An 1889 links on Dingle Bay, under the Reeks, with natterjack toads for company.
Dooks was founded in 1889 on a low promontory beside Dingle Bay, just outside Glenbeigh on the Ring of Kerry. It is not a long or dramatic course. It is a compact, natural links where the holes switch back and forth over humpy ground, with the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks behind you and the Dingle Peninsula across the water. Green fees sit well below the big Kerry names, so it suits the lighter day of a links week, or a first round after landing.
Book online through the club’s BRS visitor tee sheet, or by phone (+353 66 976 8205) or email to bookings@dooks.com. Visitor windows are Monday to Friday 10.10am to 12.50pm and 2.40pm to 3.50pm, Saturday 11.10am to 2.50pm and Sunday 2pm to 3pm. A non-refundable 50% deposit is due when you book, and the balance 90 days before play. Reservations without a deposit are held for up to 14 days and then released without notice. Walk-up golfers are taken if there is space, but the club strongly recommends booking. No handicap limit is published; the club simply asks players to choose the tee that suits their handicap.
Visitor green fee, 1–19 April 2026; €260 on weekdays and €280 at weekends from 20 April to mid-October.
| 1–19 April 2026 | €200 |
|---|---|
| 20 April–19 October, weekday | €260 |
| 20 April–19 October, weekend | €280 |
The club began with nine holes in 1889. Eddie Hackett adjusted the course in the 1970s, and in 2003 Martin Hawtree and his associate Marc Westenborg rebuilt 16 greens and reworked tees and bunkers. It measures 6,511 yards from the back markers and par is 71, with a forward set of tees at 5,359 yards. The land is low and close to the shore rather than set in high dunes, so the challenge comes from wind, firm running ground and small, subtly shaped greens. The natterjack toad, Ireland’s only toad and a protected species, lives on the links and appears on the club logo; between April and June golfers often hear the males calling.
Dooks pairs well with an arrival day. It is close to Kerry Airport, the round is shorter than at the championship links, and the green fee is lower, so a flight delay costs less. The visitor windows are narrow, especially on Sundays, which has a single hour from 2pm, so check the times against your other rounds before you pay a deposit. Societies are welcome in April and October, Monday to Saturday. Food in the clubhouse runs on seasonal hours, so groups should arrange dining with the reservations team ahead of time.
Kerry Airport at Farranfore is about 30 km away, roughly 35 minutes by car through Killorglin. Killarney is about 20 miles east and Glenbeigh village is a few minutes west on the N70. Cork and Shannon airports are each two hours or more by road. Killarney has the nearest railway station; you will need a car or taxi from there.
Nearby: 1. Tralee Golf Club (25 km) · 2. Waterville Golf Links (33 km) · 3. Ballybunion Golf Club (49 km) · 4. Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg (79 km) · Compare all South West Ireland tee times
Glenbeigh, a few minutes away, has the Towers Hotel and the Glenbeigh Hotel, along with B&Bs and self-catering houses near Rossbeigh and Dooks strands. Carrig Country House on Caragh Lake is a quieter option about ten minutes inland. Killorglin, home of the August Puck Fair, has more guesthouses and restaurants. Many groups stay in Killarney instead, about 35 minutes away, and drive out for the day.
Waterville sits at the far end of the Ring of Kerry, about an hour south-west along the N70, and Killarney Golf and Fishing Club is 35 minutes east. Tralee’s Palmer links is about an hour north. Off the course, Rossbeigh Strand is a long sand spit at the edge of Glenbeigh with walks along its length, and the Kerry Bog Village Museum on the N70 recreates the thatched cottages of the turf-cutting families who once lived on the bogs.
These packages have a confirmed round at Dooks Golf Club in the itinerary, with the other courses, nights and hotels listed so you can compare like with like.
10 nights B&B, 7 rounds
Rounds: Old Head Golf Links · Waterville Golf Links · Dooks · Tralee · Ballybunion Old Course · Lahinch Old Course · Doonbeg
Stay: 2 nights in Cork, 5 in Killarney, 3 more on the Clare coast
The whole south-west links run in one booking, with Old Head’s prepayment and Ballybunion’s weekday-morning visitor window handled for you.
Prices are Golfbreaks’ published per-person guide prices in US dollars, checked November 2026; your quote depends on dates and group size. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How we work
Visitor golf runs from 1 April to mid-October. The club’s rates page lists the course as members only from 17 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, even though the summer rate is shown to 19 October, so confirm late-October dates directly. Natterjack calls are loudest from April to June.
Explore golf by monthIn 2026 the visitor rate was €200 from 1 to 19 April, then €260 on weekdays and €280 at weekends through the main season. A cart costs €60 and is only for golfers with a medical need; club hire is €50.
Walk-ups are accepted when the tee sheet has room, but the club strongly recommends booking. Visitor windows are fixed each day, and only one hour is open to visitors on Sundays, so turning up is a gamble in summer.
It is one of the gentler links in Kerry: 6,511 yards from the back, 5,359 from the forward tees, and without the towering dunes of Ballybunion or Tralee. Wind and firm turf still decide the score.
No. The club lists the course as members only from mid-October 2026 until 31 March 2027, and visitor play restarts on 1 April at the €200 early-season rate, subject to the 2027 rate card.
Last checked 10 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.
How we research our guidesPhoto credits and licencesA lighthouse, an Atlantic headland, and a round that stays with you.
Dune-ridge links on the Kerry shore, from the graveyard first to the cliff-edge 11th.
Blind shots over Klondyke and the Dell, a surfing village and goats that read the weather.
