Even Ireland’s most prestigious golf courses welcome visitors.
So you don’t have to be a VIP to tee off at celebrated championship links often seen on the DP World Tour.
It’s one of countless reasons 250,000+ golfers travel to the Emerald Isle every year.
Let’s look at the 10 best Irish Open venues you can play on your next golf trip.
Golfers adore Dublin and Ireland’s Ancient East.
The picturesque region offers world-class golf, seaside adventure, rich history, and cosmopolitan charm.
Your East Coast Golf Tour features 6 championship links.
You’ll find a trio of Irish Open venues on this itinerary.
There’s a pair of iconic courses within a putting green of Dublin Airport. Plus, only an hour north, a hidden gem nestled on quilted linksland.
Hosted: 1927, 1929, 1934, 1938, 1946, 1948, 1976–1982, 1986–1990, & 2003
Portmarnock Golf Club has staged the Irish Open a record 19 times.
This includes an unforgettable five-year run between 1986 and 1990 that produced four big-name winners: Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, and José María Olazábal.
The legendary layout on the outskirts of Dublin City counts Tiger Woods among its admirers.
A beautifully natural links, Portmarnock seamlessly unfurls across a narrow strip of wind-whipped duneland.
The routing is flawless. The ground is firm, fast and true. And the holes are nuanced, surprising and demanding.
You can expect an exacting but rewarding round along the bracing Irish Sea.
Hosted: 2004 & 2009
County Louth Golf Club is home to the greatest Irish course you’ve never heard about.
Yet experts and purists rank the beautiful Baltray links alongside the best on the island.
Nestled within the glorious Boyne Valley and surrounded by uplifting seaside scenery, this is a subtle, strategic masterwork.
No two holes follow the same direction. Ready for an intriguing, multifaceted challange.
County Louth has hosted the Irish Open twice. The second time, in 2009, an unknown amateur made history.
A baby-faced Shane Lowry battled wind and rain at Baltray to defeat Robert Rock in a playoff.
However, being a pro, the runner-up took home the prize money.
Of course, 10 years later, Lowry made history again at Royal Portrush.
Hosted: 1931, 1936 & 1983-1885
The late great Seve Ballesteros landed three Irish Opens in the capital city.
He won the first two, in 1983 and 1985, at Royal Dublin Golf Club, a six-time host.
Harry Colt designed Royal Dublin in the mould of a classic out-and-back Scottish links.
The course runs through tremendous, wind-blown golfing terrain on Bull Island.
Accuracy is key. Bunkers line narrow, undulating fairways that lead to exceptional greens, around which knee-deep sand traps also loiter with intent.
And yet, like the surrounding views of Dublin Bay, the golf is immensely pleasing.
Championship courses produce champion golfers – and Northern Ireland boasts plenty of both.
You can’t help thinking that Mother Nature had elite links golf in mind when designing its epic landscapes.
Our Northern Ireland golf trip is your gateway to three astounding Irish Open venues.
First, let’s hit the Greatest Golf Course in the World.
Hosted: 1928, 1935, 1939, 2015, & 2024
Few places capture the imagination like Royal County Down.
But it more than justifies the hype.
The Championship Links, where Rasmus Højgaard pipped Rory McIlroy to win the 2024 Amgen Irish Open, is the greatest venue to never stage a Major.
Royal County Down offers an uncommon combination of wild beauty and eccentric architecture.
Expect the unexpected on the tumbling terrain beneath the brooding Mountains of Mourne.
Blind shots and stealthy bunkers abound. Hulking dunes dominate the tight, ribboning fairways.
Dramatic elevation changes suddenly manifest in a blaze of heather and gorse.
Meanwhile, the small, sloping greens ruthlessly punish the slightest indecision.
No other course conjures such relentless, heart-stopping suspense. You’ll love every moment.
Just under 7,200 yards, immaculately conditioned, and blessed with picture-postcard seaside views, Royal County Down is a big, beautiful monument to authentic links golf.
Hosted: 1930, 1937, 1947, & 2012
Royal Portrush holds the distinction of being the only golf club outside mainland Britain to host The Open Championship.
Along with three Majors, the iconic Dunluce Links has staged the Irish Open on four occasions.
The most recent, in 2012, saw Jamie Donaldson seal his maiden European Tour title. Two years later, the Welshman claimed the decisive point for Europe in the Ryder Cup.
Though a tough nut to crack, especially when the wind howls, Royal Portrush delivers the quintessential bucket-list round
The elegant layout takes you on a high-octane adventure through natural valleys, between mountainous dunes, and along the sparkling shores of the Causeway Coast.
Its masterful design matches the visual majesty. The Dunluce has no weak holes.
Still, don’t be surprised if the dogleg 5th (White Rocks) and infamous 16th (Calamity Corner) captivate you the most.
