If you’ve never been to Ireland or are considering going again, this summary of my most recent visit from September 2024 highlights a “few of my favorite things” and should whet your appetite to discover the Island of Ireland (or more of Ireland) on your own.
With the Open Championship playing at Portrush this summer, now is the perfect time to visit.
25 reasons to visit the Emerald Isle in 2025
(1) Direct flights to Dublin: Aer Lingus has made it easy for Minnesotans (and many other Americans in major cities) to get to Ireland. You can put in a full day of work, take a seven-hour evening flight from The Cities, and step off the plane in Dublin the next AM. It’s relatively seamless, especially when the seatback entertainment systems work, you have WiFi the entire trip, and all your bags arrive with you. I typically try to sleep on the way over (way easier before they removed the overhead vents) and, when I land, try to get out and walk on a golf course ASAP to battle the looming jetlag with a little Club Lemon (2) and Irish seabreeze.
Unfamiliar with the vehicle brand we picked up at the airport, it was a spacious Lexus-like SUV with Apple CarPlay, so my phone synced quickly with the map to the course destined to unpack my worst swings. I know from experience that, once rolling on arrival day, I can stay awake (and on the correct side of the road) for about 45 minutes, so I plot a course within that range with an Applegreen gas station(3) on the way, to carb up on fresh pastries and hydrate with the aforementioned Club Lemon.
(4) County Louth Golf Club (aka Baltray): It was my first ever loop at Baltray (29 miles north of the airport) and, though breezy on the coast, it was delightful -- a great pick for those fresh off an airplane. With multiple practice areas and wide fairways, a fabulous restaurant and a first-class staff that is clearly accustomed to disoriented tourists, it’s a friendly introduction to Irish golf for anyone. Virtually every journalist I know considers it a top-15 course in all of Ireland and with those views and playing conditions, it’s easy to see why. My son, Dylan, and I took on the brisk and somewhat wet walk across the rolling coastal terrain that morning. My FootJoy raingear did its job. My golf lessons most certainly did not.
Dylan is a 1.9 index with a skillset I’ve never had and hands everyone envies but admittedly isn’t a fan of links golf. An “attack every pin” kind of player, the thought of using a putter from 100 yards out for an approach shot never crosses his mind, and the reality that it’s hard to stick and pull a ball back on concrete-firm greens keeps me (a 9.1 index) close to him when we play links golf (5). We tied with 83s. One of us was happy. Both of us were exhausted. And that’s why every detail of planning is crucial on trips like these. All the Club Lemon in the world wasn’t going to keep me awake for more than an hour after that round. We were staying in Newcastle-County Down that night (65 miles away) and made it but needed a quick car nap (and more pastries) in Newry to get there.
(6) Newcastle: Full disclosure, the Slieve Donard is always my hotel of choice and my No. 1 recommendation to anyone visiting northeast Ireland. But, there’s something to be said for being able to spread out when you’re spending a couple of nights in the same area, and the self-catering Hillyard Mews (7) were absolutely perfect for our first few nights. Multiple bedrooms, soft beds, a kitchen, living room, private parking, and tons of space near The Anchor Bar and Boat Pond Island in Newcastle, an easy mile walk from the Slieve Donard and Royal County Down golf courses -- it was heavenly. We had a street full of restaurants out our door, with all sorts of choices, but everyone wanted snacks from Lidl (like an Aldi, but better) and ... pizza. Go figure. Piccolo Kitchen to the rescue. Perfection.
(8) Ardglass: The best weather day of our entire trip was on our second day, and we had the privilege of catching what many consider the most underrated course on the entire island with that fabulous weather. Without “legendary” ambassador Tom Coyne beside me this time, the fanfare for our arrival was considerably less, but the experience was no less memorable. Walking up to the chateau-like oldest clubhouse in the world (dating back to early 1400s) and looking out over the sea, shipwrecks and tumultuous topography, it’s hard not to be in awe of just being at Ardglass. Golf there is “next level” awe-inspiring. You’ll hit a dozen memorable tee shots and will find many a golfer who considers it their favorite round of all the courses in Northern Ireland (my wife and son included). I left their golf shop wishing for much deeper pockets, as I’d gladly wear that Ardglass “A” in all of my travels. (Should’ve put it on Coyne’s account.)
We hit the Newcastle Supervalu on our way back and stumbled across a unique set of pre-cooked meals and other baked goods that we took back to the Hillyard Mews and devoured, immediately taking note of where every Supervalu was on the rest of our trip. It wasn’t 5-star dining, but it was 6-star delicious. Zero complaints from the two pickiest eaters in the family.
