Best of Ireland’s Golf Courses Tour for Seniors

For any golf trip to Ireland, it makes sense to fly into Shannon instead of Dublin. It is in the country’s Southwest, which is where the most famous and beautiful courses are located. You will land in Dublin, and it would be a five-hour cross-country transfer just to reach the first tee. So, you will land in Shannon today and be less than two hours to Killarney, which is a colorful old city that is situated inside a national park. You will check into your boutique hotel in the old town, and you can spend the afternoon exploring at leisure. Irish music seeps out from small pubs, colorfully painted houses line the main streets, and there will be a sense that you are in a town where time has stood still.

Southwestern Ireland is majestic. Green valleys snake between raggedy mountain peaks, slopes are dotted with sheep, and lakes appear still and serene, reflecting the sky above. Rivers can be crossed by tiny stone bridges, and often, the coastline is partially hidden by mist. The most famous Irish scenery is found on the Ring of Kerry, which is a beautiful route that you will explore today. Halfway around this ring is Waterville, which is one of Ireland’s most remote and spectacular golf courses. Winding around a promontory that is entirely surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, this is a course where the wind will blow, and sand will be a constant challenge.

While the location grabs your attention, it is the number of unique holes that you will most remember. The front nine can prove to be a gentle introduction into Irish links golf with undulating fairways, tall dunes, and ocean vistas. You do not need a booming drive here. Precision and finesse are of the essence, especially on the stunning par five on the eleventh hole. On the back nine, you will follow the coastline’s curves all the way to a cute clubhouse that is perched above the waves. After your round, you can choose to complete the Ring of Kerry with your driver-guide or return the way you came to Killarney.

There are links courses that play out along the seaside, and then there are links courses where it feels like you are teeing off into the ocean. Tralee is of the latter category as it is beautifully situated on rugged cliffs. Look one way, and you can see small coves and pebbled beaches, but turn your head just 30 degrees, and a daunting tee shot stares you in the face. This was the first links course that Arnold Palmer designed back in 1984, and he famously said that while he was responsible for the front nine, it was God that did the rest.

Grabbing your attention from the very first tee, this will be one of those courses where you spend the evening debating and disagreeing as to which is the best hole. There are just too many to pick one. Perhaps the seventh will be your favorite, which is where you line up on a castle that stands adjacent to the green, or any of those hotels where if you hit to the ball to the right then gets gobbled by rocks and waves. The 17th hole is a short, par four that is a favorite of golfers of all ages. Younger players who play long tend to end up in the ravine, but playing short and steady is the way to reach the tiny, clifftop green.

After 18 holes and the excellent clubhouse, you can spend your afternoon on the Dingle Peninsula. Like Tralee, this peninsula is dominated by cliffs that have been carved by rough waves. You can begin exploring and will notice how the locals speak Gaelic here. Nowhere else on the island has preserved tradition as much as Dingle, and even with just an afternoon, it can be an eye-opening experience. You can choose to take a boat trip to see the peninsula’s famous resident dolphin or find a pub with a small terrace that overlooks the harbor.

Dunes soar wildly along the Atlantic Coast, castle ruins peek from the sand, and grasses rise from the dunes, giving the landscape an unkempt and almost feral appearance. It can seem that you have arrived in a place of vast wilderness, but this is a golf course and arguably the finest golf course in the world. Eighteen holes twist around the ocean and Ireland’s tallest sand dunes, most of them featuring dogleg holes and hidden greens. Old Ballybunion has been revered since 1926, and hardly anything has changed since it hosted the Irish Championship back in 1937. Not much is cultivated here, and this adds to the experience, especially as you can stare down a hole that seems to be more sand than fairway.

This is well regarded as Ireland’s ultimate golf course, and as you would expect, it will be a test of every part of your game. However, a good golfer does not necessarily need to go the way of Bill Clinton and other presidents by using mulligans on multiple holes. When the breeze is slight, it is possible to score well, especially if you can play with placement over power. Strong onshore winds exaggerate the challenge. If this is the case, then you will be smart to play from the shorter tees. Like Tralee, it can be hard to pinpoint a favorite hole after you have played. Maybe your favorite will be the seventh, eleventh, or just the feeling of teeing off from a cliff’s edge.

Mountains encircle Killarney and its legendary Killeen golf course. They will provide the backdrop to today, both on the fairway and in the small city. After three rounds of golf, you will play on Ireland’s best inland course. Despite the surrounding mountains, the course is mostly flat although the back tees measure 7,000 plus yards, so it may be worth playing shorter. The course is excellent, and it will be an excellent contrast from the last few days. Mountain surroundings make the holes so enjoyable, and you can be better off having a laid-back day rather than continually hacking out from the unforgiving bunkers.

Just like Killarney itself, the golf club is famously welcoming. After 18 holes, it can be easy to spend the rest of the day in the clubhouse, chatting with members and recalling famous scenes from the Irish Open that Killeen hosts annually. If the clubhouse and Guinness do not take over, then the rest of today can be spent in Killarney National Park or the small city. Your driver-guide can show you around from the lakes to the best places to hear Irish storytelling. Killarney is filled with traditional pubs, and many of them have entertainment during the evenings in the form of dancing, music, and storytelling.

This golf tour for seniors is not just about where you can play, but also where you can stay. After a 90-minute transfer, you will check into a medieval, Irish castle. Glorious, green grounds extend around its turrets and stone frame, and from the window, you can gaze upon the woodland and a misty horizon. Much of the interior has been preserved to help maintain a medieval feel although the bathrooms and beds have obviously been updated. This is Ireland’s most celebrated castle accommodation, and you will spend the final two nights here. By staying in County Clare, you also open up a new series of golf courses to play, starting today with the Saint Andrews of Ireland.

Enchanting and evocative, Lahinch is a rugged and wild course along the shores of Liscannor Way. You play out and back with a number of highly unusual holes throughout the 18. For example, on the fourth, you must find a rippled fairway between towering dunes, then negotiate a path around a dune that literally stands upon the fairway. The fifth hole, which is a par three, can really test your skills as well with the green and flag being seemingly swallowed by dunes. Still, despite the Saint Andrews-like scenery and eccentric holes, this could be the course that you score the best round of during your vacation.

Rolling seaside dunes and dramatic Atlantic waves are the two features that will have dominated every day on your trip to Ireland. Doonbeg is no different, which is a Greg Norman-designed course that you have you playing with Mother Nature. Each fairway appears to be carved from the wilderness, and the sheer abundance of natural hazards can require patience and precision. However, you should find that your scores are improving throughout your trip. By now, you will be accustomed to the challenges, including choosing one bigger club than usual as the distances are measured in meters rather than yards.

After 18 relaxed holes and the obligatory clubhouse stop, you can return to the castle for your final afternoon in Ireland. You can also choose to do some more exploring with the city of Limerick that provides more than just riddles. Adare is a fabulous, if somewhat, touristy journey into the past where you can wander lanes of thatched-roof houses and ride a horse and carriage. You can also opt for a one-hour journey out to the coast and the Cliffs of Moher, which is arguably Ireland’s most famous sight. Whatever you choose, the castle will provide an elegant final evening either sat around a fire or on an outdoor terrace.

It’s only a 20-minute transfer to Shannon Airport, so you can take your time this morning before your departure.