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Golf Trips / International / Ireland

Plan Your Ballybunion Golf Trip in 60 Seconds

Southwest Ireland's links cathedral — Ballybunion, Lahinch, Tralee, Waterville

The wildest links golf on earth. Towering Atlantic dunes at Ballybunion (Tom Watson's favorite), MacKenzie's quirky Lahinch, clifftop Tralee, and Payne Stewart's beloved Waterville. Base in Killarney for the pubs and trad music between rounds.

6
courses
Spring, Summer, Fall
best season
SNN
105 min drive
<10k
town size
The rota

Courses

Ballybunion Golf Club (Old Course)Bucket List

Tom Watson's favorite course in the world — towering dunes hard against the Atlantic

$432–$486
Par 72 · 6,802 yds
links · walkable
Lahinch Golf Club (Old Course)Bucket ListDESIGNER CLASSIC

The "St Andrews of Ireland" — Alister MacKenzie's blind Klondyke and Dell holes, with goats forecasting the weather

$430–$486
Par 72 · 6,950 yds
links · walkable
Tralee Golf ClubBucket List

Ireland's first Arnold Palmer design — a dramatic clifftop front nine over the Atlantic

$270–$486
Par 72 · 6,947 yds
links · walkable
Waterville Golf LinksBucket List

Ring-of-Kerry classic that Payne Stewart adored — there's a bronze statue of him at the club

$432–$459
Par 72 · 7,347 yds
links · walkable
Old Head Golf LinksBucket List

A clifftop headland 300 feet above the Atlantic — a once-in-a-lifetime day trip toward Cork

$486–$567
Par 72 · 7,215 yds
links · walkable
Trump International Golf Links DoonbegPremium

Greg Norman design in colossal dunes with a five-star resort on site

$405–$567
Par 72 · 6,885 yds
links · walkable
Base camp

Where to Stay

resort houseSleeps 1018

$350–$650 /night

The Killarney Park Hotel — five-star base in the center of Killarney for the Kerry courses

5-startown centersparestaurantconcierge
resort houseSleeps 816

$300–$600 /night

Trump International Doonbeg — best base in Clare, on the links and close to Lahinch

on-site links5-star lodgesparestaurantocean views
The table

Dining

The Peregrine (Killarney Park)

$$$$
upscale

Killarney's top fine-dining room, MICHELIN Guide listed — the trip's celebration dinner

Cronin's Restaurant

$$$
seafood

Refined traditional Irish and seafood, a Killarney institution since 1957

4.6

Bricín

$$
casual

Cozy, authentic Irish cooking — boxty pancakes and Kerry scallops

4.5
After the round

Nightlife

The Danny Mann

Late night
honky tonk

Award-winning Killarney trad-music pub with live sessions nightly

Murphy's Bar Killarney

Late night
dive

Killarney institution since 1955 — the place for a proper trad session

O'Flaherty's (Dingle)

Late night
honky tonk

A mecca for live traditional music if the crew day-trips the Dingle Peninsula

Off days

Activities

Cliffs of Moher

hikinghalf day$10–$20/pp

Ireland's most famous sea cliffs — an easy add-on when you're playing Lahinch in Clare

Kerry Sea Angling Charter

fishinghalf day$65–$110/pp

Boat out of the Kerry coast for pollock, mackerel and the chance at a shark — great rest-day adventure

Ready when you are

Build the Ballybunion trip.

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Nearby

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Head-to-head
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