Ireland’s 10 Best Par Threes
Par threes are special holes. Rarely will you robotically reach for your driver when you step onto the tee of a par three. More likely, you’ll be grabbing a laser rangefinder and throwing a few blades of grass in the air to calculate the distance and pick a club. At that point, one swing will […]
Ireland’s 10 Best Modern Courses
Ireland has no shortage of historic golf courses—famed venues that attract eager visitors from all over the world. Playing the notable links at Ballybunion, Lahinch, and Portmarnock—and the two Royals, County Down and Portrush, in Northern Ireland—should be on every golfer’s bucket list. But some of Ireland’s other must-play courses date to more recent times, […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Murcar Golf Links
Just how tough can a wee wonder be? It wasn’t until I stepped onto the 10th tee at Royal Aberdeen that I learned it had a neighbor. Not 20 paces from that tee box was a green belonging to another course—the third green at Murcar. Needless to say, I had to play it. And the […]
15 Top Golf Museums and Exhibits
The game of golf has a long and proud history going back centuries. Golf enthusiasts around the world embrace that history, and there’s a long list of places where you can revel in it. Whether you’re interested in golf’s great champions, its major tournaments, the evolution of golf equipment over the years, or all of […]
Characters: Alan Grant
Alan Grant makes sure Scotland’s Skibo Castle—as well as its guests—don’t take themselves too seriously The exclusive Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands has an uncommon set of standards. Alan Grant, the club’s unofficial ambassador, describes them this way: “It’s not like standards where you tick a box and say everything’s nice, […]
Scotland’s 10 Best Modern Courses
Scotland has a long and proud history of golf, but in the last 30 years, new modern courses have debuted to rival their historic predecessors.
10 Great Risk/Reward Holes
The label “risk/reward” is applied liberally to golf holes these days. Probably too liberally. Look at any course’s hole descriptions and you’re likely to see it appear at least a handful of times. In reality, there’s risk involved in every swing, and reward to be earned anytime a shot is successfully executed. Strategy comes into […]
Golf Destination: Puerto Rico
There are two kinds of Caribbean golf vacations. One is the kind where you choose an island, choose a resort, then hole up there for a few days to play golf, lounge on the beach, enjoy rum drinks with umbrellas in them, and just chill. You can do that in Puerto Rico, but Puerto Rico […]
Top Push Carts in 2023
Walking has been central to the game of golf from its beginning, when distinguished gents sporting jackets and ties were accompanied on their rounds by eager young caddies clutching armsful of hickories. Many players today still prefer walking—and why not? It’s good exercise, and a lot more social than bombing around in a motorized buggy. […]
Words of Wisdom: Legendary Irish Course Architect Pat Ruddy
Born in 1945, Ireland’s Pat Ruddy was bitten by the golf bug at an early age. As a youngster, he’d catch rides on tractors to play at a little 9-hole course in South Sligo that rented its land from a local farmer. Later, he graduated to playing County Sligo Golf Club (aka Rosses Point), and to […]
