As rated by Backspin Magazine’s 2010 Voting Panel — comprised of 54 Irish professionals, amateurs, and golf media — here are the top-ranked golf courses in Ireland for 2010.
Fellow golf travelers, as a complement to Golf Adventure Guides I am creating a new business called GolfTripGurus.com so we can all share our wisdom and knowledge with fellow golf travelers — and in return, benefit from the wisdom and experience of others.
If you are interested in helping improve your golf travel experience and that of others, please visit GolfTripGurus.com and enter your email address so I can be sure to notify you when the site is launched. There is also a spot to indicate if you are willing to be part of a usability and feature-prioritization process by reviewing prototypes of the website with me.
The details for every golf course and accommodation — and everything else in the guides! — are carefully scrutinized and updated for each edition. Here’s an example from the Scotland Golf Adventure Guide.
All new purchases (immediate download and printed) will receive the updated versions effective immediately. Customers who have purchased a previous PDF version of the guide can download a free update to this latest version. This is just one of the many advantages of purchasing one of my guides.
Updated information includes, but is not limited to:
New accommodations and courses
Green fees and accommodation rates/tariffs for 2010
Golf course contact info (email, web sites, etc.)
Accommodation contact info (email, web sites, etc.)
Flight schedules and airlines
Reduced rates for 2010. You’ll be happy to know that many golf courses — especially those in Ireland — have reduced their green fees for 2010. This is the first time I’ve seen this in many, many years. Same with hotel rates. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case in Scotland where most courses continue their 5-10% year green fees increase despite the gloomy economic environment.
If you buy a travel guide book that was printed sometime last year, or you already own one, I can guarantee that a good portion of the information in it is out of date and/or incorrect. By publishing my guides electronically, I can easily deliver you the latest — and most correct — information. And, even after you’ve made a purchase, because you get free updates you’ll always have access to accurate information when you plan your next trip.
Here’s a beautifully-produced video of Machrihanish Dunes, now open for play. In addition to breathtaking footage of the linksland, the course architect David McLay Kidd discusses his role in creating this gem.
Machrihanish Dunes are offering a special introductory stay & play package through December 20th 2009 with unlimited golf and two nights luxury accommodations starting as low as £79 per person.
Baltray is one of my favorite courses in the east of Ireland. This is a great chance to see the course and decide if you want to add it to your next Ireland Golf Adventure.
New from Tom Coyne, A Course Called Ireland is the story of a walking- averse golfer who treks his way around an entire country, spending sixteen weeks playing every seaside hole in Ireland and often battling through all four seasons in one Irish afternoon.
In his thirties, married, and staring down impending fatherhood, Tom Coyne was well familiar with the last refuge of the adult male: the golfing trip. Intent on designing a golf trip to end all others, Coyne looked to Ireland, the place where his father had taught him to love the game years before. As he studied a map of the island and plotted his itinerary, it dawned on Coyne that Ireland was ringed with golf holes. The country began to look like one giant round of golf, so Coyne packed up his clubs and set off to play all of it. And since Irish golfers didn’t take golf carts, neither would he. He would walk the entire way.
Coyne plays everything from the top-ranked links in the world to nine-hole courses crowded with livestock. Along the way, he searches out his family’s roots, discovers that a once-poor country has been transformed by an economic boom, and finds that the only thing tougher to escape than Irish sand traps are Irish pubs. By turns hilarious and poetic, A Course Called Ireland is a magnificent tour of a vibrant land and a paean to the world’s greatest game.Â
About the Author Tom Coyne has written for Golf Magazine and Golfweek magazine. He is the author of Paper Tiger and the novel A Gentleman’s Game, which was adapted into a movie starring Gary Sinise.
The above book description is courtesy of Amazon.com.
If you’re thinking it’s too expensive to plan a Scotland golf trip in 2009, think again. Here’s some good news from VisitScotland.com:
With the dollar growing in strength against the pound, US visitors will have more bang for their buck in Scotland. Compared to the 2007 exchange rate of $2 to £1, Scotland is now 25-30% cheaper for US tourists with an exchange rate of $1.40 to £1. Contributing to these extra savings is the recent reduction in VAT (similar to sales tax) from 17.5% to 15% so if you’re planning a trip now is the time to come to Scotland.
And by planning your own golf trip to Scotland (i.e. not paying a premium to a tour operator) you can save an additional 25-30%. What are you waiting for?!
The details for every golf course and accommodation — and everything else in the guides! — are carefully scrutinized and updated for each edition. Here’s an example from the Scotland Golf Adventure Guide.
All new purchases (immediate download and printed) will receive the updated versions effective immediately. Customers who have purchased a previous PDF version of the guide can download a free update to this latest version. This is just one of the many advantages of purchasing one of my guides.
Updated information includes, but is not limited to:
New courses
New accommodations
Green fees
Golf course contact info (email, web sites, etc.)
Accommodation contact info (email, web sites, etc.)
Flight schedules
If you buy a travel guide book that was printed sometime last year, or you already own one, I can guarantee that a good portion of the information in it is out of date and/or incorrect. By publishing my guides electronically, I can easily deliver you the latest — and most correct — information. And, even after you’ve made a purchase, because you get free updates you’ll always have access to accurate information when you plan your next trip.
Why would anyone publish and purchase any other way?
On a recent golf trip to Ireland and had the opportunity to again play one of my favorite courses in Ireland, Carne Golf Links (Belmullet). If you haven’t played Carne, I highly recommend it.
The November 2005 issue of Golf Magazine has an excellent article about Carne, and opens with this:
When you first see the links from the back of the clubhouse, Carne takes your breath away. An untamed furl of land sitting between the Atlantic Ocean and Blacksod Bay in northwest Ireland, Carne is a panorama of greens and browns, of wide open spaces suddenly braked by the shadows of marram-covered dunes. But as your eyes follow the slopes uphill, they’re suddenly jolted as the land crashes into frantic breakneck falls down cavernous valleys pocked with craters that look like scars left by exploded artillery shells.
Next time you’re in Ireland, take a break from usual suspects (Lahinch, Ballybunion, Tralee, etc.) and make your way up north to play courses like Carne, Enniscrone, Donegal, etc. You won’t regret it. The photo above was taken by me. If you’d like to see the beauty of Carne as visualized by a professional golf course photographer, check out Aidan Bradley’s photos of Carne for a real treat.
More details about Carne Golf Links and on the best way to plan a golf trip to Ireland can be found in the Ireland Golf Adventure Guide.
Ireland’s Top Courses
