Old Head Golf Links, clifftop fairways on the Old Head of Kinsale peninsula, County Cork
Ranked · our verdicts, 2026

The Best Golf Courses in County Cork

Cork golf is a study in contrast: the most spectacular green fee in Ireland out on the Old Head of Kinsale, an Alister MacKenzie harbor masterpiece ten minutes from the city, a three time Irish Open resort course on its own island, and a supporting cast of friendly clubs where 50 euro still buys a serious afternoon. Here are the eight rounds we would actually build a Cork week around, ranked.

Plan a Cork trip See the ranking

By the GolfForKings editorial desk · Editorial policy · Last reviewed June 2026

Photograph: Old Head Golf Links, via Google

How we chose them

We rank on the quality and character of the golf first, then on how much each course adds to a traveling golfer's week: variety against the others on this list, the welcome, and what the fee buys. Cork is not Kerry, and that is its advantage. Instead of five 400 euro links in a row, it offers one unrepeatable clifftop day, a genuine architectural pilgrimage at Little Island, resort golf with Irish Open history, and harbor and estuary courses that cost less than a Kerry caddie. Where we quote a fee it is the club's published or operator listed rate, marked indicative; always confirm directly before booking.

The ranking

01

Old Head Golf Links

Opened 1997 · Old Head of Kinsale · clifftop links · 2026 fee 500 euro high season

A 220 acre diamond of headland reaching two miles into the Atlantic, with nine holes played along cliffs that drop 300 feet to the ocean, Old Head is the most dramatic golf property on earth and prices itself accordingly: 500 euro in the 2026 high season, 250 euro in the late October window, with the course closed from November to late April. The golf itself, shaped by a design team that drew on Ron Kirby and Irish golf royalty including Joe Carr, is better than the postcard reputation suggests, and the 12 suites above the 18th turn it into golf's most cinematic overnight. Once in a golfing life, do it.

How to get a tee time at Old Head

02

Cork Golf Club, Little Island

Founded 1888 · MacKenzie redesign, 1927 · Cork Harbour · confirm fees directly

The connoisseur's round in the county. Alister MacKenzie, fresh from the thinking that would produce Cypress Point and Augusta National, redesigned Little Island in 1927, and the stretch through the abandoned limestone quarry, fairways running along the old workings, greens benched into the rock, remains one of the most original passages of parkland golf anywhere. The setting on Cork Harbour adds water views without wind punishment, and the welcome is old school members' club at a fee far below the marquee links. The club publishes seasonal visitor rates, so confirm directly before booking.

Plan a Cork golf trip

03

Fota Island, Deerpark Course

McEvoy and O'Connor Jnr, 1993 · par 71, 7,043 yards · Irish Opens of 2001, 2002 and 2014 · indicative fee around 120 euro

Ten minutes from Little Island on its own wooded island in Cork Harbour, Fota's Deerpark course staged the Irish Open three times, most recently in 2014, and remains the best conditioned parkland in Munster: a Peter McEvoy and Christy O'Connor Jnr design rolling through oak woodland and old deer park with water framing the closing holes. Operator rates have listed around 120 euro with regular online deals below that, the five star resort and spa sit beside the first tee, and the wildlife park next door solves the family afternoon. The easiest quality golf day in Cork.

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04

Castlemartyr Resort

Ron Kirby design · East Cork · inland links style · confirm fees directly

In the grounds of a 17th century manor beside the ruins of an 800 year old castle, Castlemartyr is East Cork's luxury play: a Ron Kirby designed inland links whose running turf, pot bunkers and water carries echo his work at Old Head without the cliffs or the price. The five star hotel, one of the best country house stays in Ireland, makes it the natural overnight between the harbor courses and the coast, and the course rewards the ground game in a way Irish parkland rarely does. Seasonal rates through the resort; confirm directly before booking.

Plan a Cork golf trip

05

Kinsale Golf Club

Farrangalway · parkland, 18 holes · the local round before Old Head · confirm fees directly

The members' club of Ireland's foodie capital, Kinsale's 18 hole Farrangalway course rolls through quiet farmland a few minutes above the town, and it earns its place here as the honest local warm up to an Old Head pilgrimage: generous fairways, true greens, a friendly clubhouse and a green fee that leaves room for dinner on the harbor afterward. Stay in Kinsale, play Farrangalway the afternoon you arrive, and take on the cliffs fresh the next morning. That is the rhythm of the south Cork leg done properly.

