Ballybunion Golf Club
Ranked · 8 courses · updated 2026

The Best Golf Courses in Southwest Ireland

No corner of the golfing world packs more great links into a few hours' drive than the southwest of Ireland. Along the Atlantic coast of Kerry, Cork and Clare sit Ballybunion, Lahinch, Waterville, Tralee and the cliffs of Old Head, a run of courses that has drawn pilgrims for generations. Here are the eight we rate most highly, ranked.

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By the GolfForKings editorial desk · How we rank · Last reviewed June 2026

Photograph: Ballybunion Golf Club, Peter Wortmann, via Google

How we chose them

The southwest of Ireland is, for many travelling golfers, the finest links touring country on earth. Strung along the Atlantic edge of Kerry, Cork and Clare, within a few hours of one another, are courses that need no introduction: Ballybunion, where Tom Watson found the soul of links golf, Lahinch with its Alister MacKenzie pedigree, the wild beauty of Waterville on the Ring of Kerry, and Arnold Palmer's Tralee. These are natural duneland courses, shaped by the wind and the dunes more than by any architect, and they reward a trip built around them.

We weighed design quality, the quality of the links land, championship history and how rewarding the round is for a visitor, and we drew the region as golfers actually tour it, the Kerry heartland with Clare to the north and Cork to the south. We have set the great natural links above the modern spectacle of Old Head and Doonbeg, included a hidden gem in Dooks and a fine parkland change of pace at Killarney, and checked every designer and date at the time of writing. The verdicts and the order are ours. If you want this built into a costed links tour, that is what our concierge does.

The ranking

01

Ballybunion Golf Club, Old Course

links since 1893 · Tom Simpson revisions · County Kerry

The crown jewel of the southwest and one of the very best links in the world, a course that has drawn pilgrims since Tom Watson called it one of the finest tests of golf anywhere. Laid out on towering dunes above the Atlantic at Ballybunion in County Kerry, with origins in 1893 and later refinements by Tom Simpson, the Old Course is links golf in its purest form, the dunes, the wind and the ocean doing the defending. The stretch along the cliffs from the seventh is unforgettable. The one essential round of any southwest trip.

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02

Lahinch Golf Club, Old Course

Old Tom Morris origins · Alister MacKenzie 1927 · County Clare

The St Andrews of Ireland, a classic links on the Clare coast with origins under Old Tom Morris and a celebrated 1927 redesign by Alister MacKenzie, later restored by Martin Hawtree. Tumbling fairways, blind shots and the famous Klondyke and Dell holes give it a quirky, joyous character all its own, and the village setting and the goats that forecast the weather add to the romance. A host of the Irish Open and a fixture on the world top 100, it is the heart of golf in Clare and an essential pairing with Ballybunion.

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03

Waterville Golf Links

Eddie Hackett · revised by Tom Fazio · County Kerry

On the edge of the Ring of Kerry, where the Inny estuary meets the Atlantic, Waterville is one of the most beautiful and demanding links in Ireland, an Eddie Hackett design later revised by Tom Fazio. The course flows naturally through rumpled dunes framed by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, with a long, exposed run of holes that needs every club in the bag. Long a favourite retreat of touring professionals, it is remote, wild and magnificent, and worth the drive deep into Kerry.

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04

Tralee Golf Club

Arnold Palmer · opened 1984 · County Kerry

The first Arnold Palmer design in Europe, opened in 1984 on a spectacular headland at Barrow near Tralee, with the front nine on flatter ground by the beach and a back nine that climbs into wild, towering dunes for one of the great closing stretches in Irish golf. Palmer famously said he had built the front nine but God had built the back. Cliffs, blowholes and ocean views frame the finish, and on a calm day it is pure theatre. A thrilling, scenic round and a Kerry must play.

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05

Old Head Golf Links

opened 1997 · Kinsale · County Cork

The most dramatic setting in world golf, a course opened in 1997 on a slender promontory of cliffs jutting two miles into the Atlantic off Kinsale in County Cork, with several holes played along the very edge of two hundred foot cliffs and the ocean on three sides. It is more spectacle than subtle links, but the scale and the views are simply staggering, and on a clear day there is nowhere quite like it. A genuine bucket list experience and the natural finale to a southwest trip, with a fine hotel attached.

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06

Trump International Golf Links, Doonbeg

Greg Norman · opened 2002 · County Clare

A Greg Norman links opened in 2002 along a crescent of beach and dunes in County Clare, north of Lahinch, and set to host the Irish Open. Some of the biggest dunes in Irish golf frame a course that runs hard by the Atlantic, with a stretch of holes weaving between the sandhills that is as scenic as any in the country. Conditioning and the five star lodge make it the most polished stay and play in the southwest, and it pairs naturally with Lahinch on the northern leg of a links tour.

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07

Dooks Golf Club

founded 1889 · Martin Hawtree redesign · County Kerry

One of the oldest links in Ireland, founded in 1889 on the shores of Dingle Bay near Glenbeigh, with a sympathetic Martin Hawtree redesign that lifted it into serious company. A charming, natural links of modest length set against the MacGillycuddy Reeks and the sea, it is the friendly, characterful counterpoint to the famous names, and a genuine hidden gem of the Ring of Kerry. The ideal extra round to slot between the giants on a Kerry trip, with a warm welcome and unforgettable scenery.

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08

Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, Killeen Course

parkland · Lough Leane · County Kerry

The great parkland change of pace, the Killeen Course at Killarney set on the shores of Lough Leane beneath the Kerry mountains, a multiple host of the Irish Open. After a week of exposed links it is a serene, beautiful round through mature woodland and along the lake, with the par 3 over the water and the mountain backdrop among the most photographed scenes in Irish golf. It rounds out a top list by offering somewhere sheltered and scenic to play when the Atlantic wind is up, and a lovely base town to stay in.

Plan a Kerry golf trip

Designers, founding years and host events verified June 2026. Most are busy visitor links that require tee times booked well ahead, especially in summer. Always confirm access and green fees directly before booking. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Check tee time availability.

Play the best of southwest Ireland

Tell us which of these are on your list, the Kerry heartland, the Clare links to the north or Old Head in Cork, and roughly when. One concierge arranges the tee times, drivers and base and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.

Southwest Ireland golf questions

What is the best golf course in southwest Ireland?

Ballybunion Old Course in County Kerry is the best course in southwest Ireland and one of the top links in the world, a pure, dune framed test that has drawn pilgrims since the days of Tom Watson. Lahinch and Waterville lead the chasing pack.

How many days do you need to golf southwest Ireland?

A classic southwest Ireland golf trip runs five to seven nights, enough to play the Kerry links of Ballybunion, Waterville and Tralee, add Lahinch and Doonbeg in Clare to the north, and finish at Old Head in Cork to the south. Killarney makes a fine sheltered round if the weather turns.

Where should I base a southwest Ireland golf trip?

Many golfers split the trip, basing a few nights in Kerry around Killarney or Tralee for Ballybunion, Waterville and Tralee, then moving north to Clare for Lahinch and Doonbeg, or south toward Kinsale for Old Head. Drive times are real, so a planned route saves long days behind the wheel.

When is the best time to play golf in southwest Ireland?

May to September gives the warmest, driest weather and the longest days, with the links firm and fast in summer. Spring and early autumn are quieter and still rewarding, but pack for Atlantic wind and rain at any time of year, and book the famous courses well ahead in peak season.

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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course designers, founding years and host events verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.