Ballybunion Golf Club Key Information
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Address | Sandhill Road, Ballybunion, County Kerry, Ireland |
Phone | 00353 (0) 68 27146 |
Website | |
Visitor Times | Mon-Fri, mid-April to early October |
Par | Men 71, Women 74 |
Slope | White/M 131, Red/W 128 |
Opened | 1893 |
Architect | James McKenna |
Ballybunion Golf Club - Old Course
Golf Monthly Verdict
Once you work your way out to the shoreline, Ballybunion Old is blessed with some of the most dramatic and scenic holes in Ireland. It enjoys a worldwide reputation that is well deserved, and once you are in the dunes and along the coast, you may well not want to leave. There are so many exciting holes that you are more than likely to want to go back and play them again.
Reasons To Play Ballybunion
– Experience one of Ireland’s greatest and most dramatic links
– Follow in the footsteps of the great Tom Watson
– Play the Cashen Course too, the dunes are even more dramatic
Rankings
UK & Ireland Top 100 Golf Courses 2025/26 - 19
Founded back in 1893, Ballybunion Golf Club has long held a worldwide reputation that draws in golfing pilgrims from near and far. Since way before the more contemporary additions of other Top 100 Golf Courses UK & Ireland favourites such as Tralee, Doonbeg and the greatly improved Adare Manor, it has attracted keen golfers to its more traditional but also very wild and exciting links. It is undoubtedly one of the very best golf courses in Ireland and one I have always greatly enjoyed.
Situated on Ireland’s rugged and beautiful Atlantic coast in County Kerry, the opening holes offer a reasonably gentle easing into the round. For me, things really take off from the 7th hole onwards, as from then just about all the way, you enjoy a thrilling and very scenic adventure through the dunes. Some of the holes cling precariously to the cliff-tops, while others duck and dive their way along and through the sandhills.
Several years ago, the club replaced all of its greens at the same time as improving all of the playing surfaces and paths.
Five-time Open champion Tom Watson - the club’s millennium captain who has also advised on a few changes over the years - has been a great fan since first visiting more than 40 years ago. Back then he described it as the best in the world, and that “after playing Ballybunion for the first time, a man would think that the game of golf originated here.”
I find picking one standout hole from a course with several to be very difficult. I think that many would go for the brilliant par-4 11th - named after the great man, Watsons. This fabulous hole slaloms its way along the shoreline via a series of shelves to a green that is guarded by such a narrow entrance and so many dips and hollows that no bunkering is needed. A par here feels not so much like a birdie as an eagle. The Old Course at Ballybunion, ably supported by the exciting Cashen Course, is one of many brilliant must-play courses along Ireland’s wild west coast.
The par-3 twelfth on the Old Course
What's new for 2025/26? What our panellists said...
Breathtaking golf in a breathtaking setting. It’s deserving of its worldwide reputation and provides a day of golf that you’ll be glad to have experienced. Big, bold and brawny - Ballybunion will blow you away, even if the wind there doesn’t!
Ballybunion is one of the best courses in the world and a stern test for any golfer. The experience, like most of Ireland, is a 5-hour test of patience, skill and luck over brutal terrain with the first six holes playing in a long line into a strong wind. Exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure.
Ballybunion Golf Club Location
Ballybunion Golf Club Old Course Scorecard
Best Courses Near To Ballybunion
Places To Stay Near Ballybunion
The 19th Golf Lodge - Book now at Booking.com
This luxurious, 4-star boutique lodge is located directly opposite the golf club. It offers hearty breakfasts and luxury rooms, and has hosted many famous golfing legends, such as Tom Watson and Ian Woosnam.
McMunns of Ballybunion - Book now at Booking.com
This hotel has a garden, a terrace, a restaurant and a bar all just down the road in Ballybunion. There are 8 bright spacious modern rooms, all of which have large high-pressure showers, 42 inch smart TVs, a super-king size bed and Nespresso coffee maker.
Ballybunion Golf Club Gallery
Historical Top 100 Rankings UK&I
- 2025/26 - 19
- 2023/24 - 23
- 2021/22 - 25
- 2019/20 - 22
- 2017/18 - 15
- 2015/16 - 16
- 2013/14 - 13
- 2011/12 - 09
- 2009/10 - 06
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Ballybunion ever hosted the Irish Open?
Just the once, back in 2000, when it was won by Swede, Patrik Sjöland.
Is the second course at Ballybunion worth playing?
Definitely! When The Cashen opened in the early 1980s, it was occasionally touted as being an equal to the Old. While this may be an exaggeration, it is blessed with even more magnificent dunes and a thrilling Trent Jones design.
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