Lahinch Golf Club - Old Course

Lahinch was truly a magnificent experience.

Some really great holes and brilliant course conditions.

The town and beach surrounding the property was stunning.

My favourite course in Ireland.

I enjoyed Lahinch very much. However, if you only have time for three days of golf in the south of Ireland, I'd strongly recommend you play Ballybunion, Old Head and Tralee.

They don’t make golf courses like this anymore.

Rife with blind shot after blind shot, Lahinch evokes creativity and demands imagination.

Playing from town out to the sea and back into town, again, gives it a bit of Scottish feel and may be why it is referred to as the “St. Andrews of Ireland.”

The third begins one of golf’s great runs of holes. The stretch through the 14th is as good as links golf gets. In some respects, Lahinch’s two most famous holes - the Dell and the Klondyke - distract attention from the rest of the course’s solid offerings. The par 3s rarely get any praise lavished upon them, but they are a truly spectacular collection.

Lahinch is in a fraternity with Prestwick and North Berwick where quirkiness rules the day. If you don’t enjoy your experience here, we probably can’t be friends!

I played 5 West Ireland courses in 9 days and Lahinch easily stood out. The course had everything you expect on a links course plus. Hills around holes were more dramatic, some cool blind shot holes, a lot of interesting lies with the ocean wrapping the course on two sides, and a cool golf oriented town on the other. Caddies added to the experience with their knowledge, Irish hospitality and ability to provide guidance based on your game. I could play this course every day, and smile each time.

We had to play off mats as it was just ahead of the Irish Open, but we knew that going into the round. The course is wild, windy, quirky, and insanely fun. Our caddy was great and the course was extremely fair; bad shots brutally punished, great shots rewarded, and marginal shots almost always still findable and playable. If this course isn't worth 5 stars then there are almost no courses with that score.

My group was the first group off on a day of drizzle and wind. Our caddies were great at giving lines to hit and reading the greens.

Some of the best par three holes I’ve ever played. It was fun to also see the resident goats eating the grass on the sand hills.

This is a Course not to be missed.

There are great golf courses, and then there are soul-stirringly great golf courses. Lahinch is the latter.

It's the drama of the dunescape and the thrill of some of the shots. It's the quirky-as-heck Klondyke 4th and Dell 5th. It's the bouncy turf. It's the club's passion for competitive golf. It's the friendliness of the people. It's the pint of cider (or Guinness) in the pub. It's everything.

Put Lahinch on your bucket list ASAP.

Lahinch was an amazing course to play as an American. The course is a perfect representation of everything that is an Irish golf course. There are small beautiful houses on one side and the beautiful Atlantic ocean on the other. The rough and fescue was not too thick which is good for a tourist. The greens were slow, which is a different feel than courses back in the states, but you get used to it.

The best thing about Lahinch was the caddies. In my group we had Michael and Ollie. They have been at the course for some 20 years and they knew every blade of grass on the course. It was impressive to see how well they were about to give me information. They were friendly as well which is not what I was expecting when I arrived.

For any American, I would reccommend this course very highly. It is a great way to learn about Irish golf, one of the homes of the game.

Lahinch is an interesting club, unpretentious it just sits there right next to the northern flank of the town along the beach looking out at the surfers attempting to conquer the waves. She is a delightful members course and I say that in not a disparaging way, rather it's the type of club that welcomes members and visitors alike, has a warm not ostentatious clubhouse and a genuine golf challenge in her course.

The Lahinch experience begins in the pro shop with some of the most welcoming staff we encountered at any golf shop. The starter was fantastic in providing information about the layout, what you should expect out there, tips on how to play some of the blind shots and sage advice on what strength wind we were likely to encounter.

The course starts off with a fairly stern slightly uphill par four and then we were able to unload on the downhill par five second. Things get tough on the par four third and then the fun begins.

The fourth called Klondyke is a shortish par five playing down wind today. A good drive leaves you within striking distance but in the middle of the fairway is a huge sand dune blocking any view of the green. Sitting atop the dune is a spotter who indicates when it is safe to hit as well as indicating the line to the green. Different, quirky? Yes and something else to add to the experience file.

The fifth is a 150 yard par three played back into a three club wind made more difficult by not being able to see the green at all because it is obscured by another huge dune. A white stone marker gives you the line and you just trust your yardage to land on the largish green.

