Section 2 of 5

The Courses

Twelve courses with a documented architectural and championship record, taken one at a time: who drew the ground, who changed it, and what it has held.

12 pieces

A grass-topped sea arch rises from a sandy beach along a rocky coastline

Ballybunion Old: Ground Nobody Would Be Permitted to Build on Now

The Old Course runs out along the Shannon estuary cliffs on routing land that pre-dates any planning regime. The piece covers the club's own architectural record, the cliff-stabilisation works carried out since the 1990s, and why the routing has changed less than the coastline has.

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Kerry

Bronze statue of a golfer leaning on a club beside a links course

Waterville: The Course on the Iveragh Peninsula

Waterville's modern layout dates from the 1970s redesign, though the land has held golf since before the First World War. The piece covers the…

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Rugged coastline with green headlands and waves breaking along rocky cliffs

Tralee: The First Arnold Palmer Links in Europe

Arnold Palmer's 1984 design at Barrow on the Dingle Peninsula is the only links in Europe bearing his name as architect. The piece takes the site —…

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Clare

Aerial view of curved white sand bunkers on a green golf course fairway

Lahinch: Laid Out in 1892, Disputed Ever Since

Laid out by Old Tom Morris in 1892, revised by Alister MacKenzie, and holder of the South of Ireland Championship since 1895 — Lahinch's record is…

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The North

Grassy fairway winding through tall dune ridges with scrubby vegetation in the foreground

Newcastle: The Lists Have Said This for a Long Time

Royal County Down at Newcastle has been at or near the top of every serious world ranking since the rankings began. The piece takes Harry Colt's 1920s…

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Coastal path winding along green cliffs beside a rocky shoreline under wispy clouds

Portrush Dunluce: Harry Colt's 1932 Course and the Two Holes It Lost

The 2019 Open required a new 7th and 8th, cut by Martin Hawtree into dunes the club had never played over. The piece takes Colt's original design,…

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Dublin & Wicklow

Aerial view of a coastal golf links on a narrow sandy peninsula near a bay

Portmarnock: A Peninsula Course and Its Long Championship Record

Portmarnock's championship record stretches back to the Irish Open and the Amateur, and the course's position on a narrow peninsula north of Dublin…

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Rocky sea wall lines a sandy beach beneath a cloudy sky

The European Club: Pat Ruddy's Course on the Wicklow Coast

Pat Ruddy designed and built The European Club at Brittas Bay himself, opening it in 1992, and has continued to extend and revise it since. The piece…

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The West

Golf course green with sand bunker sits along a coastal cliff edge above the ocean

Carne at Belmullet: Hackett's Dunes and Almost No Budget

Eddie Hackett worked at Belmullet with dunes and very little money, which is why the routing follows the ground rather than correcting it. The piece…

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A tee sign for the seventh hole overlooks dune grass and a valley golf course

Rosses Point: Old Tom Morris, Harry Colt, and Benbulben Behind

County Sligo Golf Club at Rosses Point was laid out by Old Tom Morris and revised by Harry Colt, with Benbulben as the backdrop and Sligo Bay on two…

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Cork & Limerick

Engraving of ruined castle towers atop the coastal headland at Old Head of Kinsale

Old Head: A Promontory That Has No Equivalent

Old Head sits on a carboniferous limestone headland with the Atlantic on three sides, and the routing is the geography — there is no alternative…

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Golfers gather near a yellow flag on a tree-lined fairway

Adare Manor After Fazio: What a Parkland Rebuild Means for a Ryder Cup

Tom Fazio's 2018 rebuild of Adare Manor's course made it the Ryder Cup venue for 2027 — the first in Ireland since the K Club in 2006. The piece…

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