Golf trip to Ireland or Northern Ireland?

[Ing87]

Hi all, mods feel free to move if this is the wrong sub

Planning a golf trip in June for 6 people, flying to either Dublin or Belfast.

Which destination do you recommend? What part of the countries are best for golf?

Looking to play 4-6 courses of up to £60-80 a round or less, could maybe splash bigger on one of them. Would ideally not drive hours between courses etc.

Any advice very appreciated.

 

[3 jabber]

If your budget is that low I would look elsewhere. Ireland is brilliant for the high end courses but lower end there is no big improvement over this side of the water. I'd suggest you save the flight money and look at places off the beaten track in Wales or Scotland.

 

[Ing87]

If your budget is that low I would look elsewhere. Ireland is brilliant for the high end courses but lower end there is no big improvement over this side of the water. I'd suggest you save the flight money and look at places off the beaten track in Wales or Scotland.

Interesting, thanks! We could probably increase that budget a little, I just thought that sorta range would be okay for some courses.

If you don’t mind, what’s some example of higher ones that I can check out?

 

[3 jabber]

All the big name links courses will cost you upwards of 300 euros a round. Look at the top 100 rankings to see which ones. Some good but slightly cheaper options will be the likes of Portsalon, Cashen at Ballybunion, Valley at Portrush, Ardglass, Rosslare, Seapoint.

 

[MACM85]

You will struggle to find top courses for that sort of money. Plenty around in that budget but nothing that will jump out.

Corballis links around Dublin is a cheaper links experience. Short course but quirky in places.

With the location you're looking at it will be very hard to pinpoint exact courses. Might be worth checking if there is an open on around where you plan at that time.

 

[garyinderry]

The problem is the courses are well spread out too.

Scotland is probably your best bet to get a greater density of good courses, closer together within that budget.

 

[Backache]

I've just taken a look at the prices of some of the courses I played about 6-7 yrs ago, on a trip round Donegal where the golf was a bit cheaper than elsewhere back then, Wow , nice courses but seriously pricey.

 

[Ing87]

The problem is the courses are well spread out too.

Scotland is probably your best bet to get a greater density of good courses, closer together within that budget.

Yeah was worried about having to drive loads,

Yea done Scotland a few times, around Dundee is unreal

 

[abjectplop]

I once stayed in Newcastle where Royal County Down is. Was a nice town with good pubs etc. just south of Belfast. Played Ardglass, St. Patricks and Annesley Links (the 2nd course at RCD). Ardglass is £170 but the other 2 would probably be in budget.

 

[Backache]

I once stayed in Newcastle where Royal County Down is. Was a nice town with good pubs etc. just south of Belfast. Played Ardglass, St. Patricks and Annesley Links (the 2nd course at RCD). Ardglass is £170 but the other 2 would probably be in budget.

Ardglass is a very pleasant course with a great clubhouse and good views but that price is OTT. I think it is firmly on the American circuit. Its typical holiday links but when we played it it was over 5 hours with loads of American 4 balls and caddies.

 

[slicer79]

Lot of Irish clubs have increased prices recently. One reason given is that clubs say when trying to attract those on a golf trip if the price is too low people assume it's not a great course. So by charging top money they're actually likely to attract more visitors. Not great though for those of us who live in Ireland even though many clubs will facilitate a better deal if you are a registered with Golf Ireland.

 

[AussieKB]

Have played Ballybunion (both courses), Lahinch, Killaraney (both courses), Waterville, Tralee, Dingle., Dooks, Adare Manor plus several more, but will not be going to Ireland again unless I win the lottery, they have over priced themselves, just looking for Yank tourists now, IMO.

For the money you want to spend, then you need to look for courses off the beaten track as they say in OZ.

Good Luck

 

[Ceredigion Golfer]

Have played in the Donegal Links Classic for the past 2 years, Portsalon, Rosapenna (sandy Hills), Ballyliffin (old links) .3 great courses, however they now charge 375 euro to enter, in 2023 we paid 250.

RATES | Donegal LinksClassic

www.donegallinksclassic.net

 

[PhilTheFragger]

A fair few years ago I went on the “Irish Craic Classic Tour # 2” with lots of the forum guys from Ireland

We based ourselves at Cavan and played Rossmore, Concra Wood, Farnham Estate and Sleive Russell

All decent courses, in fact, very decent, just checked the visitors green fee rates and they all look pretty reasonable between 45 - 80 euros per bod,

So it is doable, obviously accommodation and travel costs need to be factored in , but it was a fabulous trip , think it was 2014?

 

[Klimski]

Hi all, mods feel free to move if this is the wrong sub

Planning a golf trip in June for 6 people, flying to either Dublin or Belfast.

Which destination do you recommend? What part of the countries are best for golf?

Looking to play 4-6 courses of up to £60-80 a round or less, could maybe splash bigger on one of them. Would ideally not drive hours between courses etc.

Any advice very appreciated.

Reviving this thread, feel free to close it if that's not okay. But, one of our group has asked me (as touring secretary) to look into an Ireland tour. And I too have seen that all the more famous courses - especially anything coastal are very dear. So I wondered if OP ever went on the tour and how you got on budget wise. I was looking at playing a cheaper links and combining that with some inland courses. For example:

Fly into Dublin, play Corballis links, then drive to the Tullamore area and play: Tullamore, Birr/Esker Hills and or Athlone Golf Club.

Or fly into Cork, play Cork (expensive) and then an assortment of cheaper options: Muskerry, Mahon, Douglas/Macroom

Any advice and input is welcome. But good to note that our golf trips are usually limited to three or four full days, with 18 holes per day.

 

[KenL]

How about Northumberland or parts of Scotland like around Aviemore/Inverness?
Plenty great courses for reasonable money around there.

 

[Klimski]

How about Northumberland or parts of Scotland like around Aviemore/Inverness?
Plenty great courses for reasonable money around there.

Cheers Ken. Northumberland is also on the radar, as we could take the Ferry from the Netherlands to Newcastle. And I have a couple of different itinerary's for around there. Inverness/Aviemore is a bit more tricky, because of the travel involved for us from NL. Inverness is on my personal list because Cullen is on my bucket list. But some of our group are big on Ireland... so I am looking into it.

 

[BrianM]

Cheers Ken. Northumberland is also on the radar, as we could take the Ferry from the Netherlands to Newcastle. And I have a couple of different itinerary's for around there. Inverness/Aviemore is a bit more tricky, because of the travel involved for us from NL. Inverness is on my personal list because Cullen is on my bucket list. But some of our group are big on Ireland... so I am looking into it.

You can easily get flights from Amsterdam to Inverness through KLM if that makes any difference to your thought process.

 

[Klimski]

You can easily get flights from Amsterdam to Inverness through KLM if that makes any difference to your thought process.

Thanks, in the recent past those have been very expensive. But I'll take another look. We won't be touring this year anyway..

 

[kp17]

Would absolutely love an Ireland trip to tick off some of the big ones but prices sound crazy. Maybe one day