Ireland · 7 days Groups from 4 Friends & family Club trips

Southwest Ireland Golf Trip

A seven-day golf trip in the south west of Ireland, playing Old Head, Waterville, Tralee, Ballybunion and Lahinch, with four nights in Killarney, two in Lahinch and a chauffeur for the whole week. It’s built for groups of four or more, on dates that suit you.

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Trip at a glance

Length: 7 days, 6 nights
Golf: 5 rounds: Old Head, Waterville, Tralee, Ballybunion (Old Course), Lahinch (Old Course)
Where you stay: Killarney Plaza, Killarney (4 nights) · Vaughan Lodge, Lahinch (2 nights)
Fly in and out: Shannon or Dublin
Getting around: Luxury vehicle with a dedicated chauffeur throughout
Group size: From 4 people
Walking only: Ballybunion Old Course and Lahinch Old Course
Caddies: At least one per group at Ballybunion and at Lahinch
Handicap limits: Ballybunion and Old Head: 24 men, 36 women · Tralee: 28 men, 36 women
When: Open dates, mid-April to early October
Planned by: Rory O'Riordan

Details checked October 2026 by Rory O'Riordan

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From the planner

Why we put this week together

As a proud Cork man, I’d naturally love to have you spending a few nights in my home county! But when it comes to playing five of the finest links courses in the southwest of Ireland, Killarney really is the perfect base.

One thing I’ve learned from travelling around this part of Ireland is that distances on a map can be deceiving. That’s why we’ve designed this trip to minimise time on the road and, more importantly, avoid having you constantly packing and unpacking your bags.

With four nights in Killarney, you can settle in, enjoy the town’s fantastic pubs and restaurants, and let your chauffeur take care of the driving.

From there, we work our way north through Ballybunion before finishing in Lahinch, another brilliant golfing town and the perfect place to round off the trip.

Rory O'Riordain
Senior Golf Operations Executive, Lyons Links

The five golf courses

The five golf courses on this trip run from the West Cork coast, up through Kerry, to Lahinch in County Clare.

Co. Cork

Old Head Golf Links

Old Head is a clifftop course on a headland that runs two miles out into the Atlantic. Golf Digest ranks it 72nd among the world’s greatest courses outside the US. Carts are available but limited, they stay on the cart paths, and they need to be booked in advance. The handicap limit is 24 for men and 36 for women, and the club expects a round to take no more than four and a half hours.

When you reach the 12th hole at Old Head, you'll understand exactly why it's nicknamed the 'Holy Sh*t Hole!' Close your eyes and hope for the best!
Rory's take

Co. Kerry

Waterville Golf Links

Waterville is a long links on the Ring of Kerry, laid out by Eddie Hackett, with later work by Tom Fazio. Irish Golfer ranks it seventh in Ireland, and Golf Digest ranks it 52nd in the world outside the US.

Waterville is long from the back tees, so pick the set of tees that suits your game and you'll enjoy it a lot more.
Rory's take

Co. Kerry

Tralee Golf Club

Tralee was Arnold Palmer’s first course design in Europe, laid out along the Kerry coast. Irish Golfer ranks it tenth in Ireland. The handicap limit is 28 for men and 36 for women. Caddies need to be requested in advance, because they aren’t guaranteed on the day.

What I love about Tralee is how different the front and back nines are. The front nine offers beautiful coastal golf, but the back nine is a completely different experience as you head into the enormous dunes.
Rory's take

Aerial view of the Old Course at Ballybunion Golf Club running along the beach, with Ballybunion town behind it.

Co. Kerry

Ballybunion Golf Club, Old Course

Ballybunion’s Old Course turns at the 6th and runs along the cliffs from there. It hosted the Irish Open in 2000, and Golf Digest ranks it 10th in the world outside the US. There are no buggies on the Old Course, and every group needs at least one caddie or forecaddie. The handicap limit is 24 for men and 36 for women, and you show your certificate to the starter. Visitors play on weekday mornings, from mid-April to early October.

From the 6th hole on, you’re playing along the cliffs, and the 11th is the hole we’d tell you to look forward to.
Rory's take

Co. Clare

Lahinch Golf Club, Old Course

Lahinch is Old Tom Morris’s course, later reshaped by Alister MacKenzie. Two holes on the front nine are blind: the 4th, Klondyke, and the par-3 5th, the Dell, where you aim at a white stone on the hill. Lahinch hosted the Irish Open in 2019 and the Walker Cup in September 2026, which Great Britain & Ireland won 13½–12½. It’s a walking course with no buggies for hire, and every group needs at least one caddie. The club books a caddie for every golfer unless it’s told otherwise in writing, so it’s worth deciding before you travel how many your group wants.

