In Golf Courses by Bruce SelcraigNovember 15, 2025
(summarised… full article: https://golfaficionadomag.com/a-sensible-irish-links-itinerary-for-your-first-pilgrimage/)
… One course Though just 6,200 yards from the tips, Strandhill is a joy to play and full of welcoming members.Strandhill is a delightful and quirky 6200-yard course that should never be overlooked when you head to the West of Ireland.Next stop, and a beautiful one hour drive east along the North Atlantic, is Strandhill Golf Club, another joy to play but regrettably overlooked by many tour groups because its back tees are only about 6,200 yards. https://www.strandhillgolfclub.com/ When I arrived just after 5 p.m. on a Sunday, the pro shop was closed, but I was quickly welcomed at the bar by some veteran members and told to go enjoy myself. It’s hard not to on this charming landscape of quirky delightful holes, populated with couples, students, serious players and Dublin retirees like Frank Carroll, who walks to the course from the home he built some 25 years ago. “It’s a great course, shorter than most, but here it’s all about the social side of it, the friendships,” said Carroll, as he chipped on to the first green. (He raved about the Irish-designed SEED ball, billed as Tour quality but bargain-priced.) Just days after the murder of the American right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, Carroll found himself more mindful of the value of socializing with those of a different stripe. “These people, young people mostly, who just live on the internet. That’s not healthy,” he said. “They don’t know how to talk to others or themselves.” Funny how our frustrating short games lead us to philosophy. I only got in five holes before dark, spending most of my time chatting and hitting multiple wedges to the tricky No. 5 green, protected by a minefield of moguls, but like everyone I spoke to afterward about this gorgeous spot, I can’t wait to return to Strandhill.
Bruce Selcraig has written for The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated and The Atlantic, among others. Selcraig@swbell.net