The trek across the pond to Ireland — just saying those words invokes an emotion inside your golf brain that you cannot turn off. It’s one of the treasured trips that every golfer yearns to take, and rightfully so.
From the second you land in Ireland, you begin to understand how much golf is woven into the fabric of what it means to be an Irishman.
If you’re anything like this scribe, you undoubtedly have a few names in the back of your head as you start planning your Irish golf adventure. There are so many special tracks in the whole of Ireland including Royal Portrush, Royal County Down, Ballybunion, Tralee, Old Head, Waterville, Adare Manor, and countless others.
But on this recent trip, I had the pleasure of playing Enniscrone Golf Club (Dunes and Scurmore) as part of a week of golf.
Here’s a look at how the day went:
An unexpected pleasure
If I’m being perfectly honest, I was not as pumped to make it to Enniscrone as I was to some of the other courses that I had heard so much about that were a part of our itinerary.
But, man, was I glad I was wrong about that.
Located in Western Ireland, often referred to as the Southern part of Northwest Ireland by tour operators in the region, this seaside gem is a bit off the beaten path for golf groups to make it to but trust us, it’s worth the extra time to get here.
When you pull up to the property, it reveals itself to you as you come around the bend of the main road and immediately you can see that you’re in for a special round of golf. From the road you can see the massive fescue-covered dunes that you will encounter throughout the round and a combination of excitement and terror hit you all at once. Located along the Atlantic Ocean, prepare yourself to be greeted by a “good wind” as the locals will say during your round. In the states, that may be around 10 miles per hour. In Ireland, a “good wind” is defined as a steady 25 mile per hour wind with gusts up to 30 or 40 miles per hour. Pro tip: consider dialing down your driver loft and learn how to hit a stinger long iron shot before you come over or it’s going to make for a long round of golf.
As you strike your opening tee shot with the modest and unassuming clubhouse along the right side of the hole, you may think you’re in for an easy par to start off your round. That is far from the case as once you turn the corner on this dogleg right par-4 you see a green immediately surrounded by the first of many of the natural sand dunes that can have you hitting a provisional faster than you can say slainte’ (that’s “cheers” in case you didn’t know).
From there on, it’s game on. You’ll wind your way throughout the dunes ultimately ending with holes adjacent to the ocean that will leave you breathless. As much as we would happily describe each hole to you, we feel the video is worth 10,000 words on this one so feel free to enjoy the drone footage of all 18 holes we captured during our recent visit.
Recommendation
If there’s one thing we learned from our recent outing to Ireland, it is without a doubt that you should take advantage of the local knowledge and expertise of the golf tour operators in this area. Unlike the United States where the resorts typically handle most of the bookings internally, golf courses and hotels in Ireland have embraced the golf tour operator system and golfers are better off for it. Their teams have relationships with all these brands as well as a host of transportation options including large vans, buses, or even a helicopter ride if you’re so inclined.
There are several brands that you can work with on this, and regardless of who you choose we cannot stress strongly enough that you utilize their services.
One partner we know we can suggest that provides exceptional customer service with an abundance of local knowledge is Lyons Links. They will work with you and your team to maximize your experience based on your budget, and they will make recommendations like Enniscrone that you may not have had in mind when you started this journey, but by the end it very likely could be your favorite course of the trip as it provides one of if not the most authentic links golf experiences you can have in the whole of Ireland.
Be sure to mention GolfStayAndPlays.com if you decide to book your package with the gents at LyonsLinks.com, and if you do, we will pay for a portion of your trip depending on the size of the group.