Ballybunion Golf Club (Old Course)

Ballybunion Old is one of the great names in links golf. Set along the Atlantic coast in County Kerry, the course moves through towering dunes, natural valleys, firm fairways, sea air, and rugged coastal land that feels made for the game.

Founded in 1893, Ballybunion’s Old Course is historic, dramatic, and unmistakably Irish. Originally shaped by Captain Lionel Hewson and later refined by Tom Simpson, the course has become one of the most admired links in the world, celebrated for its natural character, strategic variety, and unforgettable setting.

What makes Ballybunion special is the way the course reveals itself. It does not feel manufactured or overly polished. It feels discovered. The holes rise, fall, turn, and tumble through the dunes, asking golfers to manage wind, uneven lies, bold lines, blind approaches, and the ground game that defines true links golf.

Ballybunion is demanding, but never ordinary. It rewards imagination as much as precision and leaves players with the sense that they have experienced something older, wilder, and more elemental than a typical round of golf.

Playing Ballybunion Old is one of the essential experiences in Irish golf. It is the kind of course golfers travel across the Atlantic to see for themselves, and the kind of round that stays in the story long after the trip is over.