Cork Golf Club

MacKenzie’s quarry on the River Lee.

Cork Golf Club sits on a small peninsula at Little Island, where the River Lee widens into Lough Mahon a few kilometres east of the city. Founded in 1888, it is one of Ireland’s older clubs, and its present course owes most to Alister MacKenzie, who went on to design Augusta National. What sets it apart is the ground: several holes are routed through an old limestone quarry, with greens perched on rock ledges, while others run along the harbour shore. It takes visitors every day of the week at a single published rate.

Cork Golf Club green fees and tee times.

Visitors book and pay online through the club’s BRS visitor booking page, linked from the website as Book A Tee Time. Full payment is taken at the time of booking for individual bookings. The visitor rate applies seven days a week. Golfers holding Golf Ireland membership pay a reduced rate, and societies of 20 or more have their own midweek and weekend prices; contact the office through the Corporate & Societies page for those. There are no refunds once you have paid, except when the club itself cancels play for weather, so it suggests travel insurance that covers green fees. The visitor page does not set a handicap limit. For anything else, call the office on +353 21 435 3451 or email info@corkgolfclub.ie.

The round, in perspective.

The club tried several sites before three members, sailing up the estuary in 1897, picked Little Island. The first four holes ran along the shore through limestone quarries that were still being worked, and filled craters gave the turf a fast-draining, almost links-like feel. Professional David Brown extended it to nine holes in 1901 and to 18 by 1911, after Harry Vardon approved the new land. MacKenzie’s plan, dated 1924 on the visitor page, added three new holes, new greens and sand bunkers on a budget capped at £600, and was finished in summer 1925. LINKS Magazine describes the routing moving from parkland to shoreline, through farmland and into the quarry, then back into woodland for the finish. The tee shot at the 15th crosses the 14th green and the 1st fairway. Alf Padgham won the 1932 Irish Open here.

Know before you go.

Visitor days

Seven days a week, subject to the BRS tee sheet

Payment

Full green fee at booking

Buggies

€50, limited number; request in advance

Trolleys

Electric €20, pull cart €5

Course dress

Tailored shorts to the knee; no cargo or three-quarter shorts; no denim

Clubhouse

Smart casual; no golf shoes upstairs; no shorts in the dining room

Make the trip work.

Book your buggy when you book the tee time, because the club has only a few and asks you to contact the office or pro shop for one. Electric trolleys cost €20 and pull carts €5. The dress code is specific: tailored shorts at or just above the knee, white or matching socks, and no trousers tucked into socks. In the clubhouse, shorts are fine in the bar but not the dining room, and golf shoes are not allowed upstairs. The club’s own sat-nav point is 51.90148, -8.35324; aim for that rather than the industrial estate around it.

Cork Airport is 16 kilometres away, around 20 minutes by road via the N40 ring road, the Jack Lynch Tunnel and the N25 to Little Island. The club address is Wallingstown, Little Island, T45 YT26. Little Island has a station on the Cork to Midleton commuter line, a few minutes from Cork Kent, though the club is a taxi ride or a long walk from the platform. Cork city centre is roughly 15 minutes by car.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Fota Island Resort: Deerpark Course (4 km) · 2. Old Head Golf Links (35 km) · 3. The Golf Course at Adare Manor (79 km) · Compare all Cork & Kinsale tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

Cork city is the obvious base, 9 kilometres away: Hayfield Manor is near University College Cork, and The Kingsley sits on the River Lee at Victoria Cross. Jimmy Bruen, the 1946 Amateur champion, was a Cork member and club president in 1972. Fota Island Hotel and Spa, about ten minutes east, puts you beside a second championship course. Cobh and Midleton, further along the harbour, have smaller hotels and guesthouses. If you plan to add Old Head, Kinsale is around 40 minutes south and has plenty of places to eat.

Make a trip of it.

Fota Island’s Deerpark, a three-time Irish Open host, is the obvious partner, and the two clubs are about ten minutes apart. Old Head Golf Links near Kinsale adds a clifftop round. Off the course, Cork’s English Market is the city’s covered food market, and Blarney Castle is about 25 minutes north-west of Little Island.

Find your season.

April to October gives the best conditions and long evenings. The club lists a summer programme of open competitions, which take tee times, so book early for weekend rounds. The Irish Close Championship returns to Little Island in 2027, and the old quarry ground drains quickly, which helps in Cork’s wet winters.