Ireland is the buddies golf trip in its purest form: links after links among the dunes, walking with a caddie, a pint and a fire at the end of the day. These are the eight courses we would build a group trip around, ranked with our verdicts, led by the great links of the South West.
Photograph: Ballybunion Golf Club, via Google
The ideal buddies links is a thrill in a fourball: big, natural, memorable hole after hole, walkable with a caddie who becomes part of the group, and close enough to its neighbours that you can play two in a day or stack four in a long weekend. We weighted the ranking toward courses that deliver that group experience, then put raw quality on top, so the order rewards the rounds and the craic a group will still be talking about on the flight home.
The list leans heavily on the South West, the County Kerry and County Clare links that form the most famous golf trip in the country, with a couple of East coast options near Dublin for a shorter break. The South West rewards a driver and a loop, basing in lively Killarney and fanning out to the coast; the East is easier to reach but more spread out. The verdicts are ours; the designers, records and championship histories we cite are a matter of record.
Reviewed June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course facts and indicative fees verified at publication. How we research and review.
The round every group builds the trip around, a thunderous links among the towering dunes of the Kerry coast that Tom Watson loved enough to help restore. The graveyard beside the first tee, the cliffside holes on the back nine and the wind off the Atlantic make it one of the great experiences in the game. Book it as the centrepiece and play it on a firm, breezy day if you can.
The St Andrews of Ireland, a wild, joyous links in a seaside town built for golf groups, with the blind Klondyke and Dell holes that everyone argues about in the bar afterward. Old Tom Morris laid it out and Alister MacKenzie reshaped it, and the goats by the clubhouse are said to forecast the weather. Pure fun in a fourball and a short hop from Doonbeg.
A majestic links on the Ring of Kerry, remote and beautifully kept, long a favourite practice ground for touring professionals before the Open. The back nine running through and over the dunes is among the finest in Ireland, and the village setting on the water gives a group a calm, special base. Worth the drive west and a highlight of any South West loop.
Arnold Palmer's first European design and a stunner, with a front nine along the beach and cliffs and a back nine that climbs into giant dunes. The scenery is cinematic, the back nine is a genuine test in the wind, and it sits close enough to Ballybunion to pair the two in a Kerry trip. A course a group photographs as much as it plays.
The most spectacular setting in golf, laid across a diamond of headland that juts two miles into the Atlantic off Kinsale, with holes running along cliffs that fall hundreds of feet to the sea. It is more theatre than tournament test and the green fee is steep, but no group forgets a round here. A logical first or last day paired with a night in Kinsale.
A dramatic Greg Norman links wrapped around a crescent bay of huge dunes on the Clare coast, with a luxury resort that sleeps and feeds a group in one place. Quirky and exposed, it makes a comfortable, all in base for a Clare trip and pairs naturally with Lahinch up the road. Conditioning and hospitality are a notch above, which a group appreciates.
The great links of the capital, a flat, subtle, beautifully balanced championship course on a peninsula north of Dublin that has hosted Irish Opens and more. Less dramatic than the Kerry giants but a purer test of golf, it is the anchor of an East coast trip you can reach without the long drive west, minutes from Dublin's bars and restaurants.
One man's labour of love, a modern links built and owned by Pat Ruddy on the Wicklow coast an hour south of Dublin, routed through tall dunes and a reed marsh. Long, strong and a favourite of touring professionals, it is the standout round on the East coast and an easy, dramatic addition to a Dublin based group trip.
A clustered map: Ballybunion, Tralee and Waterville sit within two hours in Kerry, Lahinch and Doonbeg pair in Clare, and Portmarnock and The European Club flank Dublin on the East coast. Designers and host history verified June 2026.
| Course | Region | Indicative 2026 green fee |
|---|---|---|
| Ballybunion, Old | Co. Kerry | €400 to €450, high season |
| Lahinch, Old | Co. Clare | €275 to €350 |
| Waterville | Co. Kerry | €275 to €350 |
| Old Head Golf Links | Co. Cork | €400 and up |
| Portmarnock | Co. Dublin | €250 to €325 |
Indicative 2026 high season visitor green fees, shown to set expectations only. Midweek and shoulder season rates are lower, the famous links are walking only and a caddie is recommended, and tee times at Lahinch and Old Head can book a year ahead. We are a guide, not an operator, and never quote our own pricing. Always confirm directly before booking. May to September is the prime season, with the long summer evenings ideal for a group.
Tell us the size of the group, roughly when, and the links you must play. One concierge costs the whole trip to the head, secures the tee times and caddies, and lines up the driver and the base, then replies within one working day, with no obligation.
The South West, taking in County Kerry and County Clare, is the classic Ireland buddies trip, with Ballybunion, Lahinch, Waterville, Tralee and Doonbeg all within a couple of hours of one another and Killarney as a lively base. For an East coast trip near Dublin, Portmarnock and The European Club anchor a shorter, easier to reach week. Many groups fly into Shannon for the South West links.
Ballybunion's Old Course in County Kerry is the round most groups build the trip around, a thunderous links among towering dunes that Tom Watson called one of the best in the world. Lahinch, Waterville and the spectacular Old Head on its clifftop headland are the other rounds a group will never forget.
Ireland's marquee links are premium. Indicative 2026 high season green fees run from around 200 euros to 450 euros at Ballybunion's Old Course, with most of the famous links in the 250 to 400 euro range and lower midweek and shoulder season rates. A week with hotels, a driver and daily golf typically lands between 3,000 and 5,000 US dollars per head, excluding flights. Always confirm directly before booking.
Links tee time windows, course news and the group trips worth taking. One considered email every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course facts and indicative fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.