The Full Irish: Rankings

We can't NOT make some lists, here.

As I had assumed, after getting back from Ireland I’ve been asked which courses were my favorites, which were the most fun, etc. I get that, I’d be asking the exact same questions.

So it’s both appropriate and also … kind of ridiculous. The intent of the trip was to try and cross off all the links courses we could - meaning the criteria were the very best of these. We played 21 rounds, which means a course I’d rank as, say, 17th on that list suggests it wasn’t very good - when literally all 21 were great courses I completely recommend playing.

But lists we must make.

Or at least, I’ll admit to being unable NOT to make such lists. I’ll post my top-to-bottom ranks at the end of this, but I’d rather group them in other ways first.

The Biggest Surprises

The big admission here is that even though I put together our itinerary for the trip, some courses were so consistently high on lists that I trusted that I didn’t really look TOO much more into them, I just booked them on our schedule. That made some courses just huge fun in ways I wasn’t expecting. That started in Ardglass, where I knew it sort of started on the coastline … but I didn’t realize how much of it involved that coast and the water, and how fun so many of the holes would be. Portstewart’s opening holes were something I had read about … but couldn’t really understand until we played them. I’d heard enough hype about St. Patricks not too be too surprised about how incredible it was, but Narin & Portnoo was a bigger shock that was so much fun to play, even in the most consistent rain we had on probably the whole trip.

I knew that Co. Sligo was rated highly and I saw how much the guys from No Laying Up ranked it, but for me, I really had a hard time getting a sense of that particular course from the videos. I was in no way prepared for how interesting it was (with burns like Scottish links, absent on most any other course we played), really fun routing along gorgeous beaches and set with the tabletop Benbulbin behind many holes. It blew me away.

I had fairly set, high expectations about most other courses on our rota, except for Tralee and The Island. I’d heard enough good things (and seen Tralee on NLU’s Tourist Sauce) to just book it, but Tralee was SO much fun, with some of the most memorable holes we played all trip - and it didn’t hurt the weather was essentially perfect.

The Island was perhaps the biggest surprise - literally all I knew about it was that folks said a) it was hard b) it was a must play. I really couldn’t predict how fun the holes and routing were, and that was when I played easily the worst golf all trip.

Courses I’d Want To Play Every “Day”

I’m not really sure why that’s the expression: “play everyday.” I’d like to play ANY course every day, what a life! But to me, this means a course you’d have as your regular course which you play more than anything else. These are courses that are fun to walk, provide a good test of golf while being fun to play, and allow for different strategies on a good amount of the holes.

I’m thinking of courses like Portmarnock, Ardglass, Narin & Portnoo, Co. Sligo, Lahinch, Dooks and The Island. All of those courses have really fun and unique holes, reward different kinds of ways to approach most holes and provide incredible scenery along the way. Portmarnock, Lahinch and Sligo are the highest ranked courses here but even though they are true championship courses like others I’ve not listed here, they would be incredible to play frequently and also very fun walks through the courses.

The 6th hole at Lahinch would be incredible to play repeatedly. Maybe one of those times I’d figure it out.

A lot of other courses I might rank above these are either just much tougher tests, harder walks, etc. I’d love to play every course we played regularly, but some would be hard to do a few times every month.

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OKAY FINE. Here, in reverse order, here’s how I’d personally rank the courses we played. All the courses are linked to the specific writeups I did of them.

(The Castlerock Bann was only nine holes. I considered ranking it as if we would play it twice back to back, but that’s not how WE played it, so I just left it out. It’s awesome.)

20. Dromoland Castle. It’s the only true parkland course we played (though I’ll get to another in short order in its own way), and honestly there are a few really memorable, cool holes. As a parkland course, it’s very worth playing. But we were in Ireland to play the best links courses, and this is anything but, no fault to it. Other debits — the walk between greens and tees was often exceptionally long and maybe just designed instead for carts (though most folks walked as we did). Despite a massive castle and fairly immaculate maintenance, it’s not as special as the others on this list.

