| Lahinch Golf Club is a links golf course in western Ireland, in the town of Lahinch on the northwest coast of County Clare. In 2020, Golf Digest ranked the Old Course at Lahinch #31 on their list of the world's greatest golf courses. |
| Lahinch was founded 128 years ago in 1892 by Alexander W. Shaw and Richard J. Plummer, officials of Limerick Golf Club. They laid out an 18-hole course, the original course had ten holes on each side of the road. It has often been described as the "St. Andrews" of Ireland. Golf at Lahinch dates back to 1892. Three local Limerick golfers laid out an 18-hole course, assisted by officers of the Scottish “Black Watch” regiment who were stationed in Limerick at that time. In 1894, Old Tom Morris was commissioned to make improvements to the layout and he made excellent use of the natural terrain, especially the giant sand dunes. Old Tom believed that Lahinch was the finest natural course that he had seen. |
Two of the most famous and unusual holes in the world sit back to back at Lahinch; the Old Tom Morris designed Klondyke 4th hole and Dell 5th hole.
Klondyke, a short par five with a blind approach, features a 35 foot dune in the middle of the narrow fairway with a man holding a red flag and a green flag that will signal you when you are clear to take a blind rip at the green on the other side.
The blindness continues on the next hole with Morris' famous Dell design, a short par three with a long shallow green wedged between towering 30 foot dunes with a white rock placed in the side of the dune to give players an indication of where the pin actually is on the green.
These are two holes that would never be designed today which makes them all the more fun and unique to enjoy.
The blindness continues on the next hole with Morris' famous Dell design, a short par three with a long shallow green wedged between towering 30 foot dunes with a white rock placed in the side of the dune to give players an indication of where the pin actually is on the green.
These are two holes that would never be designed today which makes them all the more fun and unique to enjoy.
| Lahinch Golf Club Hole #4 – Klondyke The 4th is a short par five named Klondyke. It's one of the most unusual holes in golf and an Old Tom speciality. The tee shot needs to find a narrow-rippled fairway located in a valley between dunes. The slender but reachable par five flows through a deep valley before stopping abruptly at a high dune some 150 yards away from the green. What’s this? Your caddy will instruct you to hit over the top of the dune and give you your line; on the other side waits a large green sitting in an open field of fescue. It's certainly a quirky hole but it's also very memorable. |
| Lahinch Golf Club Hole #5, The Dell Hole: The hole measures 154 yards from the tips, with member tees measuring at 145 and women's at 118. The hole plays longer however, as one needs to take enough club to carry the front hill guarding the green. The Dell also plays into the prevailing wind, which can be an advantage as the ball will have a more vertical flight path coming down, minimizing the chance that you'll witness the dreaded sight of seeing your ball land on top of the 30 foot hill. Its green is wide but shallow and angled about 30 degrees off center from the tee box. It also has a subtle two-tier like contour, with the high side being on the left. There is an additional 30 foot dune on the back of the green that the locals commonly use as a backboard. The blind nature of the hole requires a large white stone be placed on top of the hill to mark the day's pin placement, as the width of the green allows for many pin placements on different lines. The caddies who look on from higher ground to watch shots come in—and also serve as traffic cops for players on the 18th tee that plays across both the Dell and Klondyke approach areas—have been known to mischievously deposit players’ balls in the hole while they walk toward the Dell!! |
Lahinch is an enchanting place to play golf. It’s rugged, distinctive, unusually varied and immensely entertaining and should be on every avid golfers "must play list".
If you're interested in playing this unique and beautiful course we would be happy to help you build a trip that gets you onto not only Lahinch, but many of the other great courses on the west coast of Ireland.
Oh, and don't forget, if you see the goats coming in to the clubhouse, rain is coming so have your gear ready!!
If you're interested in playing this unique and beautiful course we would be happy to help you build a trip that gets you onto not only Lahinch, but many of the other great courses on the west coast of Ireland.
Oh, and don't forget, if you see the goats coming in to the clubhouse, rain is coming so have your gear ready!!
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