Keep an eye out for the famous Lahinch goats! They've been part of the club's history for generations and are said to be better weather forecasters than the local weatherman. If they're sheltering around the clubhouse, you might want to pack the rain gear! When the clubhouse barometer broke in the 1960s, the club secretary wrote "See Goats" on it, and it still hangs inside the front door.
Rory's take

The itinerary, day by day

Day 1: Arrive · Killarney

Welcome to Killarney

Your driver meets you at Shannon Airport, and it’s a little under two hours south to Killarney. You check in at the Killarney Plaza, in the middle of the town, which is home for the next four nights. There’s no golf today, so take the afternoon to find your feet and walk the town. In the evening, O’Connors has live music most nights and Courtney’s has trad sessions midweek in summer, and both are a short walk from the hotel.
Day 2: Golf · Killarney

Old Head Golf Links

Old Head is the longest drive of the week, about an hour and forty minutes each way from Killarney down into West Cork. The course is laid out on a headland that runs two miles out into the Atlantic, so you have the sea on three sides of you.

Your driver brings you back to Killarney for dinner, and with three more nights in the same hotel, nobody has to pack a bag.
Day 3: Golf · Killarney

Waterville Golf Links

Waterville is about an hour and ten minutes from Killarney, out on the Ring of Kerry. It’s a long links, and the run back along the Ring of Kerry afterwards is a drive worth slowing down for. You’re back in Killarney for the evening.
Day 4: Golf · Killarney

Tralee Golf Club

Tralee is on the coast north-west of Killarney, about a 30 minute drive. It was Arnold Palmer’s first course design in Europe, and the back nine heads into the big dunes.

It’s your last night in Killarney, so it’s a good one for the town’s pubs. If anyone in the group would rather have a walk, Killarney National Park and Muckross House are about seven minutes from the hotel.
Day 5: Golf · Lahinch

Ballybunion Old Course, then on to Lahinch

Today you head north through Kerry to Ballybunion, about an hour from Killarney, for a morning round on the Old Course. Visitors play it on weekday mornings, so this day always falls on a weekday.

After golf, your driver takes you onto the car ferry across the Shannon Estuary, from Kerry into Clare, and up the coast to Lahinch (1½ to 2 hours by car). You check in at Vaughan Lodge for the last two nights.
Day 6: Golf · Lahinch

Lahinch Old Course

Lahinch has been a golf town since the 1890s, and in the last few years it’s become a surf town too. Depending on your tee time, the Cliffs of Moher are about ten minutes from Vaughan Lodge, so you can see them before or after the round. At the club, keep an eye on the goats. When the clubhouse barometer broke in the 1960s, the club secretary wrote “See Goats” on it, and it still hangs inside the front door. If the goats are around the clubhouse, bad weather’s on the way, and if they’re out in the dunes, it’ll be a good day.

After the round, the Nineteenth Bar in Lahinch has live music seven nights a week in summer, and Vaughan’s Anchor Inn in Liscannor, five minutes away, is in the Michelin Guide.
Day 7: Depart · Shannon

Depart from Shannon

After a last breakfast in Lahinch, your driver takes you to Shannon Airport for your flight, about an hour’s drive. If you’re flying to the US, you clear US immigration at Shannon before you board, so you land at home as a domestic arrival.

Where you stay in Killarney and Lahinch

The marble lobby and staircase at the Killarney Plaza hotel in Killarney. — 4 nights

Killarney Plaza, Killarney

The Killarney Plaza is in the middle of Killarney, with a full spa and leisure club. The town’s pubs and restaurants are outside the door, and Killarney National Park and Muckross House are about seven minutes away. Spa treatments are extra.

A double bedroom at Vaughan Lodge in Lahinch. — 2 nights

Vaughan Lodge, Lahinch

Vaughan Lodge has two AA Rosettes for its restaurant, and a drying room and club storage for golfers. It’s open from around Easter to October, which covers the golf season.

