Golf - Links courses

The European

Located south of the Hotel near the sandy beaches of Brittas Bay, The European is a private, family-run golf club with a friendly disposition toward visiting players. The course has received many accolades and is now considered one of the top 100 golf courses in the world. The course plays very long as it brings you through high dunes and marshlands, along a wild and exposed beach, up onto the cliffs of Mizen Head and deep into the Hades Vale at the 17th hole.

One of the most unique features of this golf course is that it has 20 holes ... if you have 20 fine golf holes to play, why stop at 18? Similarly, the green at the 12th hole is 127 yards deep, which may make it the longest green in the world.

Visit The European web site

Royal Dublin Golf Club

Located 50 minutes north of Dublin on Bull Island, which it shares with a bird sanctuary. Royal Dublin is Ireland's second-oldest golf course and was pioneered by the Scot John Lumsden in 1885, later receiving its Royal designation in 1891. The course has hosted many challenges including the Irish Open, Irish Close and the Toyota Challenge of Champions between Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros. The course has many hazards, the most dangerous being exceptionally narrow fairways and the winds that rise off the Irish Sea with no warning.

Visit the Royal Dublin Golf Club web site

St. Anne's Golf Club

Founded in 1921, St. Anne’s is located in the heart of one of the finest bird sanctuaries in Ireland, the North Bull Island. This unique setting for the famous old links, with splendid views of Howth Head and across Dublin Bay to the Dublin Mountains, ensures enjoyable year-round golf for the discerning golfer.

Visit the St. Anne's Golf Club web site

Old Portmarnock

Universally acknowledged as one of the most prestigious golf links courses, Portmarnock is situated on a tongue of shallow dune land north of Dublin. It has hosted some of the game's greatest events, from the British Amateur of 1949, to the Canada Cup of 1990 and the 1991 Walker Cup. Although this is a private links course, arrangements can be made for a tee time with sufficient advance notice.

Visit the Portmarnock web site