(9) Royal County Down: Much closer to 5-star dining, the Percy French is a stone’s throw from the Slieve Donard, with staggering views out over the beach and Irish Sea. We met our Northern Ireland “hostess” Lucia there for a fabulous lunch before our afternoon round. That free-range rotisserie chicken with asparagus, lemon and garlic was so, so good. Not sure it was French, but it was definitely fantastique.
Royal County Down has two 18-hole courses, the Annesley Links and the Championship Course. Don’t sleep on the Annesley Course -- it’s great fun, with no less than three of the 10 best holes on property. But everyone comes here for the Championship Course, the one that had just hosted the Irish Open the week before we arrived. This was my third loop around RCD and by far my favorite. My wife had to miss the round with a sprained ankle (long story), but my son and I (and our caddie, Ronan) cruised around the entire course in mostly sunshine (very little wind) and in just under three hours. It wasn’t quite having Golf Digest’s No. 1 course in the world to ourselves (we finally caught a group on the 18th tee), but it was pretty darn close. And while I still consider RCD the hardest course I’ve ever played, it’s also one of the most beautiful, and unquestionably worthy of a lofty world ranking.
(10) The Wild Atlantic Way: In Northern Ireland, you’re in Game of Thrones country, and if you can hit The Dark Hedges in Ballymoney at the right time of day it’s great for a lovely picture. However, I typically drive around the big cities on these golf trips, so we zipped past the Titanic Museum in Belfast and the famed Antrim Coast, heading 90 miles north of Newcastle to the Wild Atlantic Way and Ballycastle.
It costs $20 per person to walk across the (11) Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and it might be one of the most gimmicky tourist sites in the world (basically goes nowhere) but we all loved it! It’s a bit inconvenient to book your times online (the whole world seemingly has gone to timed-entry), especially when it’s shoulder season and unnecessary, but I would gladly pay the $20 and do it all again. Such a beautiful and unique sight. The entire northern coastline is amazing, and right next to the Carrick-a-Rede bridge is the world famous (12) Giants Causeway with 40,000 volcanic pillars (as shown on Imagine Dragons “Night Visions” cover), the iconic (13) Dunluce Castle and the lovely little coastal town of Portrush.
We only had time for one night and one round in this part of the country on this trip, so I had to pass on local favorites like Portstewart and the Bann 9 at Castlerock. I also like to spread the lodging love when visiting Portrush by staying at the Bushmills Inn (fully booked) and the Golf Links Hotel across the street from Royal Portrush, but the allure of staying on the water was too strong on this trip, and (14) the Elephant Rock Hotel in Portrush gave us just that.
(15) Portrush is an idyllic little seaside town with a harbor, amusement park, charming shops and a lively entertainment district. The Harbour Bar is can’t-miss for the vibe and singing, and upstairs (just up the street) Ramore serves a great lunch with a stellar sea view and some awesome desserts. Around the corner, the Elephant Rock Hotel overlooks Portandoo Harbour with some really cool suites and a great little bar of its own that stayed open way past closing hours for us. Portstewart Golf Club is only five miles from there, and Royal Portrush is closer yet, at only a mile out. Yes, it’s easy to fall in love with Portrush.
(16) Royal Portrush also has two courses, each deemed worthy of being in the top 100 in the world. The Valley Course is a brilliant, fun layout in the shadow of the Dunluce Course, which hosted the Open in 2019 and will again in 2025. It's a phenomenal test of golfers at all levels. My wife, son and I timed our round perfectly at 3 p.m., at the conclusion of an all-day rainstorm. We didn’t need our rain gear once the entire round, basked in the sun, enjoyed a light breeze and finished about 20 minutes before dark. The gold standard of championship golf and service in Ireland, Golf Digest ranked it the fourth-best course in the world on their 2024 list, and I know some who consider that low. Rankings are always up for debate, but what isn’t debatable is the stunning beauty of the coast adjacent these oceanside holes, with islands and the Dunluce Castle in the distance and the fun provided by a wide variety of links holes with massive rolling greens. While I admittedly have more fun playing Ardglass, I feel Dunluce is Northern Ireland’s greatest course, and would feel that way even if I hadn’t birdied the infamous Calamity Corner (16th hole) on this loop for my only birdie of the day.
I asked my son how cool it was to play two of the top four courses in the world in less than 36 hours and awaited some sort of emotional acknowledgement of the accomplishment. I got a shrug instead. “I’m hungry, Dad.” I nodded, held my left hand above my head and high-fived it with my other hand. “Cool.”
