Howth/Sutton area golf courses

I think all the clubs in the area have a joining fee now.

Deer Park - €500 joining fee, €210 subs but you pay a €30 green fee (including your competition fee) when you want to play. That's rising to €35 in April.

St. Anne's - €9500 joining fee, subs around €1800 a year

Howth - Has a joining fee, it was €1000 but may have increased. Subs were c.€1500 but that was a few years ago. You can probably assume that's increased too

Sutton (9 hole) heard anecdotally there is a waiting list, but not 100% on that

Royal Dublin - No idea

Deer Park is the best value and the new greenkeeper is making great efforts to bring the course back up to scratch, but it lacks some significant investment to make it stand out against the other courses. Howth would be my least favourite from those. Very tight, short, hilly and exposed to wind. I don't mind hitting an iron off the tee on a few holes, but if you like lashing a driver its not the place to play your golf.

If you don't mind a bit of a commute, there are plenty of options in Donabate.

As a member, I can say Howth is incredibly vibrant club at the moment. Lots going on and there is significant investment in the course and practice facilities ongoing. It is short and quite tight, but unless you are a very long hitter, there are still plenty of opportunities for driver. It is a decent test.

As far as I know its a €3k joining fee and €1,500 annual sub. No waiting list that I know of. Active competitions on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and competitions on Saturday and Sunday. Its reasonably easy to get on the timesheet also.

I see St Annes mentioned as the best 'golf club' above, but I would warn about the crowds. The timesheets are absolutely jammed and it is hard to get a slot. The place seems to have a lot of members.

Massive demand. There is a large population in the area from Fairview to Malahide to Howth who want to play golf. No chance of getting membership to the big marquee links courses, so the choice is limited. Clontarf, St Annes, Sutton, Howth, Deer Park, Malahide and thats about it.

Malahide have a massive joining fee and a waiting list too. I heard 13k a couple of years ago. I hear it gets very wet too, so they lose out on a heap of days each year when annes would be open. And Anne's is a much nicer course anyway, I really want blown away by malahide. I was probably considering the cost of it when judging it (because it would be very convenient for me to join), so judged it more harshly.

I'm at a point in my life with a young family, that getting out to play is a win in itself. It doesn't leave much time for appreciating the additional offerings a club can offer.

I'm delighted to read this post! Congrats!

Hi, I'm in a very similar boat with a young family trying to get out.

How have you found the tee sheets - is it easy enough to get a slot on a weekend morning or is it rammed? Also hows the pace of play? I'm moving from a club which is oversubscribed, impossible to get a tee time and the pace of play is deathly slow. Looking at Howth as its close to the house and the most reasonably priced in the area!

I'm a member, and it would be very rare, even in the height of summer, not to get a morning slot. The Waiting lists, if there are any, usually clear out. If you are reasonably organised and log into the timesheet within an hour or two of opening, you will have your pick of times. Its only really for the Captains Prize that you need to be fastest finger first when the timesheet opens!

9 hole Competitions Monday and Tuesday evening, 12 hole on Thursday evening and then 18 hole competitions on Saturday and Sunday, so plenty of choice.

Pace of play in early morning slots is around 3 Hours 20. Closer to 4hrs from mid-morning onwards.