Ireland’s Castle Courses

A half-dozen castles in Ireland offer a true taste of the royal treatment–luxurious lodging and great, green golf courses.
Letter to America: The Art of Links Golf

Once a year we are treated to competition at the highest level on the game’s most pure and authentic playground—links golf.
George Peper: A Lack of Irish Luck

George Peper has tried to love Ireland, but it simply has never loved him back. More on his lack of the alleged Irish luck…
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Ballybunion

So what if it hasn’t held an Open Championship—the magnificent Irish links at Ballybunion is as dramatic and beautiful as any in the world.
How Would You Rank These Golf Destinations: Scotland, Ireland, and England?

Assigning Personalities to the Open Championship Venues

Examining the courses of the Open Championship, let’s view them not from best to worst but rather as unique examples of different personalities In a recent interview, rock icon Nick Cave revealed an unexpected interest in the Enneagram, a system of inter-connected personality types linked to the early-20th century mystic Gurdjieff. This interest in psychological […]
Golf’s Most Exhilarating Courses

Ireland’s Old Head is golf’s most exhilarating experience There are moments in golf that you wish could be frozen in time: Stepping onto the first tee of the Old Course at St. Andrews; emerging from the trees to greet 15, 16, and 17 at Cypress Point; staring down the daunting approach over the Pacific at […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Ballyliffin

Side-by-side courses at the very top of Ireland present two contrasting versions of links golf In his marvelously evocative book, The Magic of Ireland, H.V. Morton ventured: “Donegal is surely the most enchanting place in Ireland. Connemara is tribal and epic; Donegal is softer. If anything lies buried beneath the stony acres of Connemara it […]
10 Top Courses on the DP World Tour

Though Europe gave the world the game of golf, for the past 75 years or so, professional golf on the continent has lived in the shadow of its brasher and younger American counterpart. The European Tour kicked off without much fanfare in 1972 with the Open de España at Pals Golf Club in Girona, Spain. But as […]
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 […]