anyone know what likes of ballybunnipn/tralee /dooms would be charging for GUI rate in summer or would they just laugh and hang up the phone? (Particularly 1st two)
I would say that they are full booked for green fees at this stage. Best option would be scratch cups or open days.
Tralee has a few opens around the Rose festival but you have to be on the ball to get a tee time.
I don't think any club is going to laugh at you, why not just ring up and enquire. Tralee have open 4 ball 18th Aug and singles 21st Aug for festival.
How much?
Got back from Rosapenna late last night. The 3 course ticket for 210 is unreal value. The courses were all excellent. All our lads loved the courses. My preference was Old Tom and can't wait to play those 3 courses again.
Goes to show quality of Rosapenna as a resort ..ask a batch of people their favourite course and all 3 will be mentioned.
I actually looked up Ballybunion..and whilst talk out there is all tee times are gone ..I was actually surprised you could get a tee time most following weeks ..yes at full rate.
Would be interested what would happen if you rang up for say the following week or even day and asked for a Golf Ireland rate..would they be in any way flexible on price...
Having played Tralee, Waterville, The Island and Old Head, that all cost 250 plus for a round. The 3 courses up in Rosapenna are just as good and are all beside each other.
Although, Old Head will remain my favorite. We were lucky to play that course on a bright sunny day with no wind. Made the whole experience better, plus we got the Covid rate.
Around 80 euro for Tralee open day
When does it open
4 ball 7th August so I assume singles in around same time or couple of days later.
is there any centralised place where you can see when Open comps are on?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1ww0u4P322NFJQM4jchhcX7wJW1_NPLwJ8uLuSN-pAgg/htmlview?pli=1 here you go
I'd love to know what the big links courses are getting from the Americans that come over to play them. I imagine the majority of them do it on a tour and there's no way the tour companies who bring hundreds or thousands to those courses are being charged the full whack.
The tour companies might be getting a bit of a discount but I'd bet it's not passed on to the golfers themselves who are likely paying very close to the advertised rates.
Americans will pay mad money for golf. Then they'll pay for buggies, caddies and whatever else on top.
Stupid question. Are scratch cups the same as opens? My real question is whether there’s any opens where high handicappers would be welcome. Thanks
they are not. Opens anyone can enter them. Scratch cups are limited to the handicap range advertised.
Scratch Cup is a gross competition, handicap not used when playing. There are handicap requirements for entry but it's just about pooling players of a similar ability level into the same tier of the competition, but on the day it's about shooting the best gross score.
Maybe they also have prizes for net scores but the gross score is the main one.
High handicaps can enter any open. Most opens are just normal club competitions where non-members can also book times in my experience.
Golf Ireland maintain a list on their website
Here is a link to Open comps - brsgolf.com/opencomps
https://www.brsgolf.com/opencomps
MInor scratch cup is what you would be looking for in the high handicap range.
Not rare as hens teeth but rare all the same.
I've heard Old Head of Kinsale is around the €400 mark now and most are paying another €80 for a caddie too.
Here is a good one for the Links thread .
Spoken to a good few Americans the last while..and of all.the amazing Links course and routes they play .
So many of them say they love Old Head and Ardglass....interesting if a bit perplexing as they literally play some of the best Links in the world on the same trip..
Guess for a lot of them it's the setting rather than the course.
Both are spectacular locations and make great use of their coast lines.
And ultimately both are very playable courses. There's a lot to be said for a spectacular location alongside managing to play decent golf.
Second that on Old Head and playability. If you get the weather it's a great course to play in amazing settings regardless of the type of course it is.
I'm sure if you played it for the first time and the weather was terrible, you would have a different opinion on it.
Take for example the European Club, I've never left that course feeling good about my game. It drains you, even though it's a fantastic course, it's just so difficult to play.
I had a cousin from America over a few weeks ago, said he paid $1100 to play Ballybunion and The Old Head - which seems to be over the advertised green fee which would suggest a charge added by the tour company.
a friend played there a few weeks ago… €450 a head. €1,800 for the 4ball, no caddies inc
I'll admit ..I probably underestimated the playability of all our big Links courses .
I enjoy torture...but on reflection most of them are too bloody hard.
Likes of Ballyliffin is nearly impossible most days...and good point on European..I've enjoyed day ..Great course and experience.
But I wonder have I ever broke 90...
[Edit looked up had an 84 adjusted..not too bad I guess]
Old Head and Ardglass are actually playable...
I’d have a theory for this.
I don’t believe links golf has an instant appeal for most people. It’s hard for us people who love golf (and this thread suggests we also all Iove links) to remember way back when you first played a links golf. But my guess is that in the way back when, you were nowhere near as taken by links golf as you are now. I’d suspect you were more drawn to island greens, long watery carries, and pin seeking, than you were to playing a ground game against a force 10 gale.
But somewhere along the way (probably not too much later to be fair), you likely began to appreciate the skill and intrigue involved in playing the course rather than your ball - most likely during a wet winter, and the overwhelming relief brought by encountering sand based fairways. That was you converted. A yank over for the first time is likely still in “way back when” stage of life. That time when the thrill of launching a ball over a precipice is the what gets them out of bed. They’ll learn along the way though. We all do.
Links is hard into strong winds, but a joy when you turn and the wind is behind you like today
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