The County Sligo Golf Club
Ranked · 7 courses · updated 2026

Hidden Gem Golf Courses in Ireland

Everyone knows Royal County Down, Portmarnock and Ballybunion. The real joy of Irish golf lies a little further on, in the small town links of Sligo, Mayo and Donegal, where the dunes are just as wild, the welcome is warmer and the green fee is a fraction of the famous names. Here are the seven hidden gems we rate most highly, ranked, with our verdict on each and how to play it.

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

Photograph: The County Sligo Golf Club, The County Sligo Golf Club, via Google

How we chose them

Ireland has a density of great links that no country its size can match, and a surprising number of them sit well off the trodden path. Drive northwest from Sligo up into Donegal and you pass course after course routed through towering, natural sandhills, most of them working clubs in small coastal towns rather than resorts. They were shaped by a small group of native architects, above all the great Eddie Hackett, who let the land dictate the holes and moved as little earth as possible. The result is some of the purest, most natural links golf anywhere, at a fraction of the cost of the headline names.

We left out the famous links on purpose. This is a list of the courses a travelling golfer is most likely to overlook and most likely to remember, judged on design, setting, character and value. Every fact here, from designers to layout, was checked at the time of writing. The order is our editors' view. Green fees at these clubs are seasonal and indicative and a fraction of the marquee links, but still confirm directly before booking. String two or three of them into a northwest loop and you have one of the best value golf trips in Europe, which is exactly what our concierge builds.

The ranking

01

Carne Golf Links

Eddie Hackett, opened early 1990s · 27 holes · Belmullet, County Mayo

The most remote great links in Ireland and the crowning work of Eddie Hackett, laid out on the Mullet Peninsula in County Mayo with barely any earth moved. The fairways tumble through enormous, raw sandhills to greens hidden in the dunes, and a later third nine took the golf into even bigger duneland. It is a long drive to the far west and worth every minute, a course that feels carved by the wind rather than designed. For purists, this is the hidden gem against which all others are measured.

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02

County Sligo Golf Club, Rosses Point

Shaped by Harry Colt, 1920s · Links · Rosses Point, County Sligo

A classic championship links on a headland above the Atlantic, redesigned in the 1920s by Harry Colt, the architect of Muirfield and Royal Portrush, and long home to the West of Ireland Championship. Rosses Point opens high on a plateau with views to Benbulben and Yeats country before plunging to a stretch of dunes and burns by the sea. It is the most polished course on this list and the best known, yet still flies under the radar of most visitors. Pure, strategic, old school links golf.

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03

Narin and Portnoo Links

Restored by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, 2018 · Links · Portnoo, County Donegal

The revelation of recent Irish golf, an old natural links on the Donegal coast given new life by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, the team behind the Rio Olympic course, who completed their restoration in 2018. They restored bold, rumpled fairways and wild, natural greens hard against a beautiful beach, and the course has shot up the rankings since. Terrifically old fashioned and unspoiled, it is links golf the way it was meant to be, and still a relative secret. A must on any Donegal itinerary.

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04

Enniscrone Golf Club

Eddie Hackett, with later dunes holes · 27 holes · Enniscrone, County Sligo

A towering dunes links on a peninsula on the Sligo coast, originally laid out by Eddie Hackett and later strengthened with a run of spectacular holes deep among the biggest sandhills. The Dunes course rises and falls through dramatic, scenic duneland along the Wild Atlantic Way, with several holes that rank among the most photogenic in the country. Less famous than its neighbours but every bit as thrilling, Enniscrone is one of the great value rounds of the northwest and a firm favourite of those who know it.

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05

Donegal Golf Club, Murvagh

Eddie Hackett, 1973 · Links · Murvagh, County Donegal

A big, brawny links on the Murvagh peninsula, laid out by Eddie Hackett in 1973 and one of the longest in Ireland, running in two great loops that have drawn comparison with Muirfield. Set on a forested headland reaching into Donegal Bay, it is calmer and flatter than the wilder dune courses nearby, with subtle movement, strategic bunkering and a famous par 3 known as the Valley of Tears. Spacious, peaceful and rarely busy, it is a wonderful, underrated test and a fine anchor for a Donegal trip.

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06

Ardglass Golf Club

Clifftop links · Clubhouse in a medieval fort · Ardglass, County Down

The most spectacular short links in Ireland, a clifftop course on the County Down coast whose clubhouse is set in a fortified building dating back centuries, said to be one of the oldest in world golf. The opening holes run along the very edge of the cliffs above the Irish Sea, with carries over rocky inlets and crashing surf below, and views across to the Mountains of Mourne. It will not test the very longest hitters, but for sheer drama and atmosphere few rounds anywhere can match it. A joy.

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07

Portsalon Golf Club

Classic links, refreshed by Pat Ruddy · Links · Portsalon, County Donegal

One of the prettiest settings in Irish golf, a natural links curling around Ballymastocker Bay on the Fanad peninsula in north Donegal, with one of the finest beaches in the world as a backdrop. An old club refreshed in modern times by Pat Ruddy, it plays through dunes and along the shore with a string of memorable holes and almost no crowds. Remote, beautiful and superb value, Portsalon is the kind of course you stumble on and never forget, the perfect closing round on a northwest tour.

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Designers, opening years and layouts verified June 2026 against the clubs. Green fees are seasonal and indicative and a fraction of Ireland's marquee links. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Always confirm fees, access and tee times directly before booking. Check tee time availability.

Play Ireland's hidden gems

Tell us roughly when you want to travel and how many days you have, and whether you want the gems alone or paired with the famous names. One concierge arranges the tee times, hotels and transfers across the northwest and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.

Ireland hidden gem questions

What is the best hidden gem golf course in Ireland?

Carne Golf Links on the Mullet Peninsula in County Mayo is our pick, the last great design by Eddie Hackett, routed through enormous natural dunes with barely any earth moved. It is one of the most remote and most thrilling links in the country, far off the usual trail, and rewards the long drive west with golf among sandhills that feel untouched. The wider northwest, from Sligo to Donegal, holds most of Ireland's best kept secrets.

Where are Ireland's hidden gem links located?

Most of them line the northwest coast, from County Sligo and Mayo up through Donegal, along what is now marketed as the Wild Atlantic Way. These are working clubs in small towns rather than resort courses, which is why green fees are a fraction of the marquee links and tee times are far easier to come by. A few more sit on the Antrim and Down coasts in the north. They reward golfers willing to drive beyond the famous names.

Are these hidden gem courses cheaper than Ireland's famous links?

As a rule, yes. Green fees at these courses are typically a fraction of what the marquee links such as Royal County Down, Ballybunion and Portmarnock command, and many offer excellent value for world class duneland golf. Fees vary by season and rise in summer. They are seasonal and indicative, so always confirm directly with the club before booking, but value is a large part of why these courses belong on any serious Irish itinerary.

Can you build a golf trip around Ireland's hidden gems?

Yes, and it is one of the best value golf trips in Europe. A northwest loop can string together Sligo, Mayo and Donegal links over several days, often paired with one or two famous names, with comfortable hotels and short transfers between courses. Our concierge builds exactly this kind of itinerary, balancing the hidden gems with the headline links and handling the tee times and logistics across the region.

Related

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Irish links news, course openings and the trips our concierge is quietly building. Every other week.

Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Last reviewed June 2026. We verify designers, opening years and layouts at the time of writing and review them again on a schedule.