County Cork gives you three very different rounds within an hour of one airport. Two of them sit on the eastern side of Cork Harbour, about ten minutes apart. Cork Golf Club at Little Island is a members’ club founded in 1888, with Alister MacKenzie holes cut through an old limestone quarry, and it sells visitor times online every day at one printed price. Fota Island, on the next island along, is a resort with a hotel on site and a Deerpark course that has staged three Irish Opens. The third is the outlier. Old Head Golf Links stands on a headland south-west of Kinsale, opens only from mid-April to October, takes bookings by email and asks for a handicap. This page sets out how each one books, what it costs and how long the drives take, so you can plan two days or a full week.
Tap a pin for photos, prices and a booking link.
| Course | Green fee from | What’s included | Getting there | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1Old Head Golf LinksCourse & suites | €250Checked October 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 2Fota Island Resort: Deerpark CourseResort course & hotel | Rates on request · how to book | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 3Cork Golf ClubMacKenzie parkland | €195Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide |
Prices are the lowest published or listed visitor rates we found, with their source and date on each guide. Partner links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. How we work
Old Head, where nine of the holes run along the cliff edge of a 220-acre promontory and the 18th tee sits just below the lighthouse. It is designed for walking, so a caddie, from €90 a bag, is part of the plan.
Green fees & bookingFota Island’s Deerpark, par 71 and 7,075 yards, where Colin Montgomerie won the 2001 Irish Open by five. Its woodland holds off the wind, and the hotel, lodges and spa are on the same estate.
Green fees & bookingCork Golf Club, about 20 minutes from the airport. It quotes one €195 visitor rate seven days a week, publishes no handicap limit, and its greens on quarry ledges are a fine introduction to MacKenzie.
Green fees & bookingEach package names its rounds, nights and hotels, so you can see which of the courses above it includes before you ask for a quote.
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.
7 nights B&B, 5 rounds
Rounds: Tralee · Old Head Links · Ballybunion Old Course · Waterville · Lahinch
Stay: 5 nights at the Killarney Plaza Hotel, 2 at Vaughan Lodge in Lahinch
A week rather than ten days: Kerry from one Killarney hotel, then two nights in Lahinch so the last round is a walk from bed.
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
All Cork & Kinsale golf packages on Golfbreaks
Only two of the three print a price. Cork Golf Club charges visitors €195 on any day in 2026, and Golf Ireland members €115. Old Head is €500 from 22 April to 11 October and €250 from 12 to 31 October, which makes late October the cheapest way in. Fota Island shows its green fee only when you search a date online or call the ProShop, and it advertises group golf from €95 a head. Extras add up at Old Head: a senior caddie costs €90 for one bag and a cart €60. At Little Island, caddies are €70 a bag, and a buggy is €50 if one is free.
Fly into Cork Airport (ORK). Cork Golf Club is the closest, 16 km away by the N40, the Jack Lynch Tunnel and the N25, and Fota Island is about 20 to 25 minutes out on the N25. The two harbour courses are roughly ten minutes from each other, so one base covers both. Old Head is the long leg: around 45 minutes from the airport, and about an hour from Fota. Both harbour clubs have stations nearby, Little Island on the Midleton line and Fota on the Cobh line, but each is a taxi ride or a walk from the platform. A hire car makes the Kinsale day much simpler.
Plan around Old Head, because its season is the shortest. It opens in mid-April, closes at the end of October and charges half price after 11 October, when the days draw in. Fota and Cork Golf Club are at their best from April to October, when the ground is firm and the evenings long. In summer, Cork Golf Club’s open competitions take weekend times, so book those early. Societies heading to Fota should fix dates against its 2026/27 calendar. Cork’s weather is mild but often wet. The quarry ground at Little Island drains fast, and Fota’s trees give cover when the wind blows hard on the Kinsale headland.
It depends on the course. Old Head sets maximum handicaps of 24 for men and 36 for women, and it wants each player’s home club named when you book. Fota Island’s booking system asks every player for a World Handicap System handicap. Cork Golf Club’s visitor page gives no handicap limit.
Email reservations@oldhead.com or call +353 21 477 8444; there is no open online tee sheet. You pay the whole fee before the time is confirmed. Cancel 30 days or more ahead and you get a 50% refund or transfer. After that, nothing is refunded.
Fota Island. Parties of up to eight can cancel free until seven days before play, and groups of nine or more need 14 days’ notice, by email. Cork Golf Club refunds only when the club cancels play for weather, so it recommends travel insurance that covers green fees.
Not at Old Head. It does not allow children under 12 on the course, and they cannot stay in its suites either. Cork Golf Club has a published junior and student rate of €70. Fota Island does not set out a junior policy online, so ask the ProShop on 021 488 3700.
For the two harbour courses, stay at Fota Island Hotel and Spa or in Cork city, which is 9 km from Little Island. For Old Head, choose its own suites beside the clubhouse or a hotel in Kinsale. Kinsale is about 40 minutes from Cork Golf Club, so many groups split the week between two bases.