ksucats

My 16 year old son has recently picked up golf and really want to play a round when we visit Dublin in a few weeks. Nobody else in the family golfs. I would be willing to go with him if I can find the right place, but I doubt it exists. Figured I would ask here just in case somebody has experience. I don't want to spend more than a few hours total (we are staying near St. Patrick's Cathedral). He would be happy with 9 holes. He just wants to experience a nice Irish course. I don't want to spend a lot of $ on this. Also, I am not letting him bring his clubs. Seems like a hassle, so the course would have to have some to rent or borrow.

lwildernorva

I'm going to assume that one of the Irish links courses most likely fits the bill of what he's looking for in an "Irish" golf course since any of the regular parkland layouts are similar to what he would find in the US. I'd suggest the Corballis links, which is not far from the Dublin airport. The course has an unusual configuration so he can play 12 or 18 as the course runs in a loop away from the clubhouse, returns at 12 and then has a separate loop from 13 to 18 (and there are greens fees for each configuration). The Finegal County Council operates the course, and as a public facility, greens fees are relatively low compared with many other links courses around Dublin, such as The Island, Portmarnock, Portmarnock Hotel Links, or Royal Dublin. I haven't rented clubs from them, but from my experiences playing there, I'm sure they offer that option. Here's the webite: Corballislinks – Breath taking Links golf on North Dublin's Pristine Coastline. If he's never played links golf before, he'll either love it or hate it after playing at Corballis.

Two other options. A links closer to central Dublin adjacent to the more famous (and way more expensive) Royal Dublin is St. Anne's: https://www.stanneslinksgolf.com/. St. Anne's is probably easier than Corballis although about three times more expensive (and Royal Dublin is about half again more expensive than St. Anne's). Again, I haven't rented clubs there, but the website quotes a price for renting clubs. By the way, a little piece of trivia: Bull Island, St. Anne's and Royal Dublin's locale, was formed as a result of a project overseen by the Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. If links golf is not what your son is looking for, there are a number of parkland style courses around Dublin operated by the city, but I have no experience with any of them.

Although I agree that taking a set of clubs for one round is a waste of packing space, I'd strongly suggest packing two or three sleeves of golf balls to take with him. Golf ball prices in Ireland and the UK can be shockingly expensive, making even the price of entry-level balls approach what you might pay for Titleist Pro V1s in the US. If he plays at Corballis, he might want to pack four sleeves: the long rough there can make finding a ball difficult.

lwildernorva

One more thing about Corballis if you decide to go there and are driving yourself from Dublin rather than taking a cab: the very end of the route your GPS will likely suggest looks as if you're being led astray, but you really are going to the golf course. After driving along a very narrow road alongside a small body of water--very alongside, I emphasize--you'll be directed to take a road to your left. The first time I did this trip, I would have sworn my GPS was taking me along a driveway through some farm buildings. Although you will go past a few farm buildings, you really still are on a road. If you're going to be doing more driving through the Irish countryside after your Dublin trip, the drive to Corballis will be a good warmup for the narrow, twisting roads you may encounter.

ksucats

Thank you both. Corballis looks like it will fit. Hopefully we can make it work. I can't find anything about clubs there. I guess I will have him throw some golf balls in his suitcase and if we can make it work, then great. We will not have a rental car. Is a taxi the only option or is it possible to take a bus? I don't want his golf outing to turn into a $200+ all day adventure since he is the only one wanting to do it.

lwildernorva

From central Dublin, I'd take the DART from Connolly Station to Donabate. From Donabate, it's only a couple of miles to Corballis. The DART takes about 30 minutes and the cost should be less than $10 each roundtrip. From the DART station, take a cab to the course. A useful resource for Irish taxi information, https://www.transportforireland.ie/t...are-estimator/, indicates the cab fare would be around 10 euro each way. If Corballis doesn't work for any reason, there are a couple of other golf courses almost on top of Corballis--the Donabate Golf Club and the Balcarrick Golf Club. Neither is a links course (another links, the Island, is adjacent to Corballis but would be an expensive tee time).