Ireland is a verdant, beautiful island that seems designed just for golfers. Here are a few of Ireland’s best golf courses:

Golf in Northern Ireland

The counties in Northern Ireland sport over eighty golf courses. One of these is Ardglass Golf Club, which was founded in 1896 and is still getting rave reviews today. The Minnesota Golfer notes the club’s quintessentially Irish landscape – “craggy cliffs with great clefts and folds that drop precipitously into the crashing surf.” The Toronto Star said the course left them “speechless”, and Shark.com loved the back nine “spectacular holes”. This course is not to be missed.

Golf in Northeastern Ireland

The Island Golf Club is located fifteen minutes from the Dublin Airport. Reaching out into the sea, the 1890s golf club is surrounded by water on three sides. Qunitessentially classified as a “Dublin Golf Course” and Ranked 17th amongst all of Ireland’s golf courses, the Island Golf Club is a Championship Links course that also boasts a full bar and catering services on-site.

Golf in Northwestern Ireland

Carne Golf Links in County Mayo was designed by the late, great Eddie Hackett. Although the Carne Golf Links course has been used for golf since 1925, when it was Belmullet Golf Club, the community-owned Erris Tourism bought the site in the mid-1980s and all eighteen holes opened in 1995. Reviewers have described the course as “one of Ireland’s last true hidden gems,” “all that one could ever yearn for,” and the surrounding scenery as “staggering.” The clubhouse has a full restaurant and bar, complete with a late dinner menu and Sunday brunch.

Golf in Southwest Ireland

The Shannon Championship Golf Club is a championship course designed by John Harris in 1966. Since that time, the Shannon Golf Club has hosted both professional and amateur golf tournaments. The course itself features a mix of greens, sand traps, and water hazards – including a shot on the seventeenth hole over the Shannon Estuary. Also at the Shannon Golf Club are conference rooms, a full-service restaurant and bar, and a clubhouse that can host events of up to 150 people.

Other golf courses in Ireland to consider include the following: