2024 Irish Golfer Top 100 courses

big_drive

https://irishgolfer.ie/top-100/2024/02/20/the-2024-irish-golfer-top-100-courses-in-ireland-ranking/

i see the 2024 Top 100 is out.

I've only played 8 of the 100 courses I'm afraid, hopefully a few more this year. Tralee is the highest ranked course I've played.

patsat

Castletroy, Naas, Powerscourt (East), Ballybunion (Cashen), Killarney (Killeen), Portumna, Enniscrone, County Sligo, Tralee, Ballybunion (Old).

10 played.

Favourite links would be a toss up between the beauty and par 3's of Tralee versus the condition and layout of County Sligo.

Best Parkland for me is Portumna without question. Although I must play more high end parklands.

TrueDub

5 of them played:

Baltray, Carlow, Powerscourt East, Bunclody, Arklow.

El Guapo!

7 played.

2 of them being Headfort Old & New where I'm a member so that doesn't really count. 😂

Hopefully I can add a few more to the list this year.

dan_ep82

26 played.

I think Moyvalley should be lower.

SEORG

34....played ....No way Mount Juliet is better than Cork (I'm not a rebel!)...I have only paid over €100 for one of them. A lot are making it very expensive now.

Castletroy, Royal Curragh, Killarney (Mahony's & Killeen), St. Anne's, Esker Hills, Tulfarris, Arklow, Dingle, Bunclody, The Heritage, Tullamore, Carton House (O'Meara), Ballybunion Cashen, Belvoir Park, Galway Bay, Portumna, Dromoland, Murvagh, Fota Island, Cork, Mount Juliet, Portmarnock Jameson Links, Dooks, Doonbeg, Enniscrone, The European Club, County Sligo, Carne, Tralee, Waterville, Adare, Ballybunion Old, Lahinch, Royal County Down

FixdePitchmark

Played 69 of them....but as mad as this sounds...that is lower than I expected...

The north is a big gap for me.

Also south County Dublin not exactly accessible.

And then.....mid West parklands sketchy enough....

We are so fortunate in Ireland to have so many course. .there are many very good courses not even in top 100..

Now..to nearly go back on myself...

If we look at top top tier.

Maybe we overestimated the top level.

We focus so much on our top links ...as they are such a unique experience.....but to challenge ourselves for a second..could you get to 2 hands ...world class parklands ?

In Irish circles..we always considered Mount Juliet top top tier...but with You Tube and more experience..have we kinda over stated some of our Irish stuff.....?

thewobbler

I’d almost go the other way Fixd.

Doesn’t everyone, everywhere overrate their parklands?

if we are to accept that the best parklands in the world list would include Shinnecock, Merion, LACC, Riviera and dare I say it, Augusta, then we surely have to accept that on even the best parklands, there are some filler holes, other holes with zero strategy, and a handful of holes that are far from memorable.

fungie

Played 62 of them and most of the top ones.

The Big Easy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121801305#Comment_121801305

I don't think you can spilt golf courses into merely links and non-links ie parkland.

I think parkland is too wide a catch-all. I don't think many if any on your list there could be described as parkland in the truest sense.

You have to take into account the land as it was, how much work had to be done to turn it into a golf-course, how much of the natural lay of the land was kept or incorporated into the course.

I think we need more descriptors to separate the types of golf course beyond Links, Heathland, parkland.

I'm sorry but there is no way Shinnecock should ever be described as a parkland for instance.

I don't like the term faux-links particularly either, but there are a lot of them in America and they are certainly not parkland courses.

blue note

I've played 21 of those. Slightly lower than I'd have thought.

I quite enjoy these lists, but the difference between a course that might be around 10 and one at 30 is probably minimal and the same can be said of courses around 50 and 90. I always think a star system similar to the Michelin stars would be a better way of doing it. You could have 3 stars for the best 4 or 5 in the country, 2 stars for the next 25 and then one star for another 50. I think it would be more meaningful for a club to get another star than climb a few places in the rankings.

And we have fantastic quality of depth in our parklands. Anyone could rattle off another 20 that aren't even in the list that are absolutely terrific courses. But at the very top end of the parklands, we don't have many that would leave an impression if the Irish Open was held on them. Adare Manor, Druids Glen, Killeen Castle, K Club.... would many others be exciting venues?

slave1

94 Hope to pick a few of those just in the 100 from up North this year...

big_drive

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121800097#Comment_121800097

I went for a look at the Challenge Tour event in Headford last year. Thought it was a beautiful course.

Must be very nice being a member of a 36 hole club and from what I remember the membership fee is very good for what you get

El Guapo!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121804700#Comment_121804700

Yeah the new course is hard to beat when it's at its best in the summer.

Having 2 courses on site is great. You're practically always guaranteed to find a tee time on pretty much any day apart from the very rare occasion. The 2 courses are very different and offer different challenges depending on what you're looking for. It's nice to be able to mix it up between the old and the new and stops it getting stale.

Like all clubs, it has its good and bad points but it's hard to deny the value for money when you compare it to other courses in the area. And if you were to pick Headfort up and drop it in/around Dublin then you'd easily expect the membership fees to more than double.

Innish_Rebel

A very poor 5 for me.

Mahony's Point, Fota, Cork GC, Mount Juliet & Old Head.

Definitely need to add some links courses to the resume.

paulos53

58 for me with a trip planned in the summer that will cover another 3. I am counting a couple of courses like Adare that have been renovated and could be considered a different course from the one that I have played.

Ulster is the big gap for me as Donegal is the only one of the 9 counties that I have played in.

blue note

Forgive me - I don't know how to paste a table in boards. The below is the Golf Ireland list from this year and the last Golf Digest one (2020). It's interesting to see the two side by side. I don't think all that much would have changed in most of those courses, so by and large you are comparing like with like. Any course that didn't make the other list I assumed to be joint 101st.

It's funny to see a few courses with very different rankings in both - Concra 35th vs 63rd, Strandhill 63rd vs 34th, Ardglass 75th vs 44th. And Tramore and Mount Woseley in at 47th and 65th in the Golf Digest list not featuring in the Golf Ireland list at all. But you can see scanning through it that the further down the list you go the less 10, 15 or even 20 places of a difference make.

GD GI Diff Course

2 1 1 Royal Portrush

3 2 1 Portmarnock

1 3 -2 Royal County Down

4 4 0 Lahinch

6 5 1 Ballybunion (Old Course)

8 6 2 County Louth (Baltray)

10 7 3 The Golf Course at Adare Manor

7 8 -1 Waterville Golf Links

5 9 -4 Tralee

14 10 4 The Island

N/A 11 N/A St Patrick's Golf Links

19 12 7 Belmullet (Carne Golf Links)

12 13 -1 County Sligo

9 14 -5 The European Club

13 15 -2 Enniscrone

23 16 7 Trump International Golf Links - Doonbeg

21 17 4 The K Club (Palmer)

11 18 -7 Ballyliffin (Glashedy)

24 19 5 Royal Dublin

25 20 5 Portsalon

15 21 -6 Portstewart (Strand)

20 22 -2 Ballyliffin (Old Links)

28 23 5 Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort

22 24 -2 Dooks

16 25 -9 Old Head Golf Links

17 26 -9 Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links

37 27 10 Slieve Russell Hotel & Country Club

29 28 1 Killeen Castle

30 29 1 Narin & Portnoo

38 30 8 Connemara Golf Links

27 31 -4 Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort (Sandy Hills)

18 32 -14 Mount Juliet

32 33 -1 Cork

63 34 29 Strandhill

33 35 -2 Fota Island Hotel & Golf Resort (Deerpark)

26 36 -10 Donegal (Murvagh)

43 37 6 Malone

45 38 7 Carlow

54 39 15 Luttrellstown Castle

41 40 1 Carton House Hotel & Golf Resort (Montgomerie)

34 41 -7 Castlerock

40 42 -2 Headfort (New)

71 43 28 Galgorm Castle

75 44 31 Ardglass

61 45 16 Dromoland Castle

39 46 -7 Lough Erne Resort

31 47 -16 Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort (Old Tom Morris)

58 48 10 Portumna

36 49 -13 Killarney Golf & Fishing Club (Killeen)

53 50 3 Galway Bay Golf Resort

52 51 1 Belvoir Park

64 52 12 Powerscourt (West Course)

56 53 3 Hermitage

44 54 -10 Palmerstown Stud

60 55 5 Ballybunion (Cashen)

48 56 -8 Carton House Hotel & Golf Resort (O’Meara)

68 57 11 Tullamore

46 58 -12 The K Club (Smurfit)

67 59 8 Rosslare

59 60 -1 Royal Belfast

50 61 -11 The Heritage

55 62 -7 Bunclody

35 63 -28 Concra Wood

94 64 30 Rathsallagh

72 65 7 Dingle Golf Links (Ceann Sibéal)

92 66 26 New Forest

87 67 20 Castle

62 68 -6 Arklow Golf Links

78 69 9 Westport

90 70 20 Grange

80 71 9 Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort

81 72 9 Farnham Estate Hotel & Golf Resort

101 73 28 Moyvalley

84 74 10 Galway

74 75 -1 Esker Hills

97 76 21 St Anne’s Golf Links

57 77 -20 Seapoint

83 78 5 Castlemartyr Hotel & Golf Resort

69 79 -10 Powerscourt (East Course)

86 80 6 Mullingar

51 81 -30 Dun Laoghaire

82 82 0 St Margaret’s

88 83 5 Druids Heath

101 84 17 Royal County Down (Annesley)

66 85 -19 Clandeboye

89 86 3 Laytown & Bettystown

101 87 14 Headfort (Old)

73 88 -15 Glasson Country House Hotel & Golf Club

96 89 7 Macreddin

93 90 3 Killarney Golf & Fishing Club (Mahony’s Point)

101 91 10 North West

101 92 9 Royal Curragh

77 93 -16 Ballinrobe

85 94 -9 Dundalk

101 95 6 Naas

95 96 -1 Blainroe

101 97 4 Moyola Park

101 98 3 Malahide

70 99 -29 Castletroy

101 100 1 Spa

47 101 -54 Tramore

65 101 -36 Mount Wolseley Hotel & Golf Resort

76 101 -25 Shannon

79 101 -22 Knightsbrook Hotel & Golf Resort

91 101 -10 Woodenbridge

98 101 -3 Dundrum House

99 101 -2 Castleknock

100 101 -1 Roganstown

42 N/A N/A Hogs Head

49 N/A N/A Royal Portrush (Valley)

spacecoyote

Have managed 55 of them myself which is actually more than I was expecting to be honest.

A few on there that I'm friends of members that I haven't managed to get out on, so will need to give them a nudge 😉

Marty1983

20 - Castletroy, Killarney(Mahonys), Glasson Lakehouse, Castlemartyr, Galway, Dingle, Ballybunion (cashen), Galway bay, Killarney (kileen), portumna, Fota, Cork, Kileen Castle, Old Head, Dooks, Tralee, Waterville , Adare Manor and Ballybunion old for me.

RoadRunner

53 for me.

FixdePitchmark

Has anyone played Trump place ? aka Doonbeg ?

Must be unreal if it is ahead of the course that are mentioned in Donegal alone ?

slave1

Yeah, nice out and back course, the 10th actually takes you further away from the hotel, only let down by its greens which were still settling in after being rebuilt 2/3 years previously at the time I played it. There’s a good YT video of Louis Oosthuizen played it with Radar

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121810071#Comment_121810071

Doonbeg is lovely. Not the toughest course in the world but aesthetically it’s as nice as Lahinch. Best bunkers I’ve ever played a shot from (unfortunately for my sake 😒)

Nice mix of short and long par 3s, one reachable par 4 that’s extremely narrow and another reachable one with a bomb drive with the wind.

FixdePitchmark

Anyone know if Doonbeg play winter mats or temp greens - just seen it is "only" 75 euro - and as them things go these days - that is on cheaper side ?

dan_ep82

Mats

golfer79

Exactly 20 for me I believe and a fair spread if I do say so considering I only took up golf in 2015.

Cork, Fota, Castlemartyr, Old Head, Dooks, Tralee, Waterville, Ceann Sibeál, Enniscrone, Strandhill, Rosses Point, Rosapenna x3, Portsalon, Naas, Palmerstown House, Mount Juliet, Carton x2.

Hopefully add another couple this summer.

ncawley

In your opinion what’s the most over rated course there?

thewobbler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121817641#Comment_121817641

Royal Belfast at 60 seems odd. It’s a fun and enjoyable trek with some memorable quirks , but it’s not a great course.

O’Meara at 56 is always overrated on all these listings.. Yes it’s got an amen corner. But it’s just mediocre apart from that.

Galgorm Castle at 43. I know they spend a fortune adding to it every year. But it’s fundamentally a boring walk. All shine, no substance. This type of golfing experience shouldn’t be encouraged.

Rikand

Amazing to myself, I have played 26 of them. I've walked another dozen. I might try get a few more this year

gypsy79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121818845#Comment_121818845

I have played exactly 26 too

Plan go Rosapenna this summer

benny79

50 for me I think probably forgot a few 😂 Having played Portrush a few times now dont know how its No.1 great course no doubt.. but no 1 I dont know definitively up there.

RoadRunner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121822409#Comment_121822409

Ah Portrush is incredible. More exciting then #2 Portmarnock, but fairer than #3 Royal County Down which perhaps leans too heavily on it's incredible front nine. A complete course with everything from holes 1 through 18 with no weakness (except for perhaps conditioning which has not been nearly as good as #2 and 3# in the past couple of years. Surely they're preparing to peak the course for 2025?)

I hope to tick off old head in a few months time, a round I'm really looking forwards to!

The image below is the true crime, that I have not had the opportunity to play any of the big south west courses to compare numbers 1, 2 and 3 to! I've cleared out my PM's folder and await the invitations 🤓

thewobbler

Same boat RR.

I’ve a massive Kerry, Clare, Limerick shaped hole in my map of Irish courses played.

Every time I think of heading to the South West, I either book Donegal or Portugal.

RoadRunner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121822710#Comment_121822710

Donegal and Sligo are better value for money. I've not played any golf in Portugal or Spain yet. I do think we have the best courses in the world on our doorstep, but lament the fact that it's cheaper to get on a plane and fly to Portugal to play.

paulos53

Tralee and Ballybunion have always been the most accessible of the South West courses as they both have a few opens every year. However I noticed last year that it has become harder to get on the timesheet. They generally open the timesheet to members first and there were very few slots available to non-members.

I also see that Ballybunion are using the Cashen course for the Junior scratch cup this year, so that is 1 less opportunity to play the Old course.

benny79

I get where your coming from @RoadRunner but for me to be ranked No 1, I rate the whole experience, course, condition, club house, staff (friendliness) value etc.. Hence why my favourite is The European Links wise... I remember the very first time I played it. Rang to book and asked for the price and Pat himself answered and said its €50 (winter rate at time) but if I turn up with a american accent its €250.😂 I still laugh about it today! A great course no airs or graces and probably one of the most friendly around! And the mad thing is I never play well there still yet to break 30 pts there but yet still love it! But like you said the condition hasnt been great in Portrush in my view if your up at the top condition should be 100% all year round especially when charging top dollor!

But I suppose thats the beauty of the game! people love courses for different reasons

Frisbee

17 played for me.

Of the rest of the list Heritage, Glasson, Carne, Enniscrone & Strandhill all booked for this year so far. Surprised I had played so many considering I only really started playing properly in 2021.

Seve OB

65 played, might get about 5 more in this year

moycullen14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121822617#Comment_121822617

That's probably as good a stretch of courses as anywhere in the world. All within 100 miles (or so) of each other

blackwhite

Ballinrobe, Druids Heath, St Margaret's, Mullingar, Powerscourt East, Castlemartyr, Seapoint, St. Anne's, Grange, Concra Wood, The Heritage, K Club Palmer South, Carton O'Meara, Powerscourt West, Dromoland, Carton Monty, Luttrellstown, Donegal, Strandhill, Cork, Mount Juliet, Connemara, Killeen Castle, Druids Glen, Royal Dublin, K Club Palmer North, Doonbeg, Enniscrone, Co. Sligo, Portmarnock.

30 of 100 played. Looking forward to adding to the list this year.

Doonbeg and Co. Sligo probably my favourites of the links courses (albeit I don't see myself returning to Doonbeg anytime soon). Druids Glen is fantastic following the upgrade works, but it's very expensive now

Lewie1989

Been able to get out on quite a few of these since March last year (Naas, Macreddin, Headfort New, Laystown Bettystown, St Margarets, Seapoint, Moyvalley, Tulfarris, Rathsallagh, Palmerstown, Ardglass, Portstewart, Jameson Links)

I've found the quality and variety of courses in Ireland absolutely superb, i've lived in a few places around the world and don't think there is a better city to play golf from then Dublin. So many great courses within an hours drive, very lucky to have it on the doorstep :)

Hoping to tick off the European, Wild Atlantic dunes, Enniscrone and Rossapena this year !

VW 1

From a different point of view, is there any courses that you feel should be on the list and isn't?

thewobbler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121834472#Comment_121834472

The problem is that 100 is exactly the wrong number for Ireland.

It should be top 50; it needs to be top 50 to make it prestigious.

For once you head into the 80s and 90s, it kind of simultaneously feels like “one for everyone in the audience” and “it’s their turn”, rather than an acknowledgement of class.

Off the top of my head, courses I’ve played that could easily be dropped into that list without complaint include Lisburn, Kilkeel, Kirkistown, Coolatin (though I’ve heard it has lost some land), Woodenbridge, Greenore, Massereene, Knightsbrook, Mount Wolesley.

this doesn’t make the list wrong. Just that there’s nothing much to differentiate why and why not in the lower echelons.

slave1

I think there's value in the Top 5, Top 10, Top 30 but is there really a way to separate say 66 from 82 etc or 34 from 43 etc.

Whatever is towards the top of the list deserves its place but there's plenty outside the 100 that could be included and some dropped off

Mantis Toboggan

Any of the top clubs have opens at reduced green fees? I cannot see myself playing any of them otherwise.

L.O.F.T

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121817641#Comment_121817641

Both KClub courses.

RoadRunner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121836454#Comment_121836454

Baltray's greens had just been heavily spiked last time I saw it, seriously tainting the experience for me. It hard for me personally to justify it as being top 6 in the whole island when it was such a let down back then. Maybe I need to try get back there to find the love for it again? 🤨

Also surprised to see St Patricks so high when the course is still likely bedding in however I have not played it yet!

L.O.F.T

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121837274#Comment_121837274

Baltray is a super track, do give it another try, if you can get a deal. It's fairly pricey

TrueDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121837274#Comment_121837274

I was lucky enough to play it for free many years ago, in the most glorious sunshine. I remember it being stunning, with the greens being the best part. I'd love it give it another go now.

Beaulieu

89 of the Top 100 (per that list) played by me. 11 left with a Northern bias

bmay529

70 and counting, Still to play Adare (waiting for invite!!!), Old Head (same), Doonbeg (waiting for the new owners!!), Portumna, Portsalon and several Northern courses outside the big ones.

Best course: Everyone talks about Portrush and RCD, both great courses, but I love Tralee and Enniscrone (great value also) with all its great dunes