Planning a golf trip to Ireland after reading Tom Coyne's " A Course Called Ireland" any advice on time to go, courses accomodations, travel etc would be appreciated?<SPAN style="WIDTH: 20px; HEIGHT: 20px; CURSOR: hand" class=afEmot onclick="insertEmoticon('<img src=\'/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/mbgt/emoticons/sick.gif\' />')" unselectable="on"><IMG title=<img src='/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/mbgt/emoticons/sick.gif' align="absmiddle" border="0" /> onmousedown="return false;" src="/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/mbgt/emoticons/sick.gif" width=20 height=20></SPAN>

Tree man shoot me an e-mail I was there 2 years ago and spent 10 days playing and drinking a tad. Make a list you want answered.......

jcr4par@aol.com

Thanks just sent the email.

I went for two weeks in June and also did a trip in 2000. Coyne's book has a lot of valuable advice, especially about packing and the amount of gear to take. I also found most of his course recommendations to be very good although clearly there's plenty of room for disagreement regarding the specifics about a course. I've done five trips to Ireland and Scotland the past 12 years, and I've found that the May/June timeframe works really well: the weather's generally pretty good, the days are getting longer, and you avoid the busier tourist months of July and August. I've heard April and September can be good but the weather's a bit more uncertain.

By the way, don't overlook Northern Ireland. I spent a couple of days in Portrush, playing at the two courses at Royal Portrush (one which held the British Open back in the 1950s and is a great course; the other shorter and easier but still a fine course on its own) and one of the courses at Portstewart. There is another course nearby at Castlerock that I heard good things about too so you could spend three or four days there and play some good golf. I also enjoyed Ballybunion, County Sligo, Dooks, County Louth, and Rosslare. I stopped in Newcastle but didn't play Royal County Down. Coyne's evaluation of RCD runs lower than most (and he explains that a combination of bad weather the day he played with an associated lack of guidance because of an absence of caddies on a course with a lot of blind shots may have contributed to his opinion), and I've heard that many consider this to be the finest course in Northern Ireland/Ireland. On my 2000 trip, I played at Waterville, Lahinch, Tralee, Carne, Royal Dublin, and Old Head and enjoyed them all. I tend to take an approach of mixing in well-known courses with whatever links courses I might encounter during my drive, whether famous or not.

Ireland's economy has taken a real hit in the last couple of years so there are some goods deals going on now. Accommodations are generally pretty inexpensive (I got a one-bedroom suite on the main river running through Sligo for 69 euro per night) and some of the golf courses with multiple courses are offering combo deals (you can play both courses at Ballybunion for the regular cost of playing the Old, which is 180 euro, and you don't have to play both courses on the same day). The exchange rates between the dollar and the euro (used in Ireland) and the dollar and the pound (used in Northern Ireland) are also really good right now. On my last trip to Scotland in 2008, the dollar/pound ratio was nearly 2-to-1; when I was in Northern Ireland in June, it was more like 1.5-to-1. Of course, there are no guarantees for any trip scheduled for next year, but it appears the world economy is going to continue to remain soft for awhile.

If you try to cover a lot of the country and intend on taking a car, keep in mind that the road system is frequently mediocre. There are some interstate-type roads, which they call dual carriage motorways, but most of those are concentrated in and around Dublin and in Northern Ireland. Their equivalent to US highways, generally designated with an "N" prefix, are generally twisting, winding, two-lane roads that sometimes degenerate to the level of a very poor rural road in this country. For most of the country, plan on an average of about 35 miles per hour when estimating driving times, and you'll be pretty close to accurate.

I loved the trip. Good luck and enjoy!

Apologies for the delay in replying to your post, Heading back to MB in October for our 9th trip after giving it a miss last year. I live in the west of Ireland and I agree with the previous post the best time to visit is May/June. There are no gurantees of the weather in this country and definitely bring rain gear. If you want links golf then this is the place to go and you can get value. Take Lahinch, they introduced an open day every Thursday, green fee €60 which is half what the rate was two years ago. There are great courses up the west coast , Carne, Enniscrone and Ballyliffin which offer great value. The problem is you have to drive and hour between courses. Enjoy your trip and the one thing you are guranteed to get is a great welcome.

I'm planning a trip for next summer. Can you tell me why May/June are considered the best months to go? Is it because July and August are busier? I researched the weather and July (on average) appeared to be both the warmest and driest month.

