Kerry & Clare Itinerary

Land at Shannon, collect the hire car and drive straight to one of the most beloved links in Ireland. Lahinch is the heart of golf in County Clare — a traditional links threaded through imposing dunes above Liscannor Bay. The Old Course has been played since 1893 and keeps all the character of its age: blind shots, elevated tees, natural rough and an atmosphere of timeless golf.

Twenty minutes south of Lahinch lies Doonbeg — a modern links built within a protected dune system that took Greg Norman nine years to complete. The course wraps around a two-mile beach, with vast sandhill ridges forming natural backdrops to almost every hole. The golf is indisputably world-class and the setting arguably unmatched in Clare.

Tom Watson called the Old Course at Ballybunion the greatest test of links golf in the world. After your round, you may agree. The golf sits on the edge of cliffs above the Atlantic, the back nine playing through a graveyard of towering dunes that would feel fantastical if they weren't entirely natural. This is one of the rare venues where 'bucket list' is simple fact, not hyperbole.

The drive south along the Ring of Kerry is itself a reason to make the trip. Waterville is a long-standing favourite among serious golfers — a classic, natural links between the Atlantic and Lough Currane. Played by Bing Crosby, Tom Watson (an honorary member) and virtually every touring professional to visit Ireland, it is demanding, beautiful and completely unhurried.

Your final round before the drive back to Shannon or a flight from Kerry Airport, 20 minutes away. Arnold Palmer called Tralee the most beautiful piece of land he had ever designed on. The course sits on the cliffs of the Barrow Peninsula with the Atlantic on three sides; the back nine turns inland to a very different character — a fitting close to five days of Ireland's west coast at its most spectacular.