Resorts are great places for vacations, but sometimes it’s better to go to a city. After all, far more tourists visit London, Paris or Las Vegas than travel to resorts elsewhere in England, France or Nevada.
The same is true for golf, but there are only a handful of cities with great urban courses, and far fewer with great links golf. It’s a very short list that includes Melbourne, Liverpool and Dublin — but only the latter is so convenient that Americans can easily do a world-class long weekend links golf trip. It’s one of the closest airports in Europe, and with non-stop flights from over a dozen U.S. cities, it’s possible to fly overnight and play golf upon arrival, then every day, including a round before heading home. The airport is close to the city, and Ireland is the only place in Europe where you pre-clear U.S. Customs, saving time when you get home. Leave on Wednesday night and you can play four days of standout coastal golf and be back at work Monday morning. Play 36 and you can squeeze in even more. Given that Americans get notoriously little vacation time, there’s no better way to get a fix of links golf, the best kind of golf.
But there is also a big appeal to staying in charming Dublin, walking around, visiting museums, distilleries and attractions, hitting pubs and exploring the vibrant tourist-centric Temple Bar neighborhood. Dine on some of the best cuisine in the British Isles, with local specialties such as Galway oysters, Irish lamb, world-class cheeses, fish and chips, Shepherd’s Pie, beef stew, and of course, beer and whiskey. If you just cannot get enough swings in, Temple Bar recently received the first Dublin outpost of Pitch Golf, a London-based indoor simulator/bar/restaurant/nightlife spot where you can virtually play world-famous courses long after the sun goes down.
County Dublin is both the smallest and most populous in Ireland, with more than 50 golf courses. But for the urban links weekend this list can be trimmed down significantly. The main event is Portmarnock, which is a front-runner to be the first Open Championship venue outside the United Kingdom, tentatively in 2030. The famed links has already held the Irish Amateur, Walker Cup and Irish Open — 19 times.
Portmarnock is one of only four courses in Ireland on GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World ranking, and the entry reads “the most romantic location for a golf course imaginable. Yes, that would be Portmarnock, set among low dunes at the end of a peninsula. The sense of seclusion is palpable even though you are only seven miles as the crow flies from the bustling capital city.”
The course is known for its exceptional par-3s and has a third nine, the Yellow, in addition to the Championship layout. It’s the favorite of many members and a great addition for a 27-hole day. Portmarnock is the trickiest tee time in Dublin, but easier than many other desirable links courses in Ireland. All of the major golf tour companies such as Haversham & Baker, Premier Golf and Perry Golf can arrange tee times.
“Dublin is a dream destination for a short stay, with easy flights, legendary golf and a city buzzing with energy,” said Haversham’s Mike Walters. “If there’s one thing we’re always watching at H&B, it’s emerging trends and shifting preferences in golf travel. One of the key things we’re seeing is a steady rise in demand for short-stay golf trips — four or five nights, three to five rounds of phenomenal golf, and just enough time to experience the good life without being away from work or family for too long.”
The easiest way to do a top-shelf Dublin golf trip in style, without paying the premium tour companies command, is through the Anantara Marker hotel in downtown Dublin. One of the city’s best lodgings, the Marker has carved out a niche for its “Irish Experiences,” packages highlighting cultural deep dives into genealogy, gastronomy, equestrian and golf. The Marker has a partnership with Royal Dublin Golf Club, the closest to the city center and another must-play links. Packages include prime tee times, chauffeured transfers, breakfast before or lunch after golf at the historic clubhouse and a grand finale “19th Hole” guided Irish whiskey tasting back at the hotel, which has one of the city’s best culinary programs, including instructional Irish Coffee sessions and cooking classes.
The hotel’s concierges can make tee times and taxi transfers to other courses, and this is the simplest way to arrange everything yourself. The top courses are all within 20-30 minutes, and in Ireland, Uber is the same as a taxi, so figure about 100 Euros or less round-trip daily. You can rent a car, but by the time you pay for city parking and gas, savings are negligible (and you have to drive on the other side of the road). The one advantage of a rental is it lets you add the quirky 20-hole Pat Ruddy-designed European Club, a marquee links course where Rory McIlroy won the Irish Amateur. Thirty-five miles south of Dublin, it’s farther than the urban courses.
Of the city’s four top links layouts, The Island is Dublin’s hidden gem. It has a two-hole stretch on a narrow peninsula with a stunning fishing village backdrop that includes the longest, toughest par-3 of this trip, a windswept 210-yarder that almost always plays 240-plus, requiring driver or 3-wood, with water left, right and long. This is followed by a short par-4 famous as the narrowest fairway in Ireland — and second slimmest in all Europe — with the ocean right and dunes left.
The Jameson Golf Links (formerly Portmarnock Hotel Links), borders “Old” Portmarnock. New ownership has poured money into course improvements, including four new holes, and Jameson is better than ever. The luxury hotel is also wonderful and makes for a good “resort” alternative, though you lose the city advantages. Because Portmarnock is close to the airport, moving here for your last night is a definite consideration. The hotel and clubhouse occupy the original family mansion of the Jamesons, of Irish whiskey fame, and their now defunct private course on the estate is said to be the first place golf was played in the Emerald Isle. Like its famous Irish sibling Ballybunion, Jameson Links has a cemetery right of the first fairway, within slicing distance, adding to the mystique. It has the most elevation change of the four marquee layouts, taking advantage of dune-top tees for coastal vistas. As a resort course, it is the easiest to book.
To play Portmarnock, Jameson, The Island and Royal Dublin in a weekend is hard to beat as a short golf trip, and all four are along the gorgeous suburban coastline just northeast of the city center. If you want to extend, a less visited — and much cheaper — beloved century-old local links, St. Anne’s Golf Club, sits immediately adjacent to Royal Dublin, easy for 36. On the same peninsula as The Island is Corballis, another 100-plus-year-old links that only plays to a par 66 but has a redesign by acclaimed architect Ron Kirby, who created four new coastal holes.
If there is a hidden gem after the Island, it would be Howth Golf Club, a hilly James Braid (Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Royal Cinque Ports) design on a mountainous Dublin harbor peninsula famous for its namesake fishing village and seafood eateries, a good stop after a round here. Because of its elevation changes, surrounding waters and views back to Dublin, it is considered the area’s toughest walk and best vistas.
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Larry Olmsted is an award-winning travel journalist whose work has appeared in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. He also authored “Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Understanding.”
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