Liam Higgins: Waterville’s First and Only Professional
The next time you make it to Waterville in southwestern Ireland, keep an eye out for a spry figure, average height and build, with tufts of white hair peeking out from beneath a stocking cap. Most likely he’ll be flying solo around the links, bag on his back, bombing drives and carving irons beneath the […]
What’s the Best Vacation Spot for Your Golf Game?
By James A. Frank You toil hard to earn yourself a little vacation time with your clubs. You book the flights, hotel, rental car, and tee times, excited to play a highly ranked course. But you quickly discover your game is ill-suited to the layout, and instead of having fun, you toil some more, growing […]
Eddie Hackett: Ireland’s Most Famous Course Architect
Given the timeless quality of the country’s links, it’s surprising that golf arrived in Ireland at roughly the same time as it did in the U.S., in the late 19th century. The Emerald Isle’s most famous architect was a “Johnny Appleseed” type who by sheer prolific force helped the game reach new levels of popularity: […]
Royal Portrush Prepares for 2019 Open Championship
By George Peper Unfurled across a rocky rampart of Northern Ireland’s Antrim Coast, the Dunluce Course at Royal Portrush is blessed with one of the game’s most idyllic settings, and its architect, the redoubtable Harry Colt, crafted a links that is equally arresting, making full use of dramatic natural valleys, ridges, and plateaus. Among its […]
Royal Portrush Prepares for 2019 Open Championship
By George Peper Unfurled across a rocky rampart of Northern Ireland’s Antrim Coast, the Dunluce Course at Royal Portrush is blessed with one of the game’s most idyllic settings, and its architect, the redoubtable Harry Colt, crafted a links that is equally arresting, making full use of dramatic natural valleys, ridges, and plateaus. Among its […]
10 Tips for a Budget Golf Trip to Ireland
Bargain hunters rejoice. There has never been a better moment for a golf pilgrimage to the Emerald Isle.
10 Tips for a Budget Golf Trip to Ireland
Bargain hunters rejoice. There has never been a better moment for a golf pilgrimage to the Emerald Isle.
You Need to Play in The Great Irish Links Challenge
Getting to go to Ireland is on just about every golfer’s bucket list. Getting to play in a tournament while there makes it just that much better
Golf Travel: The Top 10 Courses in Ireland
Irish eyes are smiling as World No. 1 Rory McIlroy returns home to host the Irish Open at Royal County Down this week. Scotland may be the Home of Golf, but the best seaside links in the Emerald Isle are simply the finest in the land. Here are the LINKS top 10 courses in Ireland. […]
Waterville Golf Links, Ireland: Revisited
Ireland’s southwest has become a standard on any wandering golfer’s bucket list, thanks to courses like Ballybunion, Tralee, Lahinch, Old Head, and Doonbeg. (The most thorough travelers add Dooks and Ceann Sibeal to their lists.) But rarely do Americans recall any more fondly than Waterville on the Ring of Kerry. Maybe it’s the way the long sunset kindles Waterville’s sands, or the wind finds your back more often than you would expect. Maybe it’s that they arrive on a course with distinct and generous fairways that remind them of home, with a soft opening hole (called “Last Easy,” in case you thought you wouldn’t need the rest of the balls in your bag), and a statue of a relaxed and smiling Payne Stewart. Or maybe it’s a Yankee favorite because there is genuine American love and sweat in the Waterville dunes.
