The "Emerald Isle" is as enchanting of an island for a golf vacation as there is, home to scores of dramatic links on its rugged coastlines. Tours to Ireland couple links golf with unmistakable Irish hospitality, from guest houses to bed-and-breakfasts and luxury hotels. Natural wonders abound too, like the Giant's Causeway, Cliffs of Moor and Ring of Kerry. In Ireland, you're always around the corner from spectacular scenery.
The 27-hole Portmarnock Golf Club is the most revered links playground in Dublin. Ranked 30th in the world by Golf Digest, Portmarnock dates to 1894 and has hosted 13 Irish Opens in the modern era of the European Tour. The 7,466-yard championship course won't wow visitors with its views or heavy dune cover. It just pummels them with strong holes and length.
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Castlerock Golf Club, situated on the banks of the River Bann about five miles west of Coleraine in Northern Ireland, is a majestic links right up there with Royal County Down Golf Club and Royal Portrush. It may be a cliche, but Castlerock truly is a "hidden gem," Clive Agran writes.
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Carton House, a magnificent cut-stone Georgian mansion home to 165 rooms and suites, transformed into a hotel in 2006. The two courses at Carton House Golf Club, the O'Meara Course and the Montgomerie Course, provide a stark contrast to one another. Jason Scott Deegan shows us in this photo gallery.
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Within a 30-minute radius of Dublin, there is a tremendous variety of golf courses, from rugged links to posh parkland playgrounds. Jason Scott Deegan takes you on a photo tour of the area, from Royal Dublin and Portmarnock, to The Island Golf Club and County Louth, to The K Club, Carton House and Druids Glen Resort.
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The O'Meara Course at Carton House Golf Club in County Kildare, Ireland, has its own version of Augusta National's "Amen Corner." Like an engine on a cold morning, O'Meara sputters a bit to start, but the course roars to life on the back nine. Located on the Rye River-enhanced nos. 14-16, the course's Amen Corner is as good a three-hole stretch of parkland golf as Ireland offers.
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The Palmer Ryder Cup Course at the K Club, located 30 minutes outside Dublin, will always be a historic parkland playground for golfers. The 2006 Ryder Cup venue is stocked with water on 14 holes, but it's well worth losing golf balls to play a real Ryder Cup course. Jason Scott Deegan shows us more in this photo gallery.
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The Old Course at Lahinch Golf Club, located on the southwest coast of Ireland, has undergone a number of improvements and alterations over the years. Old Tom Morris and Alister MacKenzie are among the famous course designers who have put their touch on the Old Course at Lahinch, which is especially treacherous when the wind blows, Clive Agran writes.
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Greg Norman, who designed the course at Doonbeg Golf Resort, saw the enormous potential of the rugged and diverse landscape on this area of Ireland's Atlantic coast. The Shark is known for creating golf courses that blend seamlessly into their surroundings - and the ideal terrain here practically made the course itself.
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It's not easy to get to the Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort, located along the northern coast of Ireland. It takes more than four hours from Dublin Airport and even longer from the Shannon Airport in southwest Ireland. But those who make the journey discover 45 holes of links golf bliss, Jason Deegan writes.
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Greg Norman let the land lead when he designed Doonbeg Golf Club, which runs along a 1.5-mile crescent beach and through swales defined by marram-grass dunes. "If I spent the rest of my life building courses, I don't think I'd find a comparable site anywhere," Norman said, "it's spectacular, land made by God." Katharine Dyson has more from County Clare in Ireland.
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