(17) Letterkenny and (18) The Dillons Hotel: Every visit to Ireland adds new favorites to a lengthy list, and our stay-and-play in Letterkenny was one such fave. I couldn’t pass on the chance to visit an establishment bearing a variation of my son’s name. The General Manager, Robert, was a fantastic host, and the hotel for breakfast, lunch and dinner was superb. The Dillons Hotel is downtown with its own private parking ramp, surrounded by shops, bars, restaurants and everything you need on a visit. My wife and son both lamented not having more time in that particular town to explore. We loved every minute of that stay. For golfers traveling with non-golfers (family/kids), Letterkenny is also home to Tropical World zoo. For the golfer heading to the northwest corner of Ireland for golf, Letterkenny is within an hour of nearly 200 holes of golf at Portsalon, Narin & Portnoo, Dunfanaghy, Ballyliffin, Cruit Island and Rosapenna. (Plus, only 55 miles from Portrush!) As “bases” go, if you’re not staying at Rosapenna, you should seriously look at staying in Letterkenny and, specifically, at Dillons.
(19) Portsalon: The play portion of our Letterkenny stay-and-play was Portsalon, 20.2 miles straight north of Dillons. Portsalon has a lovely setting on the North Atlantic’s Ballymastocker beach, and is a name you hear thrown around a lot when you’re in Ireland. Everyone assumes if you’re in the northwest you’re either playing there or should be. When I spent a day with the legendary Pat Ruddy (at his European Club) on my last Irish trip, he insisted it was a course I couldn’t die without playing. “Genius” is a word I try not to throw around carelessly, and I used it quite a few times at Portsalon. The first green is crazy awesome. The second tee shot felt like it was stolen from Ardglass. There were a collection of holes that felt like bowling alleys with bumpers, walls of mounds corralling errant shots and pushing them towards the greens. You run along the beach seemingly forever, the ocean never far from your ears or mind. Great as the front is, the back raises the bar both in terms of the design and the challenge (awesome par 3s at Nos. 10 and 15), and as you’re walking up the 18th you’re wishing there was more course to play. I tried to take it all in and agree that it should be regarded as a can’t-miss. (Also don’t miss the genius design for their beach walkway that cuts across the first and 18th holes.)
(20) Rosapenna Resort: I’d heard so little about this resort in the United States before Tom Doak was commissioned with the St. Patricks course, that I had almost completely written off the resort’s other two championship layouts by the time I arrived, and most certainly never would have expected it to make my personal Top 50 Global Golf Resorts list (out of the 300-plus I’ve visited). All the praise and accolades in media circles surrounded Tom Doak and what he’d done with one of the most remarkable slices of golf land on the island. To a person at the PGA Show in Orlando I heard the other courses were “good” and “worth playing” … but I never once heard they were “must plays.”
Well, you’ll hear it from me: The Old Tom Links and Sandy Hills are both must-play rounds. In fact, if you could lay out your ideal site visit, you’d open on Old Tom, play St. Patricks next, then end on Sandy Hills. Why that order? Old Tom is a bit more of a “flat” links than the others - a great romp through the lower dunes and along the coastline. It's what I’d call a great evening round with (typically) lower winds and is easier to walk than the other two. St. Patricks is so broad, so spread out and so massive in scale that you can hit the ball pretty much anywhere in any wind and still have a good time. (We tested that theory extensively.) I put Sandy Hills last not just because it was my favorite, but also because it requires the most accuracy and affords incredible views of St. Patricks, Sheephaven Bay, the beaches and the resort as a whole. Does St. Patricks live up to all the hype? It certainly doesn’t disappoint. I wasn’t underwhelmed by St. Patricks as much as I was over-impressed by Sandy Hills and the Rosapenna Resort as a whole.
Regarding Rosapenna’s placement on my personal Top 50 Golf Resort list: I credit that mostly to the Casey family and all they’ve done to provide not just a first-class resort for the golfer, but a beach resort for the whole family with big rooms, great food, a swimming pool and a remarkable setting between two majestic beaches in one of the world’s most scenic little coastal pockets. Their commitment and continued investment is impressive, assuring no one regrets the journey up to their slice of paradise.
