7 minute read
10 of the UK & Ireland's finest: Golf Experiences
From beautiful fairways and private clubs to exclusive tee times with indulgent dining, luxury accommodation and exceptional private experiences, Dream Escape affords you peace of mind, dealing with all your golfing arrangements from start to finish. Here are just some of our favourite venues
BEST FOR DRAMA
1. Old Head
Old Head
For sheer excitement, and the most amazing views, there’s not many courses can match the Old Head in County Cork. Welcome to the Hitchcock film of golf courses: gripping, edge-of-your-seat stuff. In-the-know golfers say there’s no course more dramatic, or in such a stunning location, in the whole of the UK or Ireland. Breathtaking holes abound here, none more so than the 17th, a long par five called “The Lighthouse”. Sate your other senses in the nearby Kinsale, Ireland’s seafood capital. Its pretty cobbled streets are lined with art galleries, craft shops and seafood restaurants serving many dishes – like local oysters, pan-roasted cod and seared scallops - landed at the town’s jetty.
BEST FOR GOLF PROS
2. Royal St George’s
Royal St George’s
Image: Jason Livy
“Royal St George’s – now that’s a real golf course,” the late great Arnold Palmer once said about this beautiful links course. Full of dunes and undulations, located in Kent’s Sandwich Bay, this is the only Open Championship golf course located in the south of England, and host to the first British Open held outside Scotland back in 1894. That honour is bestowed again next summer when Royal St George’s will host the deferred 149th Open Championship. The nearby old-fashioned seaside town of Deal is a great base for exploring a charming stretch of the Kent coast.
BEST FOR NATURAL SCENERY
3. Ballyliffin
Ballyliffin
Image: Chris Hill
Mountains, sand dunes and the sea merge beautifully at Ballyliffin, in County Donegal, Ireland’s most northerly golf club. Located at the remote Atlantic edge of the Inishowen Peninsula, Ballyliffin hosts two beautiful links courses spread over 365 acres of picturesque dune land. There’s the Old Links course and the newer Glashedy Links that winds through towering natural sand dunes, most set back a little from the coast. Many of the holes are simply spectacular: The green at the first is perched between two large sandhills, while the seventh tee is located atop an enormous sandhill.
BEST FOR TOURNAMENT GOLF
4. Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale
David Cannon
Lancashire’s ‘Golf Coast’ is a proud quartet of lovely golf courses located between Liverpool and Blackpool, on England’s northwest coast. There’s Formby, Hillside, Royal Lytham & St Annes, and one of the finest golf links in England: Southport’s Royal Birkdale. A testing course, especially when the wind is blowing – it’s no surprise then that it has hosted many major golf tournaments including two Ryder Cups and no less than nine Open Championships. There’s a treasure trove of stunning nature spots just a short drive away, including Rivington Pike, Pendle Hill and the Forest of Bowland.
BEST FOR SEA VIEWS
5. Royal Porthcawl
Royal Porthcawl
Image: Visit Wales
Royal Porthcawl in Rest Bay has come a long way since its origins in1891 when a further nine holes were added closer to the coast after members shared the original course with cattle. It’s now the highest-ranked course in Wales and enjoys sea views on every hole, and many spectacular vistas across the Bristol Channel to the distant hills of Somerset and the North Devon coast.The 2025 Women's Open Golf Championship will be played here, the first time the event has ever been staged in Wales. Rest Bay opens out to a rocky shoreline where oystercatchers and other wading birds can be seen working their way along the coastline.
BEST FOR ADVENTURE
6. The Machrie
The Machrie
Set on Islay, the southernmost of the Inner Hebrides, the wondrous Machrie Links in Laggan Bay is a destination course that’s an adventure in itself to get to. The Machrie is a glorious island rolling links course nestled alongside seven miles of pristine beach, with 18 holes that weave in and out of the dunes. The new, refurbished course reopened in 2017 after being restored to its former glory. Now the combination of the finest contemporary golf course redesign in the UK with a fully upgraded hotel makes The Machrie a must-play destination. Islay is also worldfamous for its production of single malt whisky – you have nine distilleries to choose from!
BEST FOR HERITAGE
7. St Andrews
St Andrews
Image:VisitScotland/Kenny Lam
Where it all began: No other course has hosted more British Open Championships than the Old Course at St Andrews, the spiritual home of golf and the game’s undisputed mecca. The world’s most famous links course, home to the Swilken Bridge, a small stone bridge 30 feet long, eight feet wide and six feet tall, in the style of a simple Roman arch, is brimming with history; golf was played here in Fife as far back as the 12th century. It’s also where the women’s game teed-off, with the world’s first ladies golf club founded here in 1867. There’s a handicap requirement to play the course and they still uphold the tradition of a ballot (lottery) drawn two days ahead of play as a way of enabling golfers who are in the area to still have the opportunity to play the Old Course during their visit. St Andrews enjoys a unique setting, with the course forming part of the town and the beach used in Chariots of Fire stretching into the distance.
BEST FOR GOLFERS UP FOR A CHALLENGE
8. Carnoustie
Carnoustie
Image: VisitScotland
One of the world’s oldest golf clubs, the Championship links course at Carnoustie, is considered one of the world’s most difficult. Here golfers not only have themselves to compete against 8 and unforgiving North Sea winds. Many golfers say the course boasts Open golf’s most thrilling finishes, with one of the greatest back nines in championship golf. There’s a foursome sting in the tail - a 444yard par four final hole, renowned as the one of the greatest challenges in golf.
BEST FOR EXCLUSIVITY
9. Ardfin
For some time it was thought the spectacular cliff top course of Ardfin would remain the private golf course of its retired hedge fund multimillionaire owner. But golfers worldwide rejoiced last year when it was announced that the course on the Isle of Jura, off the west coast of Scotland, would open to the public. Having just opened Jura House, Scotland's most exciting new hotel, and shipped in 1,000 tonnes of sand from the Isle of Man for top dressing the fairways, there's never been a better time to visit this reimagined exclusive club.Ardfin has yet to appear in the world golf rankings because so few people have played there. The eleventh hole, that descends the cliff top to the shoreline, passes the small old stone boathouse where the Scottish band, The KLF, famously burnt £1 million in 1994. Also on Jura is the four-bedroom Barnhill cottage, where George Orwell completed his seminal novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
BEST FOR HISTORY
10. Royal Portrush
Royal Portrush Golf Club
Image: Chris Hill
The beautiful Dunluce links course at Royal Portrush Golf Club is named after the ruined 13th century Dunluce castle that overlooks the course. You might recognise the castle from the screen, as it featured as the exterior of Pyke Castle of House Greyjoy in the Game of Thrones TV series. It was at Royal Portrush that Ireland’s first professional golf tournament was held in 1895. The 14th hole - an exciting and short 210-yard par three - is played uphill over a deep ravine. Afterwards, sample two of Country Antrim’s other finest offerings: a whiskey tasting at the nearby Bushmills distillery, the world’s oldest, and not far away, the Giant’s Causeway, 40,000 interlocking basalt columns on the Antrim coast.
Find out more
Dream Escape realise that time is a precious commodity, especially when it comes to planning inspirational golf experiences. Our trips afford you peace of mind by taking care of all your golfing arrangements from start to finish with access to a wide range of private and Championship golf courses as well as the lesser known links and private courses that will take you off the beaten track. Our planners will identify the most suitable properties, seeking out the best golf courses for the varying abilities and individual requirements of your clients, as well as wonderful experiences for the non-golfers.
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Get in touch with Lesley for expert advice on your next golf trip⬩lesley@dreamescape.co.uk
Words|Max Wooldridge
