Portmarnock Golf Club

A championship links on Dublin’s doorstep.

Portmarnock occupies a long sandy peninsula north of Dublin, with the Irish Sea on one side and a tidal estuary on the other. It is one of the oldest and most decorated links in Ireland and, remarkably, it is about 20 minutes from Dublin Airport. That makes it the easiest great links on the island to reach, and an ideal first or last round of a trip. The course is flatter than the west-coast links, but the wind and the bunkering more than make up for it.

Portmarnock Golf Club green fees and tee times.

Book through the club’s BRS visitor booking page or by contacting the office. For 2026 the visitor sheet was fully booked until the end of September, with limited availability in October. For 2027, visitors can play on Mondays from 10am to 2pm, Tuesdays from 8.30am to 2pm, Thursdays from 8.30am to noon and 1.30pm to 4pm, and Sundays in the afternoon (from noon from May to September, from 1pm in April). Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and bank holidays are members only. The 2027 rates include lunch in the clubhouse, and there are 27- and 36-hole options if you want a full day. Proof of handicap is expected. Phones may not be used on the links, and the club tracks pace of play with GPS.

The round, in perspective.

The club was founded in 1894 by two men who reached the peninsula by rowing boat from Sutton, and the first nine holes opened on St Stephen’s Day that year. Today there are 27 holes, in three nines, with the championship course formed from two of them. Portmarnock has hosted the Irish Open many times, the 1960 Canada Cup, and the 1991 Walker Cup, the first in Ireland. The course has fewer towering dunes than Ballybunion or Lahinch; instead it relies on deep pot bunkers, firm undulating fairways and greens that run away at the edges. With the wind able to blow from any direction across the peninsula, the same hole can play several clubs differently from one day to the next. It is widely regarded as one of the fairest tests of links golf in Ireland.

Make the trip work.

Use Portmarnock to bookend a trip: play on arrival day if your flight lands early, or on your last morning before an afternoon departure. The visitor days are fixed, so plan the rest of your east-coast golf around a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday here. Royal County Down is under two hours north, and Dublin city is 30 to 40 minutes south. Note that the Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links next door is a separate course; make sure you book the club.

Dublin Airport is about 12 km away, roughly 20 minutes by taxi. Portmarnock has a DART and commuter rail station about 2 km from the club, with trains into Dublin city centre in around 25 minutes. Belfast is about 90 minutes north by motorway.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. The Island Golf Club (6 km) · 2. The K Club (35 km) · Compare all Dublin tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

The Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links, on the neighbouring land, is the closest hotel. Malahide, a few minutes north, has a marina, restaurants and several hotels, and is a pleasant base for a few days. Howth, on the peninsula to the south, has fish restaurants by the harbour. Staying in Dublin city gives you more choice and evening life at the cost of a half-hour drive each way.

Make a trip of it.

The Island Golf Club at Donabate, a rugged dunes links across the estuary, is about 25 minutes by road. Royal Dublin on Bull Island is 25 minutes south, and County Louth at Baltray is under an hour north. Off the course, Malahide Castle and its gardens are close by, and the Howth cliff walk gives sweeping views back across Dublin Bay.

Find your season.

Visitor times are published for April to September, with Sunday hours changing between April and the summer months. The east coast is generally drier than the Atlantic side, which helps keep the links firm in summer, but easterly winds off the Irish Sea can make spring rounds cold.