Yes. It's a combination of decent weather, long days, and significantly fewer tourists. Most vacations taken by Europeans apparently occur during July and August. Although July may be the driest and warmest month, I'll guarantee you the variable Irish weather will still bring enough cool, rainy days that you can't avoid bringing rain gear and at least one sweater with you. The last night I was in Ireland the last two weeks of June this summer, I read an article in the Dublin paper that said it had been the warmest June in Ireland in 40 years--and the temperature never exceeded 75 the entire two weeks I was there (and probably did not exceed 65 when I was in Portrush). Nevertheless, don't assume the weather in Ireland is an exact copy of Scotland where I found that I could wear long-sleeved shirts and sweaters most of the time. I found myself wearing short-sleeved shirts on several occasions during this trip--with rain gear and a sweater stashed in the bag just in case the weather suddenly turned!

Vols4nc .. do you a booking firm in mind or doing it on you're own?

I've done a fair amount of interneting and have pretty much decided to use these folks to book it.

http://www.swinggolfireland.com/

you will love it over there. I used Irishprogolftours and they where great..........

again did September and it was very nice remember it rains almost everyday Get Caddies they are worth it and go to the caddy master before you check in and tip him to get the good caddies........

Thanks for all the input. Can't wait to book the trip.

If doing the Southwest Ireland- best town to stay in if we would be driving out from there each day-also your picks for the top 5 value courses in that area.

Stay in Killarney they have over 60 pubs in the town and be ready to drink. There are also 4 nice hotel / clubs also. The following courses are within 1 hour drive
If you are driving allow extra time to drive as the towns you travel thru are great and good places to stop on the way back for a beer and than head to the next town for a beer.

Ole head Kinsale
Waterville
Tralee
also 3 courses in Kilarney they are all parkland style but easy and pretty courses a good warm up round. Killarney Kileen. ( Home of the Irish Open)
also 1.15 away is Bally Bunion old and new

hope this helps. but they are also a few hidden gems in the southwest do a little research and read blogs I can't recall them.

Thanks exactly the info I wanted to hear.

That link didn't work for me.

Is there any way to get a discount rate at Old Head- it's listed at 200 Euros-?

We continue to develop our plans , now looking at May/June as per your advice. Flying into Shannon and heading to Killarney- can play the 3 courses there for 150 Euros or about US $200, then adding Old Head or Ballybunion 2x 180 euro, anyway to get on Old Head at a discount rate. Found a house in Killarney for 870 US for the weeks. OIf you think of anything else let me know, treon@comcast.net

We continue to develop our plans , now looking at May/June as per your advice. Flying into Shannon and heading to Killarney- can play the 3 courses there for 150 Euros or about US $200, then adding Old Head or Ballybunion 2x 180 euro, anyway to get on Old Head at a discount rate. Found a house in Killarney for 870 US for the weeks. OIf you think of anything else let me know, treon@comcast.net

About as likely to get a discount at Old Head as you are at Pebble Beach. Not impossible because when I played Pebble a year ago my three playing partners were all members of the Northern California Golf Association and got a 50% discount. That did me no good since I'm not a resident of California. Nevertheless, you might be able to find something similar to one of these websites that offer discounts (neither will help you with Old Head unfortunately): www.openfairways.com or www.countysligogolfclub.ie/Visitors/Sligo-Links-Golf-Pass.aspx.

I played there in 2000 not long after the course opened. While there, two big helicopters flew in a group of golfers who I later learned were headed by Wayne Huzienga, the then-owner of the Miami Dolphins (that explained the large Dolphin decal on one of the helicopters). I learned then, if the nearly $300 greens fee hadn't yet convinced me, that Old Head aims for the high rollers. On an average day, you are probably likely to find less native Irish playing that course than any other course in the country. There are deals to be had in Irish golf right now (Ballybunion now charges 180 euros for both courses where a couple of years ago, it was 180 for Ballybunion Old, and Lahinch has offered significant cuts in its greens fees twice in the last year), but I suspect none to be had for Old Head.

I/m finding what you said to be true- Old Head Discounts are rarer than double eagles on a 600 yeard par 5, Ballybunion is doing 2 x 180 euros and Tralee offered 2 plays for 180 euros. Thanks for your input.