19. Royal Portrush (Valley). This is the second course on property, not the site of the 2019 and 2025 Open. It’s really fun - but it feels like a smaller version of the Dunluce Links. On the good side, the cost is literally like 15% of its big brother. It’s super fun to play and at that price, I would do it a ton. It’s less memorable than most other courses we played, however.

18. Old Head. Folks rave about this course for the views - which are, indeed, about as good as literally any course on earth. But the course played so unlike a links - thick fairway with soil, not sand underneath - that it was jarring. (Especially because it calls itself Old Head Links, and is surrounded by water.) Also, the vibes there are really kind of gross in the way it’s so clearly a spot for wealthy tourists (and international members). There’s just a money element to everything that felt a bit like Pebble Beach (the “if you have to ask how expensive something is, maybe this isn’t for you” vibe). That brings it down here, even when the aesthetics of Old Head are likely tops for this list.

17. Enniscrone. Let’s be clear, this is the spot where this list is idiotic. Because ranking Enniscrone 17th out of any list is kind of crazy. It’s a great course! The dunes are spectacular and there are many great holes with outstanding layouts and scenery. The vibes out there, with poetry or philosophy on most every bench on property, is really cool. Very cool spot.

16. Ballyliffin (Glashedy). This is a very interesting course that is the most northern course in the country. There are huge dunes, really cool par-3’s and it does feel like a true test of golf. We had massive wind all day and a spat of awful weather, but the reason it’s not higher on this list are that I remember a lot less about it than courses I played before and after it.

The courses above are all ones that I’d recommend folks play - but I’d kind of get it and shrug it off if they skipped them. The next five I’d feel worse about, but would also understand if one simply didn’t have enough time for 15 rounds of golf.

15. Dooks. Just like Ballyliffin, we were almost blown off the golf course by the winds, but Dooks is for sure the choice I’d make if I could only play one of the two (or anything else above here) again. Dooks was a good walk, with holes I really understood better by the time I got to the green, and would really benefit from a replay round.

14. Narin & Portnoo. At least half our round was played in a steady rain, and some really solid wind - which had us either clubbing wildly up or down - and it was such a great routing - David and I rode that second round of the day, but it would be a terrific regular walk. It would be an ideal club to join and play regularly.

13. Portmarnock. This was our first course and probably suffers from comparison to everything that came after it because it was unlike everything else (even nearby neighbor The Island). Relatively flat and littered with pot bunkers, Portmarnock felt very Scottish (which is a good thing!) and then suddenly very different than every course after it. But it’s such a great setup and if rumors that it might host a future Open are true, it could provide a great tournament.

12. Ardglass. I know that it’s “wrong” to rank Ardglass above Portmarnock, but we all had more fun at Ardglass. It’s NOT as good of a course as Portmarnock, but it’s just a delight. It may have raised its prices recently to levels locals don’t think is worth it, but we had so much fun out there, and I’d love to play it often as I think a lot of the holes could be played a whole bunch of different ways.

11. Portstewart. It’s true that the last few holes pale in comparison to the first eleven, but on their own they are also very solid golf holes. The course layout feels a bit disjointed and ideally there’d be some way to work the meadow holes into the dunes throughout, instead of such a distinct change halfway through the round.

Any course below here is on my “Must Play” recommendations. If you’re making a trip to Ireland, pack in enough time to play 10 courses, okay?

10. Waterville. The walk at Waterville is incredible and many of the holes - especially on the back nine - are simply perfect and really, really memorable. The vibes at the course when we were there were a bit stuffy, so it loses a few points here, but it’s truly elite golf that would be on any Must Play List.

9. The Island. The biggest surprise of the trip for all of us. We knew it was “tough” and “rugged,” and different than nearby neighbor Portmarnock Golf Club, but we didn’t realize how much. Also, the energy at The Island was unreal. The head pro there was so welcoming and friendly, and the club seemed genuinely excited to have folks out there (though there were plenty other visitors there as well). And the course itself was bonkers level fun (even when I couldn’t make contact with my golf ball.) Considering how badly I played, understanding that I still ranked it 9th overall says a lot about how good it is.