Note: the restaurant opens Tuesday to Saturday, so on open dates a Sunday or Monday night in Lahinch has no dinner in the hotel

What’s included

6 nights at highly rated accommodation, with a full Irish or continental breakfast each morning
5 rounds: Old Head, Waterville, Tralee, Ballybunion (Old Course) and Lahinch (Old Course)
A luxury vehicle with a dedicated chauffeur throughout your trip
The Lyons Links Player Pack
All local taxes and charges
A Lyons Links representative on call for the whole trip

Not included: Flights, caddie and forecaddie fees and tips, lunches and dinners, travel insurance, and spa treatments.

Getting there and getting around

We bring you in and out through Shannon, which is a little under two hours from Killarney. Dublin is about four hours from Killarney by road, which adds about two hours each way. Both airports have US preclearance, so you clear US immigration before you fly home.

US and Canadian passport holders don’t need a travel authorisation in advance to visit Ireland. This trip stays in the Republic of Ireland, so the UK’s travel authorisation for Northern Ireland doesn’t apply. Everything is in euro.

The south west is spread out. Three of the five golf days have a drive of an hour or more each way, and your chauffeur does all of it, so nobody in the group is driving Irish roads after a round.

When to go

When to go to the south west

The golf season in the south west runs from the middle of April to early October, and this trip runs throughout it. Ballybunion’s Old Course takes visitors on weekday mornings across the same months.

June has the longest evenings, and on 14 June the sun sets in Killarney at 21:59. We’ve written about why we like June in Why we play the South West in June.

Questions groups ask about the south west

Every trip we run can be changed to suit your group. If you’d like a different mix of courses in the south west, or an extra day, tell us what you have in mind.

How does a golf group trip work if I’m the one organising it?

The trip is built for groups from four people, and the tee times are booked in four-balls, so a group of eight plays as two fours. You tell Cian your dates and numbers, and we arrange the tee times, rooms and transport for the whole group. During the trip, a Lyons Links representative is on call for everyone, so you’re not the one fielding every question. Everyone can pay separately, using our booking system on WeTravel, so no hassle for organisers figuring out fund transfers.

Can we take a cart at Ballybunion and Lahinch?

No. Ballybunion doesn’t allow buggies on the Old Course, and Lahinch doesn’t hire them out, so both are walking rounds. Old Head has a limited number of carts, which stay on the cart paths and need to be booked in advance.

Do we need caddies?

At Ballybunion and Lahinch, yes. Ballybunion insists every group takes at least one caddie or forecaddie, and Lahinch requires at least one caddie in each group and books one for every golfer unless it’s told otherwise in writing. At Old Head and Tralee, caddies are optional and should be requested in advance.

Is there a handicap limit?

Yes, at three of the five courses. Ballybunion and Old Head set a limit of 24 for men and 36 for women, and Tralee 28 for men and 36 for women. Ballybunion asks you to show your handicap certificate to the starter.

Can we play Ballybunion at the weekend?

Not as visitors. The Old Course is for members at weekends, and visitors play on weekday mornings from mid-April to early October, so Ballybunion is always on a weekday.

How long are the drives?

Three of the five golf days have a drive of an hour or more each way from Killarney: about an hour to Ballybunion, an hour and ten minutes to Waterville, and an hour and forty minutes to Old Head. Your chauffeur does all of the driving.

Should we fly into Shannon or Dublin?

Shannon, if you can. It’s a little under two hours from Killarney, compared with about four from Dublin, and both airports have US preclearance for the flight home.

What’s the best time of year for a southwest Ireland golf trip?

The trip runs through the golf season, from mid-April to early October. If long evenings matter to your group, June has the most daylight.

Do we need any travel paperwork for Ireland?

Not if you hold a US or Canadian passport. Ireland doesn’t require a travel authorisation in advance, and because this trip stays in the Republic of Ireland, the UK’s travel authorisation for Northern Ireland doesn’t apply.

Does this trip work if someone in our group doesn’t play?

Yes. The Killarney Plaza has a full spa and leisure club, Killarney National Park and Muckross House are about seven minutes from the hotel, and the Cliffs of Moher are about ten minutes from Vaughan Lodge.

What our clients say

A group of 11 golfers from Singapore came on a 7 day 6 games golf trip from Dublin to Killarney and Kinsale, expertly put together by Colm and Cian. The sequencing and the tee times secured was excellent as were the arrangements made for dinner throughout. A great trip and my thanks to all at Lyons for the planning

Jeffrey · Google review, 2024

St Andrews Authorised Provider
Official 2027 Ryder Cup Tour Operator
Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice · 7 years

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Southwest Ireland Golf Trip

Trip at a glance

Why we put this week together