SOUTH WEST IRELAND, IRELAND

Ballybunion Golf Club (Old Course)

Towering Atlantic dunes shape Ballybunion's historic Old Course routing beside the sea.

SOUTH WEST IRELAND Lieu
LINKS Course type
18 TROUS Holes
PAR 71 Par
TOP 100 MONDIAL Distinction

Beyond the Scorecard

Course established: 1893
Course designer/s: James McKenna; Lionel Lloyd Hewson; Fred Smith; Tom Simpson and Molly Gourlay
Known for: Natural links routing through towering dunes
Defining feature: Clifftop holes above the Atlantic shoreline
Classement mondial: #29
Classement Royaume-Uni et Irlande: #9
Classement national: #1

Through Ballybunion's Towering Dunes

The Old Course at Ballybunion Golf Club began with a 12-hole layout in 1893. James McKenna is named in the 1897 Irish Golfer's Guide, while Lionel Lloyd Hewson laid out the nine-hole course used after the club was re-established in 1906. Fred Smith later directed the extension through the sandhills, and the 18-hole course opened in 1927.

Tom Simpson and Molly Gourlay made measured changes in 1936 before the Irish Amateur Close. Their work respected a routing already shaped by steep dunes and natural valleys beside the Atlantic. From the 7th onward, the course enters its most dramatic ground, moving between clifftop tees and narrow corridors cut through marram-covered hills.

The 11th, "Watsons", asks for a committed drive beside the shoreline before an exacting approach. Later holes continue through exposed coastal ground, where wind can alter both target and club choice. A later upgrade replaced all 18 greens with fine fescue surfaces and added revetted bunker faces. Selected changes were also made to several holes while preserving the links character that earned Ballybunion worldwide recognition.

Why Add This Course to Your Golf Experience

Ballybunion deserves enough time to be experienced as a place rather than a single tee time. The club requires each visiting group to take at least one caddie or forecaddie, bringing local knowledge into a round where sightlines are often deceptive.

Kinfern can arrange the Old Course alongside the Cashen Course and other South West Ireland links, with a stay nearby to avoid rushing the visit. This leaves time for the clubhouse and the town before moving on.