Ireland Golf Courses
By Ron Mills

In Ireland golf courses abound, both links and parklands varieties, about 410 in total, and this is a good number compared to the population of almost 6 million (4 million people in the Republic of Ireland, and 1.8 million in Northern Ireland). Ireland is one of the world's great venues for a dream golfing holiday.

Links golf courses are usually found around the coastline where they've been scratched out of the abundant sand dunes, where the wind often challenges players, especially on the west Atlantic Coast side of the island. Their designers have also used the proximity of water to make the game on these courses more interesting. One of the most famous links courses is the Ballybunion Old Course, whose contures and sea breazes challenge every player.

Parkland golf courses are mainly inland amongst the naturally hilly landscape where woodlands provide tree-lined fairways, which are used to advantage by their designers to test the competence of even the best of the pros. A notable parkland's course is the K Club just outside Dublin, which has been chosen to hold the Ryder Cup in September 2006. The Slieve Russell course in the Irish midlands is also another fine example.