8. County Sligo (Rosses Point). Another course I didn’t really understand from the videos I’d seen, Sligo completely took me by surprise. The routing was so fun and interesting and the course just was so clever and different - it would be incredible to play it regularly to learn how best to approach some of those tricky ones.

7. Tralee. I can’t promise that you’ll get to play it in 65 degree, 10-15mph wind weather like we did, but I do think anyone who made it out there would agree how fantastic it is. The back nine is easily one of the best “nines” we played in country.

6. St. Patricks Links (at Rosapenna). This course has only been open for two years and is already ranked 4th in all of Ireland by some. It’s really that good - it’s still growing in, and the fairways in some areas had been damaged by drought … and none of that got in the way of it being incredibly fun to play. Literally 18 excellent holes. It’s such a good walk, and it’s so unbelievably gorgeous you won’t be able to understand why an incredible course hasn’t been on that property for 100 years.

5. Royal Portrush (Dunluce). I had this and the next course in reverse order, and Portrush has some extra juice because its part of The Open rota, it’s a very hard tee time to get and it’s a true championship course. But I’m lying if I said I enjoyed it more than what I have at #4. Portrush is super fun and gorgeous and challenging as hell. It’s more in the Carnoustie model of, “Come, enjoy getting your ass kicked!” than a course that seem more designed for member and visitor play. This is all not to suggest that the course isn’t incredible, and for sure a bucket list experience. Every golfer doing a trip for such courses in Ireland has this one on lock.

4. Carne. Putting this ahead of Portrush took some thought, but it’s just in the end the reality. I wish I could rank it higher. Admittedly, we were blessed with literally perfect weather for all 27 holes. I think Carne in heavy wind and/or rain might be a LOT less fun, and certainly much harder. As it was, it was plenty of a test (and yes, I did shoot my best round there) but I think I had a smile on my face even on the holes I played poorly on. Every hole seems to be a reveal of “Oh my GOD, you guys seeing this?” with massive dunes, cool greens and amazing rolling and lumpy fairways. And the people there are nicer than I thought people could be. Get yourself to Carne.

   

3. Ballybunion. Just like Portrush, Ballybunion is a Big Boy test of golf. It’s eighteen holes of golf where you are asked specific questions on almost every shot, and some of those you might not have answers for. It’s incredible, and like these others feels like a special round of golf, because it is. In some ways, it feels like you can’t really take in the whole course since you’re just trying to solve the problem of the hole that you’re on, but every time I took a step back and looked around I couldn’t believe it. It’s literally the definitive Irish golf course.

2. Lahinch. I really thought about putting Lahinch first, but simply couldn’t … but, it’s close. It’s as much of a full championship course as any of these top courses (it hosted the Irish Open a few years ago and the Walker Cup will be there in a few years), but distinctly between Portrush, Ballybunion and - surprise - Royal County Down, it’s easily the most fun. (Carne comes close, but as much as I love Carne, Lahinch is indisputably a better course.) Whether it’s the Klondyke and Dell or other amazing holes (some of the best par-3’s we played, but great holes through all 18), I would be shocked to hear someone say they didn’t have an amazing time out there.

   

1. Royal County Down. Yeah, it’s perhaps uninspired as RCD is often ranked as one of the very best courses in the world, but it deserves it. It’s everything the last few courses were, all in one. It is a true Big Boy golf course, unbelievably scenic and well maintained, and a true 18-hole test of golf. Is it as “fun” to play as Lahinch? I wouldn’t say so. There’s just something extra with RCD above literally any other course I’ve played that makes it feel like there simply are no notes, no ways to make the course better besides me finding a new way to play it better (which wouldn’t be a high bar to clear).

What about you? What are your favorite Irish golf courses? What did I get wrong above?