Golf Ireland
- Top players - Irish golf has never had a higher profile with world No.2 Rory McIlroy, 2019 Open Championship winner Shane Lowry, and two-time PGA Tour winner Seamus Power, currently at the top of the game. Also, 3-time major winner and former Ryder Cup Captain Padraig Harrington will enter the World Golf Hall of Fame in June 2024.
- LPGA star - Ireland has another great ambassador in LPGA Tour winner Leona Maguire from County Cavan. She is a former world amateur number one. Following a stellar career at Duke University, she turned pro in 2018 and was crucial to Europe’s victory in the 2021 Solheim Cup.
- ‘Major’ events - Ireland will be centre of the golf world in the coming years with the 2024 Horizon Irish Open being played at Royal County Down, the Open Championship returning to Royal Portrush in 2025, and the Ryder Cup being hosted at Adare Manor in 2027.
- Links Golf - Ireland is home to over 400 golf clubs, including a third of the world’s natural links courses, and a selection of exceptional championship courses in amazing locations. Every year a quarter of a million golfers from all over the world come to the island of Ireland for a unique golf experience.
- Top courses - As well as the marquee courses like Portmarnock, Old Head, Ballybunion, Lahinch and Portstewart, which are top of everyone’s wish list, there is also a plethora of hidden gems such as Ardglass, Castlerock, Dooks, The Island, Carne and Cruit Island.
- Resorts - There are also many great resort courses in Ireland such as – Dromoland Castle, Adare Manor, Lough Erne Resort, and the K Club which offer a complete golf and vacation experience for all the family.
- Latest product - Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort opened a new course in 2021 - St Patrick’s Links, designed by Architect Tom Doak. St Patrick's Links immediately debuted as the highest new entry at #55 on the GOLF Magazine Top 100 in the World rankings 2021-22. St Patrick’s Links added to a wonderful suite of golf in Ireland’s Northwest with the recent redesign at Narin and Portnoo in Co. Donegal by Gil Hanse, and fabulous established courses such as Ballyliffin, Port Salon and County Sligo.
- Golf Market – Golf is the world’s largest sports-related travel market and Tourism Ireland is working hard to drive home the message that a golf trip to the island of Ireland is about much more than a round of 18 holes – the combination of our world-class links golf and our unique brand of hospitality plays a key role in attracting golfers to visit. The 19th Hole is the inevitable ending point to a day's golf, and where better than the confines of a great pub in which to relax after a game at one of our world-class courses.
Ryder Cup 2027 – Adare Manor
- The Ryder Cup will return to Ireland in 2027 when Adare Manor, in County Limerick, hosts the biennial contest between Europe and the United States for the first time.
- Since reopening in April 2018 on completion of a two-year reconstruction commissioned by its owners, the McManus family, the Golf Course at Adare Manor has been propelled to global recognition.
- Redesigned by renowned architect Tom Fazio, the course epitomizes the start of a new golfing era while paying homage to its storied past, thanks to the age-old trees that line the fairways and the river Maigue that traverse the championship lay-out.
- The JP McManus Pro-Am, the most illustrious event of its kind, has been held at Adare Manor on three occasions and has welcomed star-studded line-ups from both sides of the pond, including Tiger Woods, John Rahm, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
- Adare Manor hosted the 2007 and 2008 Irish Open.
- The Golf Course at Adare Manor offers an authentic Irish golf experience thanks to its relaxed atmosphere, opulent surroundings and famed Irish hospitality. As well as the stunning golf course, Adare Manor is one of Ireland’s leading five-star castle properties.
- Set on an 842-acre estate, the resort is surrounded by medieval ruins, walled gardens and winding woodland paths. It has 104 luxurious rooms, an exquisite spa, elegant fine dining, trout fishing on the river Maigue and a host of other unique activities.
- Adare Manor is located in the stunning picturesque village of Adare which is home to great shops, restaurants, and some wonderful examples of traditional thatched cottages.
- Adare Manor’s location and accessibility to Shannon airport (30mins) provides a wonderful gateway to the Southwest corner of Ireland which is famed for courses such as Lahinch, Doonbeg, Ballybunion, Waterville and Tralee.
- Adare Manor is also a stone’s throw from Ireland’s majestic Wild Atlantic Way. This 1,500-mile-long coastal route runs from the wind-whipped tip of Malin Head in County Donegal to the balmy beauty of Kinsale town in County Cork.
- This is a place that has inspired dreamers and drifters, poets and painters, with a landscape laced with dry-stone walls, brooding mountains and deserted beaches. A must visit experience with spectacular landscapes, rich culture and a truly unique journey along the western edge of Europe.