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06

Douglas Golf Club

Founded 1909 · Cork city southside · parkland · confirm fees directly

Cork city's southside club is the kind of course every golf city needs: a mature, beautifully kept parkland fifteen minutes from the city center, strong enough to have hosted national championships and relaxed enough to fit a visitor in most days. The turf drains well by Irish standards, the par 3s are a quietly excellent set, and for a traveling golfer staying in the city it is the best value serious round inside the urban ring. Pair it with Little Island for a city based 36 hole day.

Plan a Cork golf trip

07

Monkstown Golf Club

Cork Harbour · parkland · views over the estuary · confirm fees directly

On the western shore of Cork Harbour above the village of Monkstown, this is the county's best example of the friendly Irish club round: a parkland course of modest length where position beats power, with the harbor glinting through the trees and a welcome that makes single travelers feel like returning members. It will not bruise anyone's handicap or wallet, which after a 500 euro morning on the Old Head is precisely the point. The clubhouse pint overlooking the estuary is part of the prescription.

Plan a Cork golf trip

08

Youghal Golf Club

East Cork coast · elevated parkland · views over Youghal Bay · confirm fees directly

High above the historic walled port of Youghal at the eastern edge of the county, this century old club delivers the best view to fee ratio in Cork golf: an elevated parkland with the whole sweep of Youghal Bay and the Blackwater estuary below, sea breezes that keep the golf honest, and a green fee that belongs to a different era than the headline links. On the road between Cork and Waterford it is the natural break in the journey, and the kind of discovery that ends up the most retold round of the trip.

Plan a Cork golf trip

Old Head fee verified June 2026 from the club's published 2026 tariff; other fees are operator listed or seasonal club rates, all indicative, so always confirm directly before booking. Check tee time availability.

Building the trip

Cork divides naturally into two bases. Kinsale carries the southern leg: arrive, warm up at Farrangalway, play Old Head the next morning while the wind sleeps, and give the afternoon to the town that taught Ireland to cook. The eastern leg bases at Fota Island or Castlemartyr: Little Island and Deerpark back to back, Castlemartyr's inland links as the buffer day, Youghal as the scenic comma on the drive out. Five rounds, two hotels, no transfer over 45 minutes, and only one of those rounds costs more than 150 euro. Add Kerry's marquee links to the west, see our County Kerry green fee guide, or the Southwest Ireland coast beyond it, and Cork becomes the smart first week of a longer Irish swing, with the 7 day Southwest itinerary showing one way to stitch it together.

Plan your Cork golf trip

One unrepeatable clifftop morning, a MacKenzie pilgrimage and the right value rounds in between: tell us roughly when and who is traveling, and one concierge prices the week to the head, with no obligation.

Cork golf questions

How much does it cost to play Old Head of Kinsale in 2026?

Old Head's published 2026 green fee is 500 euro in high season, which runs from 22 April to 11 October, and 250 euro in the late October low season window. Senior caddies are 90 euro for a single bag, carts 60 euro, and the course closes entirely from November to late April. All rates are indicative; always confirm directly before booking.

Is Old Head worth the green fee?

Once, yes, for almost any traveling golfer: nine of the holes play along 300 foot Atlantic cliffs on a diamond of headland, and there is nothing else like it in golf. Whether it is worth repeating at 500 euro is a fairer debate, which is why we build Cork weeks around one Old Head day with Little Island, Fota and the harbor courses, at a fraction of the price, filling the rest.

What is the best golf course in Cork after Old Head?

Cork Golf Club at Little Island, an Alister MacKenzie redesign on the shores of Cork Harbour whose quarry holes are among the most distinctive in Irish parkland golf. Fota Island's Deerpark course, a three time Irish Open venue, runs it close, and the two sit ten minutes apart east of the city, which makes a 36 hole day easy to engineer.

Where should you stay for a Cork golf trip?

Kinsale for the Old Head end of the trip: a foodie harbor town twenty minutes from the links with the best restaurant scene in the county. Fota Island Resort or Castlemartyr Resort for the eastern courses, both five star stays with golf on site. Cork city works as a single base for everything except early Old Head tee times.

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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Rankings are our editorial verdicts; fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.