Golfing in Ireland

Course Listings | About Golf in Ireland | Hints & Tips

Year round golfing in Ireland is perfectly feasible - provided you have suitable wet weather gear! - but conditions are best between April and October. During these months you can expect to be able to play up to 7pm in the evening at least, with many courses playable until 10pm or 11pm during the months of June-August you may even fit two games into a single day.

For best value aim to play as early as possible in the day and preferrably on a week day. In many golf clubs there are few if any tee times available to visitors at weekends during the summer, so if you must play at the weekend book well in advance.

Golf Equipment

Ireland's best golf courses are very challenging and if you are serious about tackling them you will need to have a full set of clubs. If you can't face hauling your own on a long journey, almost all larger clubs will have equipment available for rental but fewer smaller clubs will. An umbrella is a good idea year round, although on links courses it may well be useless in strong sea winds!

Motorised golf buggies are not common on any but the larger courses and are totally absent on almost all links courses. Even where they are available they are few in number and will need to be booked in advance.

What to Wear

In Ireland's changeable weather it is advisable to bring both warm and waterproof clothing even during the summer months. In winter both are essential.

Club house dress codes are fairly relaxed - smart casual is the norm though at some larger clubs jacket and tie for men and somewhat smarter attire for women may be required for evening events.

Soft studs are now required at many golf courses. If your shoes have metal studs the professional's shop will usually be able to change them to soft for you for a small charge.

How Much?

A round of golf at some of the prestige courses will cost from about €90 upwards in off peak months or more than €150 in the summer months. Yep, expensive.

Many local or less well known courses are much more affordable, will provide you with excellent golf and are often overlooked by visitors.

What's with all the Links courses?

About 40% of all true links courses in the world are in Ireland and they are almost all of a very high standard. Many golfers come just to experience true links golfing.

Situated on open sites close to water and with lots of sand, these courses are buffeted by nature and present a real challenge to visitors more used to sheltered parkland golfing - but be careful, playing them is highly addictive!

Your Comments

Please note: To prevent spam all comments are moderated. Promotional or advertising comments will not be published. If you want to ask a question or start a discussion rather than post a comment, please so so in the forum. Thank you!