Ireland’s Ryder Cup history
- It was 2006 when Ireland last hosted the Ryder Cup, and Darren Clarke provided the inspiration needed for Europe to clinch its third consecutive win. It was hugely intense, and a fantastic occasion at the K Club in County Kildare.
- In ‘soft conditions’ the European team came together around Clarke to record one of the most emotional victories, made all the more special by being hosted in Ireland and being cheered on by a partisan Irish crowd.
- It's taken 21 years, but the Ryder Cup is coming back. The stunning Adare Manor in County Limerick will host the world’s finest golfers for three days of spectacular golf in 2027.
- Ireland has provided the European captain in three of the last four Ryder Cups with Paul McGinley leading the team in 2014 at Gleneagles; Darren Clarke was in the hotseat in 2016 at Hazeltine; and Padraig Harrington took the helm in 2021 at Whistling Straits.
- Irish golfers have been at the forefront of Ryder Cup competition since it’s inception and have provided some epic moments along the way. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry carry the torch in 2023 but they follow in the footsteps of some our country’s finest golfing legends.
- In 1987 at Muirfield Village, Ohio - Delgany's Eamonn Darcy delivered the coup de grace for Europe’s victory. He holed a ridiculously slick, downhill four-foot putt on the home green to edge out Ben Crenshaw.
- In 1989 at The Belfry, Christy O'Connor Jnr's two-iron to the 18th green that came to rest two-and-a-half feet from the hole has long been celebrated as his finest hour. His opponent, Fred Couples, eventually conceded the hole and the match. O'Connor Jnr's win allowed Europe to retain the trophy by virtue of a tie.
- In 1995 at Oak Hill, Dublin’s Philip Walton played Jay Haas and holed a great putt to guarantee a European success that seemed unlikely when they trailed 9-7 going into the singles.
- In 2002 at the Belfry - Darren Clarke halved with David Duval, Padraig Harrington beat Mark Calcavecchia, while Paul McGinley holed the most important 10-foot putt of his career to copper-fasten overall glory.
- In 2010 at Celtic Manor - who can forget that epic putt by Graeme McDowell on the 16th , before securing victory for Europe one hole later.
Links Golf in Ireland
- An Ireland golf experience is made more special by the plethora of world class links that dot the island. These courses are accessible and allow the visitor to play golf at the highest level, in the most spectacular surroundings. As well as the marquee courses there are loads of hidden gems such as Carne, Baltray, Connemara and Rosslare just waiting to be found.
- Royal Portrush, County AntrimIt may have started life with just 9 holes back in 1888, but in 2025 it will play host to its second Open Championship in 6 years. The 2019 event was a stunning success with critics raving about the newly revamped course – and of course it was topped off with a stunning victory by our own Shane Lowry. Perched beautifully on the epic Causeway Coast, it is one of the finest courses in the world.
- Waterville Golf Links, County KerryWith a location on the world-famous Ring of Kerry, Waterville Golf Links has it all: a heady combination of dunes, gorse and native grasses, sod-faced bunkers and subtle putting surfaces. Right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, the landscape at Waterville changes colour with the shifts in weather, making it look just as dramatic in clear sunshine as in cloud. Little wonder then that it regularly features as one of the top 100 courses in the world.
- Old Head Golf Links, County CorkHumpback whales splashing in the swirling waters, swooping seabirds, and scampering hares – you’re certainly at one with nature’s immense power on this beautiful links in County Cork, at the southernmost tip of the Wild Atlantic Way. Encompassing 180 acres of a diamond-shaped rocky promontory extending over nearly 2 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean, Old Head possesses cliff-top drops for half of its 18 holes.
- Royal County Down, County DownThe 2024 Horizon Irish Open returns to one of the world’s finest golf courses. Under the shadow of the Mourne Mountains, Royal County Down – made up of the Championship and Annesley links – has taken more than a century to get to where it is today. And its status as an extra-special place was cemented when it was voted the world's No 1 course outside the US by Golf Digest.
- Lahinch Golf Course, County ClarePart and parcel of the fabric of Irish golf for 125 years Lahinch's Old Course has undergone many changes since Old Tom Morris came over from Scotland to create it in 1894. Over the years, the course has been enhanced by esteemed architects Charles “Mo” Gibson, Dr Alister Mackenzie and Dr Martin Hawtree, and it now stands as an enjoyable and challenging test of skill and expertise – and was a venue for the Irish Open in 2019.
Portmarnock, County Dublin Founded in 1894 on a sandy peninsula that was once only accessible by boat, this wonderful links course is renowned worldwide. A purely natural course, Portmarnock has hosted 19 Irish Opens as well as the Walker Cup and the Canada Cup – now the World Cup of Golf – and its finishing holes are regarded as some of the best to be found anywhere.
Sources – Adaremanor.com, Rydercup.com, Ireland.com, Irishtimes.com
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