Ardglass Golf Club

The whole of Ireland is to your right.

Ardglass is a fishing village on the County Down coast south of Strangford Lough, and its golf club sits on the rocks right beside the harbour. The clubhouse is the reason many people come first: a fortified warehouse begun no later than 1405, which the club calls the oldest golf clubhouse in the world. The course is the reason they come back. The club says the Irish Sea can be seen from all 18 tees and greens and comes into play on at least eight holes; on the opening hole it runs the full length of the right side. Visitors book online most days, with weekend mornings kept for members.

Ardglass Golf Club green fees and tee times.

Visitor tee times are booked on the club’s BRS visitor booking page, and the club says its best-value rates are only available online. Members have the course to themselves until 2pm on Saturdays and until 11.30am on Sundays; outside those times visitor slots are normally open and show on the booking system. Golfers who are playing members of a Golf Ireland club have their own rate, but those times are not on the BRS page, so book them through the pro shop on +44 28 4484 1022, and bring photo ID. The club publishes no handicap limit on its fee page. Caddies, buggies and hire clubs are booked through the professional at least seven days ahead, and the club asks you to reconfirm a week before you play. Email golf@ardglassgolfclub.com for groups and rack-rate questions.

The round, in perspective.

The Rev Thomas MacAfee started the club in 1896 with seven holes, under 1,000 yards, on the ground now used by the 1st and 18th. It became a nine-hole links in 1907, grew to 18 in the late 1960s, and was later remodelled after the club bought land around Coney Island Bay. The club describes it as dramatic drives, small greens and narrow fairways. The 1st, Lamb’s Lough, is a 332-yard par four with the sea all along the right; the club’s own tip is that the whole of Ireland is to your right. The 2nd, Howd’s Hole, is a 168-yard par three; the club says that, depending on the wind, it can be played with 13 of your 14 clubs. The 11th, St John’s, is a 483-yard par five rated stroke index 3, with Coney Island Bay waiting on the right. The 12th, Cathlin, is a par three of 195 yards from the white tees, played with St John’s Point lighthouse and the Mournes in the view behind. The 18th, Cowd’s Castle, is a short par four that can be driven downwind.

Know before you go.

Weekend member times

Members only until 2pm Saturday and 11.30am Sunday

Shoes

Soft-spiked or spikeless only, including on the putting green

Shorts

Tailored only; no sports shorts anywhere

Buggy

£50 for a two-seater (2026), booked 7 days ahead

Golf shoes indoors

Locker rooms, front hall and pro shop only

Make the trip work.

Play the course in daylight that lets you see across to the Mournes: the views from the 12th are part of the point. The high-season day ticket, £400 online in 2027, lets a group go round twice, which suits anyone driving down from Belfast for the day. Food is in Restaurant 1405 in the clubhouse, and the club recommends smart casual dress there; smart jeans and trainers are fine. Golf shoes are allowed only in the locker rooms, front hall and pro shop, not the upstairs MacAfee Suite. Hire clubs cost £60 in 2026 and come with six logo balls, and electric trolleys £20.

Ardglass is roughly 35 miles south-east of Belfast, around an hour by car through Downpatrick, which is about seven miles inland. George Best Belfast City Airport is the easiest arrival; Belfast International and Dublin are both longer drives. There is no railway to the village, so plan on a hire car or a booked transfer. The clubhouse address is Castle Place, Ardglass, BT30 7TP.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Royal County Down Golf Club (19 km) · 2. Royal Belfast Golf Club (46 km) · Compare all Northern Ireland tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

Ardglass itself is small, with a marina and a few guest houses and self-catering cottages, so many golfers stay in Downpatrick or in Newcastle, about 20 miles away under the Mournes. Newcastle puts you beside Royal County Down and has the Slieve Donard hotel and a seafront run of guest houses. Strangford, a short drive north-east, is a quieter base with a ferry across the lough to Portaferry.

Make a trip of it.

Royal County Down at Newcastle is the obvious partner, and it is around half an hour away by road. Downpatrick Golf Club is closer still, and Belfast’s parkland clubs are an hour north. Off the course, Ardglass has more surviving medieval tower houses than most Irish towns of its size; Jordan’s Castle sits in the village. Down Cathedral in Downpatrick holds the traditional grave of St Patrick, and the Saint Patrick Centre beside it tells the story.

Find your season.

The club’s high season runs from 1 May to 31 October, with April as a shoulder month and November, February and March at the low rate. With the sea visible from every tee and green, the exposed holes take whatever wind is coming off the Irish Sea, and the club warns that the 12th turns daunting in anything more than a light breeze.