Ireland Question

My golf buddies have summoned me to plan a trip once again, this time to Ireland. None of us have been to Ireland and although I have been studying up I wanted to provide my tentative itinerary for the thoughts of those who have been and perhaps the locals. Please understand that we are staying in Lahinch. This is not negotiable. We have a friend with a summer house who has offered to accommodate us. We are thinking about September 2017. I know I'm really early and I could get hit by a bus before then, but for me the studying and trip planning is half the fun.

Day 1 - Tralee

Day 2 - Ballybunion

Day 3 - Doonbeg

Day 4 - Waterville, stay the night in Killarney

Day 5 - Old Head, drive back to Lahinch

Day 6 - Lahinch

The more reading I do the more I am interested in Carne. I am thinking of adding a day and making the drive north to play that course. My main dilemma; is this way too much driving? I have driven on three prior trips all over Scotland, am I correct in understanding that the roads are even narrower? Is that even possible? Although it seems like a bit of driving I don't want to make the same mistake as I previously did in Scotland which was not going to Dornoch because it was "too much driving". (Although it will be a reason for a trip back in the future which my wife doesn't know about yet.) This was the reason for adding the night in Killarney. Also, suggestions on a B&B for the night in Killarney? Anyone familiar with Murphy's B&B and Pub? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Doonbeg and Lahinch are all north of Shannon Airport. Waterville, Tralee and Ballybunion are south. Because of the inlet for the Shannon river, it takes quite a while to drive from the north courses to the south, or you have to take a ferry. Old Head is quite a ways off, but you can visit Kinsale, which is a lovely town. To minimize drive time, play the courses north of the airport in one group and the others in another group. There will be more driving in Ireland than in Scotland because the courses are farther apart from each other. In Scotland, we tended to drive to an area, play the courses in that area and then move to a new area. Once in an area, the courses were pretty close to each other.

Carne is over 3 1/2 hours from Lahinch, one way. Carne is a great course, but no where near as good as Royal Dornoch. But then, Dornoch is my favorite course. If this will be your only golfing trip to Ireland in the near future, I say go for it. The drive is spectacular. Take plenty of time and look for the "brown signs to nowhere", the small brown signs at the side of the road that point to tourist sites. Some of them, like the circle forts are worth seeing. Also, the Cliffs of Moher are only 10K from Lahinch.

Here is a good milage/drive time calculator for Ireland. http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com/Ireland_Distance_Calculator.asp The nice thing about this calculator is the drop down boxes often list the course, so you get times course to course instead of town to town.

We may pass each other on the roads. My group is also going to Ireland in late August or early September of 2017.

Our tentative plan is to play: Waterville, Ballybunion, Tralee, Doonbeg and Lahinch on the West Coast. We will then drive north and play Carne, Rosses Point and possibly Enniscrone. We will then go East and play Royal Port Rush and Royal County Down. We plan to fly into Shannon and out of Belfast. It's early, so the whole trip may get reversed.

I'd drop Old Head from that itinerary. Firstly, it's not that good of a course (yes it is the most incredibly situated golf course though) and secondly you're looking at 6+hrs in the car to play a course that's not that good.

If you wanted to play Carne, then I'd drive up there and stay a couple nights and play Rosses Point and Enniscrone as well. Carne, while a fun course isn't worth another 6+hrs in the car on its own.

I enjoy driving around the countryside for golf and just driving around on holidays full stop. Long weekends to Bandon, going from Kohler to Northern Michigan and back, all around the UK and Europe, etc... so if I think that itinerary looks like too much driving, it must be ;)

Although I appreciate your caveat about having that spot to stay and wanting to use it. Personally I'd use the place in Lahinch for 4 of the nights and use a place somewhere else for 2 of the nights.

Doonbeg and Lahinch are all north of Shannon Airport. Waterville, Tralee and Ballybunion are south. Because of the inlet for the Shannon river, it takes quite a while to drive from the north courses to the south, or you have to take a ferry. Old Head is quite a ways off, but you can visit Kinsale, which is a lovely town. To minimize drive time, play the courses north of the airport in one group and the others in another group. There will be more driving in Ireland than in Scotland because the courses are farther apart from each other. In Scotland, we tended to drive to an area, play the courses in that area and then move to a new area. Once in an area, the courses were pretty close to each other.

 

Carne is over 3 1/2 hours from Lahinch, one way. Carne is a great course, but no where near as good as Royal Dornoch. But then, Dornoch is my favorite course. If this will be your only golfing trip to Ireland in the near future, I say go for it. The drive is spectacular. Take plenty of time and look for the "brown signs to nowhere", the small brown signs at the side of the road that point to tourist sites. Some of them, like the circle forts are worth seeing. Also, the Cliffs of Moher are only 10K from Lahinch.

 

Here is a good milage/drive time calculator for Ireland. http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com/Ireland_Distance_Calculator.asp The nice thing about this calculator is the drop down boxes often list the course, so you get times course to course instead of town to town.

 

We may pass each other on the roads. My group is also going to Ireland in late August or early September of 2017.

 

Our tentative plan is to play: Waterville, Ballybunion, Tralee, Doonbeg and Lahinch on the West Coast. We will then drive north and play Carne, Rosses Point and possibly Enniscrone. We will then go East and play Royal Port Rush and Royal County Down. We plan to fly into Shannon and out of Belfast. It's early, so the whole trip may get reversed.

I would definitely not drop Old Head. When you get back, that's the course everyone will ask you about.

It's a thoroughly average golf course, but it's situated on one of the most spectacular pieces of land in the world. Don't miss it, you'll regret it.

gonna piggy back here ... am thinking about a trip to ireland next summer ... how far ahead do i need to make tee times? ... now/6 months? ... don't have any buddies going as of right now, though that's a possibility ... would like to play portrush, rcd, portmarnock, ballybunion and lahinch ... teacher, so i can stay over there a week to ten days and take a day or two of rest in between travels/etc... i've driven in scotland before, but would really like to take a hard look at trains ... what are options for getting from major cities to the courses? ... are there shuttles or other services other than uber rides? ... tia ...