Playin'o the Green

A connoisseur's guide to Irish golf courses

- Jeff Wallach

YOU CAN DIVIDE most Irish golf courses into three main categories: classic links, quirky links and everything else. While most American golfers visit Ireland to lose balls in the grassy dunes of windswept seaside links courses, it’s worth scheduling a few parkland venues into the mix for some relief and variety. Visitors from the States usually arrive at Dublin Airport in the morning.

Rather than collapsing into bed, consider walking 18 holes at one of two terrific local venues to keep you up through the day so you can go to sleep that first night on local time.

As classic as they come, The Royal Dublin Golf Club—the second oldest course in Ireland, dating from 1885—routes across flat, sandy Bull Island in Dublin Bay. The current iteration was designed by Harry Colt with renovations by Martin Hawtree, who raised and contoured the greens and surrounded them with tricky run outs. The topography mostly surrounds the fairways, and includes mounds, swales, a stone wall, deep revetted bunkers and other features the dangers of which are turbocharged in even a mild wind. Fifteen minutes from the city, this accessible private club has it all—including a drivable par four at number 17. Possibly you’ll finish your round here as well as Christy O’Connor did, when he won a championship by closing with two eagles and a birdie on the final three holes. But probably not!