Connemara Golf Links lies at the end of the Ballyconneely road, west of Clifden, where the land runs out into Mannin Bay and the Atlantic. It began as a parish project, not a developer’s plan, and it still feels like a place the community built. There are no big dunes here. Instead the holes move across low, open ground broken by rock outcrops, so the wind has nothing to stop it. Go for the remoteness, for Hackett’s light touch, and for a back nine that Tom Watson singled out.
Connemara Golf Links green fees and tee times.
Visitors book online through the club’s ClubNet visitor booking page, linked from the website, or contact the club through its Get in Touch page. The fees page lists a single rack rate for the championship course rather than weekday and weekend prices. Golfers who belong to a club in Ireland can get a reduced rate: enter your CDH number in the golf union field when booking online and select the new rate. No handicap certificate is asked for on the club’s pages. Buggies cost €50 for 18 holes and €25 for nine, and the pro shop sells carts. Societies have their own page on the site and should contact the club rather than book single tee times.
INDICATIVE GREEN FEE · CHECKED NOVEMBER 2026From €160
Championship course rack rate, 18 holes, November to March (2025/26 rates); €220 from April to October.
18 holes, November to March
€160
18 holes, April to October
€220
C9, nine holes (April to October)
€90
C9 with club hire
€120
Prices change by season and booking route, so confirm the current rate with the operator. Official rates ↗
The courses at Connemara Golf Links.
Championship course
The 18-hole layout is the reason to make the trip. It crosses flat, exposed ground on the edge of Derrygimlagh bog, and the club calls it a links even though there are no tall sandhills to frame the fairways. Rock outcrops and wind take their place. The 13th and the rock-guarded 15th are its best-known holes.
C9 nine-hole course
The third nine, opened in 2000, is sold separately as the C9 from April to October. It suits a late arrival, a warm-up the evening before the main round, or a golfer travelling without clubs, because the club offers a nine-hole rate with hire included. Caddies are not offered for nine-hole rounds.
The round, in perspective.
The idea came from Father Peter Waldron, posted to Clifden in 1968. A non-profit company chaired by the solicitor Brendan Allen raised the money through local shares, and land was pieced together from several families and a 110-acre commonage. Eddie Hackett, once a professional at Portmarnock, routed the holes around the granite rather than through it, with very little earth moved. The first fourball, Waldron and Hackett among them, went out on 7 June 1973. On the long par-four 15th the green sits behind two large outcrops, and six to eight feet of rock had to be cut away to raise it. A third nine was added in 2000, giving 27 holes. Golfbreaks describes the main routing as a par 72 of 6,666 yards from the member tees, with the 210-yard 13th, a par three to a raised green, as its best-known hole.
Know before you go.
Buggy hire
€50 (18 holes), €25 (9 holes)
Irish club members
Reduced rate with a CDH number
C9 season
April to October
Booking
Online via ClubNet
Make the trip work.
Clifden is the base for most visitors, about fifteen minutes away by road, and the clubhouse serves food all day if you want lunch between nines. Plan around the weather: with no dunes for cover, a westerly can add several clubs to the longer holes, so keep a spare morning in the itinerary. The club lists around ten Clifden and Oughterard taxi firms on its transport page, which helps a group that wants to drink in town afterwards.
Galway city is roughly an hour and a half east on the N59 through Oughterard. Shannon is the nearest international airport with transatlantic flights, about three hours away; Ireland West Knock is a similar drive to the north-east. Dublin is around four hours. There is no rail beyond Galway, so plan on a hire car or a booked transfer.
The club’s accommodation page lists a wide choice in and around Clifden. In town, the Alcock & Brown Hotel, Foyles Hotel and the Clifden Station House Hotel are all central, and Quay House overlooks the harbour. Abbeyglen Castle sits on the Sky Road just outside town. Closest to the course, the Connemara Sands Hotel is beside the beach at Mannin Bay. Ballynahinch Castle, on a 450-acre estate inland, suits a longer stay.
Make a trip of it.
Westport Golf Club is about an hour and a half north through Leenaun, and the two make a sensible west-of-Ireland pair. Carne at Belmullet is a longer drive into north Mayo. Off the course, the Derrygimlagh bog beside the links is where Alcock and Brown landed after the first non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919, and a looped walk now crosses it. Kylemore Abbey and Connemara National Park at Letterfrack are about forty minutes away.
Find your season.
The championship course is open all year and the winter rack rate is lower. The C9 runs only from April to October. Late spring and early autumn usually give the longest playable days with fewer touring coaches on the N59. Winter gales come straight off the Atlantic here, so a calm forecast is worth more than a fixed date.
Yes. It is a community-founded club open to visitors all year, and tee times are booked online through its ClubNet page. There is no published handicap limit. Groups have a separate societies page.
How much are green fees at Connemara?
The 2025/26 rack rate is €160 from November to March and €220 from April to October for the championship course. The C9 is €90, or €120 with clubs. Members of Irish clubs get a lower rate by entering a CDH number.
Who designed Connemara Golf Links?
Eddie Hackett, who also designed Waterville. He opened the course with Father Peter Waldron’s fourball on 7 June 1973 and kept earthmoving to a minimum, working around the rock outcrops. A third nine followed in 2000.
Last checked 11 November 2026. This is an independent planning guide, not a first-hand review or a booking service. Check live availability, access, fees and travel details with the operator before booking. Airport suggestions are starting points for route planning.
