Waterville Golf Links

The end of the road, and worth the drive.

Waterville is the most remote of Ireland’s great links, set on a spit of land between Ballinskelligs Bay and the Inny estuary on the Ring of Kerry. It is long, it is exposed and, unlike many of its neighbours, it is quiet: there is little traffic around the course and the village is small. The reward for the drive is a links whose back nine climbs into some of the biggest dunes in the southwest, with views to the Skellig islands on clear days.

Waterville Golf Links green fees and tee times.

Book online through the tee-time request form on the club website or by phone on +353 66 947 4102; card payment only. Allow 24 hours for confirmation. Full payment is required at the time of booking and is non-refundable. Visitors are welcome every day of the week, including weekends, and the club asks for a handicap. Waterville is less congested than Ballybunion or Lahinch, but North American groups book much of the summer far ahead, so popular morning slots still go early. Golf carts are available at €50, which is unusual among Ireland’s top links and useful for anyone who cannot walk a long course. Outside April to October, contact the office for rates and availability.

The round, in perspective.

Golf was first played here in 1889 by staff at the transatlantic cable station, but the modern links dates from the early 1970s, when Irish-American John A. Mulcahy hired Eddie Hackett to build a championship course. Tom Fazio reworked several holes in the early 2000s. The front nine is flatter and more open; the course takes off from the 11th, a long par five that runs between dune ridges. The 12th is the Mass Hole, a par three played over a hollow where Catholics are said to have gathered for Mass in secret in penal times. The 17th, Mulcahy’s Peak, is a par three from a high tee in the dunes, and the 18th, a par five, runs along the shore. A statue of Payne Stewart, who had been named the club’s honorary captain for 2000 before his death in 1999, stands by the clubhouse.

Make the trip work.

Waterville is a commitment: about 90 minutes from Kerry Airport and far from other championship links. It pays to stay at least two nights and play it twice, or combine it with Dooks and Killarney on the way in. The Ring of Kerry road is narrow and winding, and tour coaches travel it anticlockwise in summer, so allow extra time. If you come from Ballybunion, plan on around two and a half hours.

Kerry Airport at Farranfore is about 85 km away, roughly 90 minutes by road via Killorglin and Cahersiveen. Cork Airport is around 2 hours 45 minutes and Shannon about three hours. There is no rail link beyond Killarney, so plan on a hire car or a private driver.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Dooks Golf Club (33 km) · 2. Tralee Golf Club (56 km) · 3. Ballybunion Golf Club (81 km) · Compare all South West Ireland tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

The Butler Arms Hotel on the seafront in Waterville village has hosted golfers for generations and is a short drive from the links. The village also has B&Bs, self-catering cottages and the Smugglers Inn, which overlooks the beach close to the course. For more choice, Kenmare is about an hour away and Killarney about 90 minutes, though both mean a long drive each morning.

Make a trip of it.

Dooks, one of Ireland’s oldest clubs, sits on the shore at Glenbeigh about an hour back towards Killorglin. Killarney Golf & Fishing Club offers lakeside parkland for a change of pace, and Tralee and Ballybunion are a long day’s drive north. Off the course, boats to Skellig Michael leave from Portmagee in summer when the sea allows, and the Skellig Ring drive is on the doorstep.

Find your season.

The main season runs from April to October, and the course is open every day. This far west, Atlantic weather can arrive with little warning, but the light on a clear summer evening is long; sunset in June is after 10pm. Skellig boat trips usually run from mid-May to late September.