Hi, I'm in Scotland at the moment but will be heading out to Ireland in a month for a couple of days. I've managed to play quite a few rounds at the old course, kingsbarns, the castle course and carnoustie. I'll be heading North at some point and will check out Royal Dornoch but when I go to Ireland I'll only have time to play three rounds. From what I've read there is one unanimous must play do not miss #1 course. Royal County Down. So what would be the next two best courses to play? Seems like the shortlist is Royal Portrush, Ballybunion, Doonbeg, European Club, Tralee, and Lahinch. Opinions anyone? Not interested in Old Head, too expensive.Thanks!

Don't worry, Old Head is not even close to the top 3.

RCD is the big one, and the others depend how much travelling you want to do. If you don't want to go too far, you could go to RP (easily in the top 3) and then Ballyliffin in Donegal.

If you want to go down the east coast, Portmarnock (don't mix it up with Portmarnock Hotel and Links), and European Club are great also.

The south west courses are a bit of a trip, on sometimes dodgy roads. My choice would be Ballybunion and Doonbeg down there. Personally, I was not wild about Tralee. Waterville has just been updated, so don't know how good that is.

You said Ballybunion twice! But that's not such a bad thing - it's an excellent course and would be top of my "must play" list of courses in Ireland. County Down is a given as well. So that leaves you with....Portrush?
If you like a bit of a resort course Fota Island?

we'll be driving all the way through ireland from north to south so distance is not an issue

County Down, Portrush, Ballybunion Old/Lahinch. Incidentally, some people think Portrush is better than County Down. Both are not to be missed. It's a long drive from Northern Ireland to the southwest, though. You might consider staying on the Antrim coast to play Portstewart after P'rush. Front nine at P'stewart is superb.

so rcd and portrush are definitely in, but for the third round, how to decide between ballybunion, lahinch and doonbeg? is there no clear winner between the three?

On my last Ireland trip we really enjoyed Rosses Point (County Sligo Golf Club).. Highly recommended for both the course and value.

In the meantime, when you head north, you might consider Royal Aberdeen and Cruden Bay (another good value).

allen walls,

I don't think Doonbeg is in the same league as the other two, but you can't go wrong with Ballybunion Old or Lahinch. Both are awesome. If you twisted my arm, I'd choose Ballybunion, but some people think the course gets off to a slow start. I happen to love the opening drive over the graveyard, and the 2nd is a strong par-4, but there are a couple of par-5s that play over some relatively uninteresting ground. The back nine of Ballybunion is sublime--like the front side at RCD, golf simply doesn't get much better.

Lahinch is a quirkier course. You've got the Dell and Klondyke holes, which are great fun and haven't changed since the days of Old Tom Morris, as far as I know. In other places, Lahinch has undergone some revisions in the past decade (lengthened and toughened considerably), but it's all very well done. Off the course, I'd give the town of Lahinch the nod over Ballybunion--it's a surf town and there's usually plenty going on 'round the pubs.

Seriously--flip a coin.

ballybunion (old), waterville, lahinch

On my last trip we started at RCD than played Ardglass. Moved North to R Portrush, Portstewart and Castlerock - Stayed at Bushmills in to play all 3.

A different trip we started at RCD then went south to Baltray and Seapointe. We stayed upstairs in the Clubhouse at County Louth and Drank all Night!!

If you are going to play RCD, you would be crazy not to play Portrush. In terms of distance, many of your other courses are a LONG/Difficult drive from there. Although I preferred RCD to Portrush, I suspect it is only b/c I played Portrush when it was set up to host the British Seniors. It was unreal hard.

Of the rest, I didn't like Portmarnock (too flat) and loved the European and Lahinch.. Ballybunion and Waterville are great, but too far (Lahinch probably is as well).

Carton house has two decent courses the monty which hosted the irish open for a couple of years and the o'meara,also the current irish open location adare manor is pretty good

if you are going to play royal portrush - you might as well stay 1 night in the area and play portstewart the next day

also in and around the antrim coast has many good sightseeing spots

giants causeway
dunluce castle
bushmills distillery and tour
the bogside in derry
carrick-a-rede rope bridge
portstewart strand (drive along the beach)

anyways if you want to play a hidden gem or sample some real remote irish golf

then i recommend either portsalon or carne

Mount Juliet
Carton House(BOTH COURSES) - Inland Links and Forest....if you can play both,,I recommend...I had a membership when I lived there.
Baltray
European Club
Druids Glen (also has Heath course)
Adare Manor
KClub-expensive, but it does have the nostalgia

I'm from Northern Ireland and agree Royal County Down is a class apart. Royal Portrush is worth the visit, and to complete the Royal trio up North try Royal Belfast which is a nice course.

Ballybunion would be my choice of the others, Lahinch next and then maybe Carton House.

Avoid the K Club...overpriced and not that special IMO!!

RCD is a great choice. It's brutally tough (especially if the wind is up!). It's a long drive to get from just outside Belfast to the west / southwest coast, but IMO the best after RCD is Ballybunion Old (play both courses while you're there) and Lahinch. You will have unbelievable vistas of the Irish coastline rivaling Pebble's 5th-11th, 17, and 18.

I agree, K Club is over priced and besides it's a parkland course - why play parkland courses in Ireland or Scotland when you can play those in the US (assuming you're from the US).

If you want to cut down on travel between RCD and the west, try the European Club or Portrush, or County Louth (Baltray), or Portmarnock.

No matter what you choose, you can't lose. Have a great time!!

Dan

North - Royal Portrush (Very nice)
East - Royal County Down (excellent), Portmonark (Dublin Area)
West - Ballybunion Old (history), Lahinch (tough)
Sout - Old Head

My sentiments exactly. The southwest is hard to beat. I think the only reason Waterville is not the #1 course in the country is that is was built by a Yank.

Nothing to do with it. The Irish, unlike the British, love America, anyway. It is more associated with the Higgins now than Mulcahy anyway.

Waterville is a great course, but it just doesn't have some of the character that makes RCD a world beater.

thanks everyone

If distance is not an issue Royal County Down, Lahinch, Ballybunion Old.

Just played Royal County down 2day + it was absolutely incredible. Royal portrush worth a trip to also but for possibly the best 3 holes in ireland go to the omeara course at carton house for our own little 'amen corner!'
ardglass is fantastic as is a hidden little gem called gracehill. Wouldnt recommend Royal belfast - v.poor in comparison to other courses mentioned here

Definitely not Waterville- way over rated- especially by Tom Watson.

#1 Royal County Down
#2 Royal Portrush
#3 Ballybunion (Old)
#4 Lahinch