Six through nine comprise a run of tough holes some with and others against the ever present wind off the ocean. There's never any respite but the course is extremely fair in that there is plenty of width on fairways and you can find most balls in the rough, in fact I finished with the one I started despite trying to give it away a few times.

The back nine is more of the same high quality enhanced by a coffee and nip if whisky from the cart at the turn. Twelve is a fun longish par five made a little easier by playing downwind but OOB all the way down left.

We had our encounter with the club goat, part of the club logo, on the thirteenth as he wandered across our fairway in no particular hurry. Nor did he seem impressed by my par but then again I didn't need his approval I was playing so well.

Our final three holes on the trip encapsulated all,that is Irish links golf. A downhill par three to a very well bunkered green on 16 followed by the last 400 yard par four at 17. Another narrow entrance through two dunes to an undulating green and then into the last. A medium par five back to the clubhouse offering a good birdie chance although my double bogey three putt finish wasn't what the doctor ordered.

If I had to play only Lahinch for the rest of my life I wouldn't be disappointed

I had a great time playing at Lehinch. My caddie was excellent and was a big part of what made this round so enjoyable. The course was pristine and had some really amazing views and scenery. The pace of play was pretty slow but we went out right after an outing so it was understandable. The price of the round was fairly expensive, plus a caddie and souvenirs I bought in the pro shop. This being possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am glad I did it and think it was worth every penny. I highly recommend anyone going to Ireland play here. I unfortunately didn't bring my own clubs since I was not going on a golf only trip and didn't want to bother bringing them for just one round. The rental clubs were descent (if you like Taylormade, which I am not a fan off) but they worked. I wish they would have had more flex options. only regular flex was available. If your are thinking about making this course apart of your trip don't think twice and definately play this course.

This course definitely deserves its place on every golf magazine and website's "top 100 in the world" list. The course is a quirky, slightly hilly, classic links layout with a few holes unchanged since its original design in 1891. It's very walkable and demands a completely different skill set than your average American parkland course. If you don't hit the fairway, you're just trying to advance your ball, and you can putt from about 30 yards and in. You'll definitely want to take a caddie and listen to his advice, ours was very friendly and patient with our group of high handicappers. The views of the coastline and the town are beautiful, the staff are friendly, and the grill room overlooks several holes so you can watch later groups as you relax with a beer afterwards. This was one of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I've ever played, and the course didn't disappoint.

Playing Lahinch was a great experience. Reminded me of St. Andrews Old Course, but more challenging. The caddie was a great help. Rained on me for the last three holes, but a great course and experience. Will play again!!

Lahinch Golf Club is considered the "St. Andrews of Ireland." The moniker is an apt one as the town of Lahinch, hard on the Atlantic Ocean and in the shadows of the Cliffs of Moher (a must see) and the golf course are synonymous in many ways. St Andrews’ favorite son, Old Tom Morris, was the first to shape these links (followed by Dr. Alister MacKenzie and more recently by Martin Hawtree) and two of the course’s most iconic holes, the par 5, Klondyke and the par 3, Dell, are Old Tom originals! 

As well know and respected as Lahinch is, I don’t think the course gets the credit it deserves.  A strong argument can be made that Lahinch is the finest links course in all of Ireland.  The front nine requires finesse while the back nine is about pure brawn. The result is a pure joy.

Got out with another 2ball from CA and had a lot of fun. Wind is a constant part of the shot planning but it did die at about 6PM.
The rough is not as long as Tralee and you can sometimes hit a shot if you find the ball. The Cornerstone and the Clubhouse both have good food. We had a caddy and occasionally he was a real big help for guidance, but talk is cheap because it seems hitting the ball where he advised was too much to ask of my playing partners. We did some serious cacheing for balls; remember no buggies here so sore dogs all around at the end. Lahinch deserves it's reputation.

The last day of an Irish links golf marathon brought us to Lahinch Old. It was worth the wait and worthy of being our ultimate stop. Excellent conditions, beautiful setting, stern test of skills and, of course, that wonderful Irish spirit. Of course, I might be biased as I shot my best round in Ireland here... Don't pinch pennies at Lahinch Old - get at least one senior caddie - and enjoy the fabulous stories, sense of history and all the priceless advice and strategy from an expert, as you stroll along (and up and down) these remarkable links. Be sure to see the nearby Cliffs of Moher in the morning and then tee it up at Lahinch after lunch - what a day!