base for some 19^th hole enjoyment in the city.

Ready to tee off?

1. Portmarnock in Dublin

Only 25 minutes from Dublin City centre, Portmarnock golf course on Dublin’s coastline is rightly regarded as one of the top links courses in the world and has the professional and amateur championships to prove it, including the Irish Open and the Walker Cup. This is a pure links course that will put your skills under real pressure whether you’re a low or high handicapper. The course itself has low sand dunes, small green hollows and long valleys, in other words, ideal golfing terrain and has been so ever since 1858 when golf was first played there. The facilities are all top class with a championship standard driving range, putting and chipping green and there is a wonderful atmosphere of pure golfing tradition throughout the Portmarnock club.

2. Royal Dublin Golf Club

Another gold club steeped in golfing history, the Royal Dublin Golf Club was formed in 1885 and has been host to numerous golfing championships as well including the Irish Open. Such is its quality and its geographical position on Bull Island on the north shore of Dublin Bay, it is perfect for anyone staying in Dublin city centre who is itching to play a great links course. While every hole is guaranteed to provide difficult but not insurmountable challenges for each golfer, the eighteenth hole is famous for its problematic approach over an out of bounds onto the final green.

3. K Club in Kildare near Dublin

There are two excellent parkland courses half an hour’s drive from Dublin at the K Club in County Kildare. Forever associated with the Ryder Cup which it hosted in 2006 and still the only Irish golf course to have hosted the famous golfing event, the K Club courses were both designed by the legendary Arnold Palmer and he certainly hasn’t made them easy. There is plenty of water to contend with as you play your ball up and down long rolling fairways and long tricky greens. The clubhouse, as you’d expect from a quality hotel resort, offers excellent food and nourishment after a punishing round.

4: The European Club close to Dublin

This is an unusual combination of parkland and links golfing terrain in County Wicklow, a short distance from Dublin. The European Club has a seaside stretch right in the middle of the back nine which makes for an interesting change of pace during your round. Perhaps a difficult course for the mere beginner, you’d be hard pressed to find a more interesting challenge for the more experienced putter.

5: Druids Glen

There is no doubt about it, Druids Glen, also in County Wicklow, is one of the best parkland golf courses in Ireland. Having hosted the Irish Open as well as the Seve Trophy, it has been referred to as the Augusta of Europe and is certainly a beautifully maintained course with a backdrop of perfectly manicured flowers and plants. That beauty hides a very testing course though that will bring huge satisfaction for golfers managing to overcome its challenges. There is a second course, Druids Heath, but Druids Glen is the perfect course to challenge every determined golfer.