The Best Golf Courses in Ireland
Ireland carries more world class links per mile than anywhere on earth, from the Mournes at Royal County Down to the Open stage at Portrush and the great dunes of the south west. Our ranked ten, with the verdict on each, the designers and indicative 2026 green fees.
Photograph: Royal County Down Golf Club, M O, via Google
How we ranked them
This is a list of the best golf courses on the island of Ireland, north and south, because that is how golfers play them and how the ranking panels read the map. Two of the finest, Royal County Down and Royal Portrush, sit in Northern Ireland, and a classic Irish golf week routinely crosses the border. We weight the quality and variety of the holes, the setting, the condition and the sense of occasion, and we lean toward the links that define the country rather than the inland exceptions. Adare Manor, the parkland host of the 2027 Ryder Cup, earns its place as the one great exception.
The ranking
Royal County Down, Newcastle
For many the best course in the world, never mind Ireland. The Championship links runs out and back beneath the Mountains of Mourne through towering, gorse crowned dunes, with blind drives, bearded bunkers and a front nine often called the finest in golf. It is stern, beautiful and utterly memorable, the round every visiting golfer measures the trip against. Play it early in the morning when the dunes throw long shadows.
Indicative 2026 green fee around €350 and above, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Royal Portrush, Dunluce Links
The host of the 2019 and 2025 Open Championships, and the only course outside Britain on the modern Open rota. Harry Colt's Dunluce twists through the dunes of the Causeway Coast, with the par 4 Calamity Corner falling away to ruin on the right and the new closing holes built for the championship. A genuine major venue you can play, and the heart of any northern golf trip. Pair it with Royal County Down for the finest two day stretch in the game.
Indicative 2026 green fee around €325 and above, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Portmarnock Golf Club
The grand old links of the capital, laid out on a low peninsula north of Dublin and a long time host of the Irish Open and Amateur, with Open Championship qualifying staged here. There is little dune drama, just a relentless, honest examination where the wind swirls from every direction and every hole asks a different question. The purist's choice, and the easiest great links to reach from the airport.
Indicative 2026 green fee around €250 and above, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Ballybunion, Old Course
Tom Watson's favourite course anywhere, and the soul of south west golf. The Old Course tumbles along the cliffs above the Atlantic, the dunes crowding the fairways and the greens perched above the beach, a links that feels carved by the sea rather than designed. Wild, exposed and thrilling in a wind. Add the Robert Trent Jones Cashen Course alongside, and give the village a night.
Indicative 2026 green fee around €220 to €280, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Lahinch, Old Course
The St Andrews of the west, an Old Tom Morris links later reworked by Alister MacKenzie and refined by Martin Hawtree, host of the 2019 Irish Open. The quirky Klondyke and Dell holes survive from the original, blind and beloved, and goats still graze by the clubhouse. Charming, characterful and great fun, a short drive from the Cliffs of Moher. Embrace the blind shots rather than fighting them.
Indicative 2026 green fee around €250 to €280, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Waterville Golf Links
The jewel of the Ring of Kerry, a remote, big shouldered links on a spit of land between Ballinskelligs Bay and the Inny estuary. Long associated with Payne Stewart, who served as honorary captain, it blends classic Eddie Hackett holes with a later Tom Fazio update, and the closing stretch along the dunes is as good as the south west offers. The natural partner to Ballybunion and Tralee on a Kerry loop.
Indicative 2026 green fee around €250 and above, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Adare Manor
The one great parkland on the list, and the host of the 2027 Ryder Cup. Tom Fazio's reimagining of the estate course along the River Maigue reopened in 2018, conditioned to championship standard with a SubAir system beneath every green, the centrepiece of a five star manor resort. Manicured, grand and a genuine event, the modern face of Irish golf. Book well ahead of the Ryder Cup surge.
Indicative 2026 green fee at the top of the Irish market, resort guests prioritised. Always confirm directly before booking.Old Head Golf Links
Not a true links but a clifftop sensation, laid out on a diamond of land jutting into the Atlantic two hundred feet above the waves, with nine holes flirting with the edge. It is more about the scenery and the sheer audacity than subtle architecture, and the price reflects the view, but few rounds on earth feel like this one. Pick a clear day and bring a camera, this is the trip of a lifetime hole after hole.
Indicative 2026 green fee among the highest in Ireland. Always confirm directly before booking.The European Club
One man's vision and one of the great modern links, designed, built and owned by golf writer Pat Ruddy on the Wicklow coast south of Dublin. Big dunes, deep revetted bunkers and two extra holes make twenty in all, and Tiger Woods holds the course record. A cult favourite for the serious golfer and an easy day trip from the capital. Ask Mr Ruddy himself about the holes if he is around.
Indicative 2026 green fee around €200 and above, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg
A dramatic dunes links on the Clare coast, originally a Greg Norman design and later reworked by Martin Hawtree to soften some of its wildest edges, set against an enormous crescent beach. Big, bold and exposed, with a luxury lodge attached, it rounds out a west coast trip alongside Lahinch and Ballybunion. Play it when the wind is up to see it at its most thrilling.
Indicative 2026 green fee around €225 and above, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Designers, hosting history and fee bands verified June 2026. Green fees are indicative third party figures for the 2026 peak season, shown to set expectations only. We are a guide, not an operator, and never quote our own pricing. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Always confirm access and fees directly before booking.
Indicative green fees at a glance
| Course | Indicative 2026 peak fee | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Royal County Down | Around €350 and above | County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Royal Portrush, Dunluce | Around €325 and above | County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Portmarnock | Around €250 and above | County Dublin |
| Ballybunion, Old | Around €220 to €280 | County Kerry |
| Lahinch, Old | Around €250 to €280 | County Clare |
Indicative third party figures for the 2026 peak season, shown to set expectations only. Shoulder season and twilight rates are lower. Always confirm directly before booking.
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Ireland golf questions
What is the best golf course in Ireland?
Royal County Down at Newcastle, with the Mountains of Mourne behind it, is widely regarded as the best course in Ireland and one of the top handful in the world. Royal Portrush, the 2019 and 2025 Open Championship host, and the great links of the south west at Ballybunion and Lahinch are close behind.
How much does it cost to play the top Irish links in 2026?
Indicative 2026 peak season green fees run from roughly €220 to €280 at Lahinch and Ballybunion, up to €350 and above at Royal County Down and the most sought after links, with Old Head among the priciest. Shoulder season rates are lower. Always confirm directly before booking.
Do the best courses in Ireland include Northern Ireland?
Yes. Golfers and ranking panels treat the island of Ireland as one destination, and the two finest courses, Royal County Down and Royal Portrush, both sit in Northern Ireland. A classic Irish golf trip routinely combines links north and south of the border.
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