Portmarnock Golf Club

The verdict

Portmarnock is the connoisseur's Irish links, the one the architects and the tour players talk about with a particular reverence. There are no dunes the size of cathedrals, no tricks and no blind drama for its own sake. What there is, is a routing of relentless quality across a flat, treeless peninsula where the wind is the whole defence and every hole asks an honest, searching question. The greens are subtle, the bunkers severe, and the test of controlling the flight of the ball in a sea breeze is as complete as anywhere in the game.

Founded in 1894 and laid out by W.C. Pickeman with Mungo Park as consultant, then refined over the years including work by the Hawtree family, the championship links has hosted the Irish Open nineteen times, the Canada Cup of 1960 and the 1991 Walker Cup, a pedigree few courses outside the Open rota can match. At a par 72 of close to 7,500 yards from the tips, it is a serious examination, but its great gift is fairness: the ground is honest, the lies are clean, and the better you strike it the better you score. Our verdict is simple. Portmarnock belongs on any list of the world's finest links, and for a Dublin based golfer it is the essential round.

The holes worth the trip

The 14th is, for many good judges, one of the greatest par 4s in golf. It runs along the shoreline with the beach pressing in all the way down the right, a long, exposed two shotter where the prevailing wind nudges everything toward the water and the second must be flighted low and true to a green that repels the loose approach. Henry Cotton called it the best hole in the world, and on a breezy afternoon it is hard to argue.

Then comes the 15th, the most famous hole on the course and one of the most admired par 3s anywhere. Playing in the region of 190 to 200 yards along the very edge of the strand, it asks for a long, brave iron held against a left to right wind off the sea, with the beach waiting for anything pushed or faded and three deep bunkers guarding the front. Arnold Palmer rated it the finest par 3 in the world. It is the signature of Portmarnock and a thrilling, intimidating shot.

The closing stretch keeps the pressure on to the last, but the early holes set the tone too: the long par 4 fifth and the testing two shotters of the front nine all demand precise, controlled ball striking rather than raw power. Portmarnock has no weak holes and no hiding places, which is exactly why it has decided so many championships and why it rewards the golfer who can shape the ball both ways into the wind.

Where to stay nearby

Most golfers play Portmarnock from a Dublin base, which puts the city's hotels, restaurants and the airport within easy reach and lets you pair the links with the rest of the county's golf. The nearby coastal village of Malahide and the Portmarnock seafront offer quieter, golf friendly lodging a few minutes from the first tee, including the resort hotel and its own separate links along the same stretch of coast.

Portmarnock sits at the heart of one of the great golf regions in the world. Within an hour or so lie Royal Dublin on Bull Island, The Island, County Louth at Baltray and Portmarnock's own neighbours, while the championship links of the south east and the north are an easy add to a longer tour. A Dublin base with a hire car turns Portmarnock into the centrepiece of a superb Irish links week.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Portmarnock and north Dublin.