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 […]
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, […]
Best of Irish Golf – LINKS Golf Podcast Ep. 144
The hosts span the regions of the Emerald Isle and discuss Ireland’s must-play courses on this episode of the LINKS Golf Podcast. This episode is presented by Tourism Ireland. You can subscribe to the LINKS Golf Podcast in iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. _______________ What did you think of the episode? Tell us in […]
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 […]
Most Memorable Golf Bars in the British Isles
You can go anywhere for a cold beer or a cocktail after a round of golf, but that doesn’t mean that just any bar can be a 19th hole. The best golf bars bring a sense of the course inside, they embrace the lifestyle and the passion that golf enthusiasts have for the game, and—yes—they […]