(21) Waterfront Hotel: Located 35 miles southwest of Rosapenna, the lovely little bayside town of Dungloe is home to a hotel on the water and plenty of grocery stores for travelers who want to hang out a while. Great views, nice rooms, plenty of security and great food, it’s a great overnight host for golfers playing Narin & Portnoo (15 miles) or Cruit Island (8 miles). We checked in quickly, then eagerly drove north to the far, far end of the strait that touches Owey Island. The little nine-hole gem out there has become famous from every golf media influencer sharing its wild setting and ridiculous cliffside holes, especially the signature par-3 sixth hole over the ocean (not the whole ocean, that would be a record).
(22) Cruit Island: It takes a little longer than normal to play the 2,800-yard Cruit (pronounced “Critch”) due to all the blind shots, short par 4s and people taking pictures, but it’s such an enjoyable round (in good weather) that no one really cares. You can rent a buggy if you’d like, or walk as we did, and make sure your phone battery is charged because you’re going to want some photographic keepsakes.
(23)Narin and Portnoo: South of Dungloe, once again bordered by a lengthy, beautiful beach (like Portsalon), this charming course was recently renovated by the legendary Gil Hanse, with ownership sparing no expense to pull the best possible product from the land. Surrounded by, and playing through, massive dunescapes, a handful of unforgettable holes are complemented by a whole lot of beauty and fun (and some wild horses), making the round a higher-value, must-play experience. Of every course we visited on this trip, the shop staff and regulars here were the most kind, generous and welcoming, which goes a long way when you’re a stranger in a new place. My family was offered so much food and drink, and so many different gifts and opportunities, I wondered if they thought I was Matt Ginella or Tom Coyne. “Everyone is like that here,” I was told. “They’re fiercely protective of their early AM tee times, but they want everyone who plays after them to love it here, too.” Mission accomplished.
It's a four-hour, 165-mile, straight-line drive to Dublin from Narin & Portnoo, and it was physically painful driving past the Donegal-Murvagh golf course on our way. That course remains on my Ireland bucket list of 10 courses I haven’t yet played.
“Gives you a reason to come back,” Failte Ireland ambassador Rory Matthews told me.
“Rory,” I replied. “I’m never short on reasons to come back.”
(24) Portmarnock Resort and Jameson Golf Estates: When in Dublin there are three hotels I’ll stay in: The Grand Hotel Malahide (across from The Island Club), The Zanzibar Locke Hotel (adjacent the Ha’Penny Bridge and River Liffey) and the Portmarnock Hotel (home of the fabulous Jameson Links). The Portmarnock Resort is my favorite of the three because of its beautiful setting on the beach, privacy and security, and proximity to all the great shops and restaurants (and the airport) in Malahide and Swords. The General Manager at the Portmarnock Resort was amused by my OCD in terms of how I pack my vehicle but greatly appreciated the praise for his fantastic staff, Jameson Bar, awesome rooms, great food and (of course) really fun golf course.
“If I can handpick my last night in Ireland every trip,” I told him. “I’m picking this place.”
(They even had the Minnesota Vikings game on for my wife as soon as the actual football game was over.)
(25) Dublin: I asked my wife what she loved most about the entire trip (as a first-timer) and these were her words: “The people, Ardglass, the Temple Bar, Dublin in general and the insane roads. Everyone was just so nice everywhere. I loved the vibe in all the small towns. It’s so beautiful, and the beach and resort at Rosapenna. Too many highlights, I probably forgot something.”
With her being such a passionate golfer herself, I love that it was so many of the non-golf things about Ireland and Northern Ireland that resonated with her -- especially her fondness for the people.
I’ve always contended that Ireland and Northern Ireland tourism do a better job of promoting their country than any tourism board. To a person, every ambassador in New York, at the PGA Show, in Dublin, Belfast and all the resorts we visit are enthusiastic about their home and passionate about sharing everything they love with visitors. I feel it in my heart every time I board the plane in Dublin for America, wondering when (or if) I’ll get to come back next and what “new blood” I might be able to bring with me next time that would love it all as much as I do and promote it to their audiences as much as I push it to mine.
“Let me know,” Rory said, as I thanked him for the thousandth time for all he did. “You’re always welcome.”
That goes for everyone (when it comes to visiting Ireland/ Northern Ireland). You are always welcome!
It was my fifth trip to Ireland. Arguably the best. Hopefully not the last. One never knows, of course, so I appreciate each opportunity as if it is, in fact, the last one. It takes an awful lot of work from a lot of incredibly kind and generous people to pull these mad dashes off (very little of that work by me) so I share a heartfelt “THANK YOU” to everyone who makes these expeditions possible. Alisen, Bernard, Rory, Lucia (and dozens of golf/industry professionals on The Island): Thank you, all!
