The Golf Courses

Dooks Golf Club:

The perfect Starting Course for your Ireland trip. Dooks GC will ease you into the type of golf and golf course you will be facing for the rest of your Irish Golf trip!

Golf has been played in Dooks since 1889 which makes it one of the oldest Golf Links in Ireland. Originally named Dooks & Caragh GC, it was affiliated to the GUI in 1903. For 100 years the links remained a steadfastly quirky, 9-hole monument to those early days as the members resisted all efforts at modernisation. It was extended to eighteen holes in the 1970s under the guidance of Eddie Hackett. The course was further enhanced in 2002 by Martin Hawtree.

For the golfer who is seeking a beautiful and tranquil environment to enjoy great Golf, Dooks presents a convincing case. Dooks is not as exposed as some Irish courses and features an amazing variety of gorse, heather and wild flowers, the “gentle” wind is never far away and the narrow genuine sandy fairways and well contoured greens offer you a real taste of traditional links golf at its very best.

Ballybunion GC (Old Course):

One of a Kind
The Old Course exudes a majestic feel that simply cannot be compared to any other course on earth. With beautifully contoured fairways that tumble down through a blanket of grassy dunes, it’s no wonder these challenging holes have been consistently rated among the top courses in the world so make sure you play here on you Irish golf vacation.
• 2015 Golfing Magazine – The Old Course, voted No. 1 Links Course in Ireland
• 2015 Golf World Magazine, Ireland’s Top Courses 2015, The Old Course No. 4

The town of Ballybunion was named after the Bunion family, who owned the local 15th century castle. For many people, the name brings up a vivid image of a wild links golf course on the edge of the Atlantic with fairways set amongst the gigantic duneland. Herbert Warren Wind, the distinguished American golf author, described Ballybunion as “nothing less than the finest seaside course I have ever seen.

It will come as no surprise that Ballybunion has the largest, most formidable sand dunes in Ireland. Ballybunion is a thrilling challenge, a supreme test of golf. If you are a very good golfer and there’s a gentle breeze blowing, you might score well. If there’s an onshore gale blowing, you are best to forget scoring well and simply try to enjoy this exhilarating golf course. Bill Clinton played there in 1998, apparently taking more “mulligans” than you can shake a golf club at! He also returned again in 2001.

Tom Watson fell in love with Ballybunion and he goes out of his way to extol the course’s virtues. He said, “After playing Ballybunion for the first time, a man would think that the game of golf originated here. There is a wild look to the place, the long grass covering the dunes that pitch and roll throughout the course making it very intimidating…in short, it is a course on which many golf architects should live and play before they build golf courses. I consider it a true test of golf.”

Waterville Golf Links:

The town of Waterville is a famous angling centre, located on a strip of land that separates the Atlantic Ocean from on of the most beautiful lakes in Ireland, Lough Currane. The name Waterville, or Little Whirlpool, is the premier coastal tourist centre of South West Kerry. Every year, Charlie Chaplin came to Waterville with his family and they have named the annual two-day AM-AM after him

Golf at Waterville started in 1889 with a modest 9-hole course. In 1973, the “beautiful monster” course at Waterville opened for play as an 18-hole course. Tom Fazio was recently commissioned to update the course.

Waterville plays on a promontory surrounded by the sea. It’s a stunning, remote location with views to the northeast of the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks mountain range and the southwest across the beautiful Ballinskelligs Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. There are few courses that can boast such a fine collection of unique and great golf holes. Waterville has three outstanding par threes and three excellent par-fives, the par-fours are pretty good also!

The remote location of the Waterville links has precluded it from hosting any big competitions, but many famous golfers find their way here and they all leave with the feeling that Waterville is a very special place.

Payne Stewart was due to be Honorary Captain of Waterville in 2000. Tragically, in October 1999 he died when his private jet crashed in South Dakota. A bronze life-sized statue pays tribute to him and his affiliation with Waterville.

Tralee Golf Club:

“I have never come across a piece of land so ideally suited for the building of a golf course,” said Arnold Palmer. Tralee Golf Club was his first Irish endeavor and it opened in 1984; it’s a rugged and exhilarating creation. According to folklore, Palmer created the first nine and Mother Nature did the rest. The majority of the holes hug the coastline and the ground is elevated, affording magnificent views from the cliff top across Tralee Bay to the Atlantic Ocean beyond. There are only a few courses that grab your attention from the first tee shot, keeping hold of it until the very last putt drops. The links at Tralee is one of those few captivating courses.

We always say that the measure of a good golf course is that the holes stay in the memory forever. There are so many memorable holes at Tralee, so much so that you might need to throw away some lesser memories from other courses to make room for the experience that is Tralee.

Old Head Golf Links:

The course opened for play in 1997 and it’s laid out on a narrow headland, jutting out for two miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Old Head has to be one of the most exhilarating sites upon which golf is played. You feel as though you are on the edge of the world and if you suffer vertigo, some of the tees might present a problem. Three hundred feet up, looking over the edge of the cliff, you will notice seagulls gliding below you. Atlantic waves crash onto the rocks, booming and echoing as they smash into the cave tunnels. It will certainly take you breath away!

Old Head really is a very special place indeed. The peninsula tells a lamentable tale, perhaps mourning the loss of life (many vessels sank in this vicinity). The Lusitania went down here too, in 1915, not because of the rocks, but courtesy of a German torpedo.

There are many memorable holes at Old Head, none more so than the 17th, called “Lighthouse.” It’s a long far five requiring a bold second shot to the right-hand side of the fairway, anything left will leave a blind approach to the green that is nestled in a punchbowl on the edge of the cliffs. The 18th is a dramatic closing hole that should be played from the high back tee for maximum drama. Our favorite hole, is the do-or-die par five 12th – it’s one of the most outrageous holes in golf – whatever you do with your tee shot, don’t bite off more than you can chew.

It’s unlikely you will ever again play a more dramatic course anywhere in the world and that is why: WE CHOSE TO PLAY OLD HEAD GOLF LINKS TWICE!!!