Ballybunion Golf Club's Old Course is one of the most revered and celebrated links in the world. Perched on clifftops above the Atlantic Ocean on the Kerry coast, it combines extraordinary natural drama with golf of the highest quality — a course where every hole seems to offer a new and more spectacular view, and where the challenge is relentless from the opening tee to the final green. Tom Watson, a man who knows his links, called it one of the greatest courses he had ever played.
Golf has been played at Ballybunion since 1893, and the Old Course has evolved over more than a century into one of the defining links experiences in the world. The club famously received a visit from Bill Clinton in 1998, who played the course during the Irish peace process negotiations — a moment that brought Ballybunion to a global audience. The club also boasts the Cashen Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., offering a second outstanding links round for those who wish to play both.
Ballybunion is the kind of course that changes how you think about links golf. The clifftop holes above the Atlantic are unlike anything else in Ireland or Scotland, and the quality of the golf matches the drama of the setting. For guests on a west coast Ireland itinerary, it is a non-negotiable — the defining round of the trip.