Destinations › 🇮🇪 Ireland › South-West Ireland

The Wild Atlantic Way

South-West Ireland

County Kerry and Clare deliver Atlantic-battered links, towering dunes, and warm Irish hospitality. Ballybunion, Waterville, and Lahinch anchor the region.

Key Courses

Plan a Trip to South-West Ireland

South-West Ireland — Course Map

Click a flag to see the course name and view full details.

Other Regions

Northern Ireland

Open Championship Heritage

6 courses

North-West Ireland

Hidden Gems & Towering Dunes

9 courses

Dublin & East

Parkland & Coastal Classics

8 courses

🇮🇪 South-West Ireland, Ireland

Ballybunion — Old Course

Location: Ballybunion, County Kerry
Opened: 1906
Designer: Lionel Hewson
Events: Irish Open
Rankings: #1 golf course in Ireland, top100golfcourse.com, 24th best golf course in the world, Golf Magazine (2021)

In Tom Doak’s Confidential Guide to Golf Courses, he wrote that most golf courses have too many fairway bunkers, but Ballybunion’s Old course is one of the rare golf courses that breaks that cliché given how strong the land is. Not surprisingly, if the land can virtually be void of bunkers and still be interesting, the course will rank highly, and Ballybunion’s ranking of the best in Ireland and a top 25 golf course in the world proves just that. A trip to Ireland without Ballybunion is still a great trip, but the Old course here further adds to a bucket-list trip.

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🇮🇪 South-West Ireland, Ireland

Waterville Golf Links

Location: Waterville, County Kerry
Opened: 1973
Designer: Eddie Hackett
Rankings: 6th best golf course in Ireland, top100golfcourse.com

A stunning golf course, located on a small peninsula surrounded by the ocean. The fairways are more tame than that of a Ballybunion of even Royal County Down, but they feature beautiful, rolling terrain that still provides enough interest. Rather, Waterville is beautifully etched into the dunes, with views of the ocean from numerous positions. It is not uncommon for Waterville to end up on lists describing the world’s most beautiful golf courses, and first-time visitors often become well-aware of the stunning golf course upon their first couple holes.

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🇮🇪 South-West Ireland, Ireland

Tralee Golf Club

Location: Ardfert, County Kerry
Opened: 1984
Designer: Arnold Palmer & Ed Seay
Rankings: 16th best golf course in Ireland, top100golfcourse.com

Architect and World Golf Hall of Fame member Arnold Palmer said “I have never come across a piece of land so ideally suited for the building of a golf course” on Tralee, and it should come as no surprise that the team of Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay designed a golf course that fully stimulates ones game. Beautiful views and holes that take your breath away—like the 3rd, nicknamed “Castle”—provide an A+ experience for visitors of Tralee.

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🇮🇪 South-West Ireland, Ireland

Old Head Golf Links (Kinsale)

Location: Kinsale, County Cork
Opened: 1997
Designer: Eddie Hackett, Ron Kirby, Patric Kerrigan, & Joe Carr
Rankings: 17th best golf course in Ireland, top100golfcourse.com

Banff Springs, Pebble Beach, Cape Kidnappers, and Old Head: four of the prettiest golf courses, and all a combination of splendid architecture and its stunning setting. True, it is easy to build a golf course in a beautiful setting—it has been done before, over and over—but building a great golf course that lives up to the setting is even harder. Thankfully, the foursome who constructed Old Head lives up to the clifftop site seemingly falling into the Atlantic, delivering a unique, one-of-a-kind experience only found here.

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🇮🇪 South-West Ireland, Ireland

Lahinch — Old Course

Location: Lahinch, County Clare
Opened: 1894
Designer: Old Tom Morris
Rankings: 2nd best golf course in Ireland, top100golfcourse.com, 36th best golf course in the world, Golf Magazine (2021)

While Old Tom Morris lays claim to being the original designer at Lahinch, it is Alister Mackenzie—architect of Augusta National, Cypress Point, Pasatiempo, and Royal Melbourne—who deserves a fair share of credit for the beautiful golf course we play today. In 1927, he relocated quite a few greens, building his signature, flamboyant contouring. Views across the bay and stunning, rolling links golf is the name of the game at Lahinch, regularly included in World Top 50 rankings, and among the single best golf courses in Ireland. It is a cliché to call every golf course a must-see, but Lahinch may only be second to one or two others on a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland.

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🇮🇪 South-West Ireland, Ireland

Doonbeg (Trump International)

Location: Doonbeg, County Clare
Opened: 1925
Designer: Greg Norman
Rankings: 9th best golf course in Ireland, top100golfcourse.com

Originally open as a Greg Norman design under the name “Doonbeg,” Donald Trump acquired the property and hired Martin Hawtree to entirely revamp the golf course following the success of Trump International Scotland. Like Scotland, there are insane, 100 foot high sand dunes found on property, allowing Martin Hawtree to bring the golfer to some of the most dramatic points of the property on multiple occasions. For those seeking adventure golf on a dramatic piece of property with stunning views, this is the place for you.

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🇮🇪 South-West Ireland, Ireland

Adare Manor

Location: Adare, County Limerick, Ireland
Opened: 1995 (redesigned 2018)
Designer: Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1995), redesigned by Tom Fazio (2018)
Events: JP McManus Pro-Am; host of the 2027 Ryder Cup
Rankings: Top 5 in Ireland, top100golfcourses.com

Adare Manor's championship course sits on the grounds of a 19th-century neo-Gothic estate in County Limerick, and its 2018 rebuild has propelled it back to the front of the Irish golf conversation. Originally laid out by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1995, the course was completely reworked by Tom Fazio in 2018 — new greens, revised routing, and dramatically restyled bunkering, a project on the scale of a full redesign rather than a facelift. It is now the confirmed host of the 2027 Ryder Cup, the first to be held in Ireland since the K Club in 2006, and hosts the biennial JP McManus Pro-Am, a charity event that has drawn Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Thomas in recent editions. The routing weaves through mature parkland and a series of lakes to the meandering River Maigue, which frames the celebrated par-5 18th — where the lay-up-or-carry decision on the second shot is one of the most talked-about closing calls in Irish golf. Combined with the five-star resort at the Manor itself, Adare is a bucket-list stop on any premium Ireland itinerary.

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🇮🇪 South-West Ireland, Ireland

Dooks Golf Links

Location: Glenbeigh, County Kerry
Opened: 1889
Designer: Unknown/Mother Nature
Rankings: 27th best golf course in Ireland, top100golfcourse.com

Dooks has developed a reputation for being one of the handful of golf courses in the world where you struggle to distinguish what is built, and what is Mother Nature’s doing, a testament to not only the quality of the golf course, but the surrounding area. Rolling, fruitful contours for golf provide endless fun for visitors to try and conquer the links here, and even at just about 6,500 yards, provides a stern, yet equally challenging layout for all those who elect to play here.

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