Home | Site Map | Jul 21, 2008

This is about the closest to a city centre Golf Club you could get, just 5km from the centre of Dublin and a short hop to the airport - a good place for a last morning of golf before you fly home!

It is different from other links courses in that it is almost pancake flat, but very open to the elements and famed for its top quality and very fast greens.

There are several famously tricky holes. The 13th, with awkwardly positioned out of bounds all down the right side and a very narrow green, with an even narrower entrance between two high mounds, has been unlucky for more than a few golfers. The par 5 18th is famous, or perhaps notorious would be a better word, for its sharp right hand dog leg and wickedly placed bunkers and in tournaments always provides plenty of thrills for spectators.

There are excellent club house facilities with a decent restaurant, though personally I would recommend heading to nearby Howth after your game where there is a very good selection of restaurants and pubs.

Green Fees: €120. No availablility for visitors on Wednesdays and very restricted availablilty at weekends.

There is an arrangement with the neighbouring St Anne's Golf Club for players to have a round at both courses for an all in price of €140. St Anne's has had 18 holes since 1990 and before that was a 9 hole course for 70 years. It is a smaller and much less well known club, but has a very good course and is worth playing. Enquire at either club.

Bull Island & the Bull Wall

While officially the club's address is Bull Island, it is not in fact on an island at all but on a sand bank, created following the construction of the Bull Wall whose purpose was to keep sand from silting up the entrance to Dublin Port.

This has created a unique environment and not just for golfers. On the seaward side of the bank is a 3 mile long sandy beach, Dollymount Strand, beloved of Dubliners, while on the inner side is a wide salty marsh, a designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which is a wildlife preserve and home to many rare birds, especially over-wintering migrants and waders. There can be more than 30,000 birds there on a winter's day and it is also home to a widely diverse range of plants.

The proximity of this area to the course makes for some interesting sights as you travel around the course. Not least is the number of hares around - you will almost certainly see a few scuttling across the course as you play - and those with early tee times may also spot foxes.

One of the prime movers behind the erection of the Bull Wall, which was completed in the 1820's, was none other than Captain Bligh, better known for his unfortunate treatment at the hands of mutineers on the Bounty. 

The course and its interesting location are clearly visible in this satellite image at Google Maps, where you can clearly see the wall at the entrance to the port.

Location Map for Royal Dublin

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