Hosted: 2017
Jon Rahm won the first of his two Irish Opens at Portstewart Golf Club.
It was 2017.
At the time, Rahm described The Strand as ‘one of the most beautiful courses I have ever seen.’
Few would disagree.
But Portstewart could be the toughest test on your Northern Ireland golfing adventure.
Right from the start, the ‘sleeping giant’ takes you to task.
Portstewart features arguably the best opening hole on the planet.
The 425-yard par-4 plunges downhill and doglegs right towards the thrashing Atlantic surf.
Known as Tubber Patrick, it sets the stage for a breathless odyssey among the storied sandhills of Thirsty Hollow.
Welcome to what is quite possibly the most celebrated links golf region on earth.
Ireland’s sublime Southwest shores have long been a mecca for golfers.
Here, along the heavenly Wild Atlantic Way, you encounter majestic layouts at every turn, including a wonderful trio of Irish Open venues.
Hosted: 2019
We’re back to Jon Rahm.
The Spaniard clinched his second Irish Open – in 2019 – at Lahinch Golf Club.
Like Portstewart, its Old Course is an absolute thriller.
For championship pedigree, you need only read the history of the prestigious South of Ireland Amateur Open.
But what else would you expect from a rugged links gem shaped by three generations of master designers and the unfathomable power of the Atlantic Ocean?
Often described as the St Andrews of Ireland, Lahinch possesses a staggering variety of quality holes.
From Klondyke to Paradise, Castle, and Shaw, it combines the unbridled joy of classic links golf with shot-making challenges of the very highest calibre.
A traditional out-and-back layout, you play Lahinch at an infectious tempo over and through gigantic dunes along lovely Liscannor Bay.
Prepare to be dazzled.
Hosted: 2000
Tom Watson loves Ballybunion Golf Club.
In fact, back in 1985, the eight-time major winner remodelled the championship Old Course, where Patrik Sjoland won the 2000 Irish Open.
Ballybunion is as exhilarating as it is challenging – wait until you see the dunes.
Spoiler alert: They’re huge!
Such is the all-round quality of the course, it would be wrong to single out any one hole at Ballybunion.
But the 11th – called Watsons – is an absolute showstopper.
It’s a 430-yard tightrope with the Atlantic abyss to your right and deep rough and hungry bunkers to your left.
Needless to say, Ballybunion is a must-play on your Southwest golf tour.
Hosted: 2026
Your third Irish Open venue on the Southwest coast is a modern masterpiece akin to Kingsbarns in Scotland.
Trump International Golf Links (Doonbeg) is a rip-roaring fun championship layout with outstanding ocean backdrops.
Carved into prime linksland that arches along delightful Doughmore Bay, the Greg Norman-designed Doonbeg opened to widespread acclaim in 2002.
Martin Hawtree’s tasteful upgrades took the place to another level.
Trump Doonbeg blends so well into the natural surroundings that you could easily mistake it for a much older links.
Just 20 miles from Lahinch, on the captivating coast of Clare, it already ranks among Ireland’s top 15 golf courses.
Framed by mammoth dunes and sapphire waves, the 2026 Irish Open host features an eclectic mix of top-notch holes, including five par 3s and five par 5s.
Ultimately, though, the endearing playability is what you remember.
Somehow, Northwest Ireland flies under the radar of many golf enthusiasts.
Sure, it’s a little off the beaten track.
But this remote, ruggedly beautiful region rewards your journey with pure, unfiltered links golf across fantasy landscapes and jagged coastlines.
The last of our Irish Open venues awaits amidst a jaw-dropping expanse of duneland.
Hosted: 2018
On Inishowen Peninsula, right at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, you’ll discover Ballyliffin Golf Club.
Welcome to wild, wonderful Donegal. Scenic and secluded, Ballyliffin boasts two distinctly exceptional championship courses.
You have the Old Links, where the bump-and-run terrain and lilting waves create a rhythm every bit as irresistible as the views over Pollan Strand.
Then there’s the vast, dune-laden Glashedy Links, host of the Irish Open in 2018.
That year, Russell Knox sank two clutch putts on 18 to defeat the future Open Championship winner, Ryan Fox, in a playoff for the ages.
Given the sheer grandeur and grand scale of the Glashedy, it’s no surprise the event produced such a titanic battle.
We can’t offer you crowds or titles.
But we can promise you an unforgettable experience at the 2024 Amateur Championship venue.
It’s never too early to start planning your group golf trip to Ireland, particularly if you want to play these iconic Irish Open venues.
Enter Irish Golf Tours. We’ve been turning dreams into once-in-a-lifetime Golfer Journeys for guests since 1993.
Our expert travel team will meticulously plan your chosen tee times, luxury accommodations, and end-to-end transportation for a truly unforgettable links adventure.
Just tell us where you want to play, stay and explore. Then we’ll handle the rest.
Share
Author: Tom Rooney
