Ballybunion Old Course
Tom Watson called it the finest seaside course he had ever seen, and the men who built their reputations on links golf tend to agree. Ballybunion Old is a wild, rumpled stretch of the Kerry coast where the dunes do the defending and the Atlantic is never out of earshot. Few courses anywhere ask for as much imagination, and fewer still reward it so completely.
Photo: Ballybunion Golf Club via Google, contributor Peter Wortmann.
The verdict
Ballybunion is the pilgrimage links, the one serious golfers cross an ocean to play and then talk about for the rest of their lives. The club dates to 1893, with the modern routing settled by 1927, and in 1936 the English architect Tom Simpson was brought in to ready the course for the Irish Amateur. Simpson, a purist who believed the land should dictate the golf, changed remarkably little, and that restraint is the point. This is a course found rather than designed.
What you remember is the scale of the dunes and the way the holes thread through them, hard against the beach on the front nine and up into the towering sandhills coming home. The wind off the Atlantic is the constant, the greens are bold and beautifully sited, and the closing stretch climbs and falls through some of the most dramatic ground in golf. For the travelling golfer building a southwest Ireland week, this is the anchor, the round everything else is measured against.
Ballybunion Old Course at a glance
- Founded
- 1893
- Refined
- Tom Simpson, 1936
- Type
- Links
- Par
- 71
- Yardage
- Around 6,700 yds
- Green fee
- From €400 to €450
Par and design history verified June 2026 from the club and course databases. The Old Course plays to a par 71 of around 6,700 yards from the championship tees, with shorter visitor tees available. Green fees are indicative, roughly 400 euro in mid season and 450 euro at the height of the 2026 season for a single round, with keener shoulder season rates. Fees change by season and year, so always confirm directly before booking.
The holes worth the trip
Ballybunion announces itself early. The opening tee shot plays alongside a graveyard, and from there the course rarely lets you settle. The par 4 seventh runs along the very edge of the cliff with the beach far below, the kind of hole that makes you forget your score, and the short eleventh, a par 4 tumbling downhill between two dunes to a green perched above the strand, is among the most photographed and most admired holes in the game.
The genius of the Old Course is that the dunes are not decoration, they are the hazards. Greens sit in natural amphitheatres or on shelves cut into the hillside, fairways tilt and roll so that a good drive can still leave an awkward stance, and the wind can turn a wedge into a long iron from one round to the next. There is little fairway bunkering because the land needs none. You are playing the contours, not a set of man made traps.
The finish is pure theatre, the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth carrying you up into the highest dunes before the course delivers you back down. Play it in a stiff breeze, which is most days, and you will use every club and every shot you own. Ballybunion does not hand out pars, but it gives you a round you will replay in your head for years.
How to get on
| What to know | Detail |
|---|---|
| Access | A members club at Ballybunion Golf Club that warmly welcomes visitors by prior arrangement, with the Old Course the priority round and the Cashen Course alongside it |
| Green fee | Around 400 euro in mid season and 450 euro at peak for a single round on the Old Course, with shoulder season and twosome rates available (indicative) |
| Booking | Book well ahead through the club; summer and early autumn dates for the Old Course go quickly and 2026 sheets are already open |
| On the day | A walking links; caddies and trolleys can be arranged in advance. Bring rain gear and patience for the wind |
| Getting there | On the north Kerry coast, around a 75 minute drive from Kerry Airport and roughly 90 minutes from Shannon |
| Best months | May to September for the firmest turf and longest light, though the course is at its most dramatic with a breeze |
Access and indicative green fees verified June 2026 from the club; they change without notice, so always confirm directly before booking with Ballybunion Golf Club or your trip planner. Check tee time availability.
Where to stay nearby
Ballybunion is a small seaside town that lives for its golf, with guesthouses and links view hotels within a short walk of the first tee, ideal for an early start and a second round on the Cashen.
Many golfers base in Killarney, around an hour south, which offers more hotels and dining and sits within easy reach of Tralee, Waterville and the rest of the Kerry coast for a full southwest links tour.
Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Ballybunion.
Build a southwest Ireland links week
We pair Ballybunion with Tralee, Waterville, Lahinch and the best of the Kerry and Clare coast, book the tee times in the right order and handle the hotels and transfers. Tell us roughly when and who is travelling and one concierge costs it to the head, with no obligation.
Ballybunion questions
What is the par and length of the Ballybunion Old Course?
The Old Course is a par 71 links of around 6,700 yards from the championship tees, with shorter visitor tees available. It is a natural dunes links where the wind and the contours, rather than length, provide the defence.
Who designed Ballybunion?
Ballybunion began as a club in 1893 and its modern eighteen hole routing was in place by 1927. The English architect Tom Simpson refined the course in 1936 ahead of the Irish Amateur, making only minimal changes in keeping with his belief that the land should shape the golf. It is a found links rather than a single architect's set piece.
Why is Ballybunion so famous?
Ballybunion is widely rated among the greatest links in the world for the scale of its dunes and the drama of holes such as the cliffside seventh and the downhill eleventh. Tom Watson, a five time Open champion, called it the finest seaside course he had seen and helped introduce it to American golfers.
How much does it cost to play Ballybunion Old Course?
Indicative 2026 green fees run around 400 euro in mid season and 450 euro at the height of summer for a single round on the Old Course, with keener shoulder season options. Fees change by season and year, so always confirm directly before booking.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Design history, par and yardage verified June 2026; indicative green fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.