Ireland’s Expensive Golf Links — Courses €251-€350
Continuing on from our list of the “least expensive expensive” golf in Ireland, we now move into a new tier — 8 premier links courses with midweek summer green fees between €251 and €350. Some have always been here, some have just caught up naturally and some really don’t belong!
Golf Green Fee Prices Ireland
Waterville and The European, have always been amongst the top price tier green fees and both are both first class links and both are also private enterprises.
Portstewart rides the wave of demand for the Dunluce links at Royal Portrush but to its credit has also made significant improvements that will be completed next winter. County Louth (€285) is at the lower end of the price range perhaps benefiting for its location on the route to/from Newcastle, Co. Down.
Both courses at Ballyliffin are world class links — the Old Links would make my top 3 courses in Ireland while the Glashedy hovers around the #10 mark. If other links are €300 or more then these also deserve that rate.
The Jameson Links (formerly known as Portmarnock Links) is a course that suffered from a poor opening and a high degree of difficulty related to some of Bernhard Langer’s design features. Thankfully both of these snags have been dealt with — the first tee provides sweeping views of the course and a pulled tee-shot no longer finds a home among hundreds of range balls. Also, some of the more severe elements have been softened making the course more forgiving.
Finally in County Donegal where American architects Gil Hanse and Tom Doak have been at work. The latter created St. Patrick’s Links, now the third 18-hole links at Rosapenna, on the magnificent dunesland previously occupied by two locally maintained courses. The former was engaged by the new owner of Narin & Portnoo golf club and has created a similarly modern links design maximising the beauty of the surroundings.
The Full List
| Course Name | Golf Region | County | 2025 Fee | Sample Tour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyliffin – Old Links | Northwest | Donegal | € 280 | |
| Ballyliffin – Glashedy Links | Northwest | Donegal | € 300 | |
| County Louth | East | Louth | € 285 | |
| Jameson Links | East | Dublin | € 305 | |
| Narin & Portnoo | Northwest | Donegal | € 300 | |
| Portstewart | North | Derry | £ 285 | |
| Rosapenna – St. Patricks | Northwest | Donegal | € 300 | |
| Waterville | Southwest | Kerry | € 350 |
Final Thoughts
A gruff golf professional told me recently, in response to my enquiry for an inexpensive golf bag, that the ‘price point for a golf bag’ is now €200 and will soon be €300. Thankfully there are internet sites that don’t agree. Unfortunately the same is true for the price point of quality links golf and that cannot be replicated on the internet – perhaps VR games are the answer!
What are you waiting for? Explore our website and contact us for a free and no obligation quote!
Part of a 5-Part Value Series
This is the fourth instalment in our series breaking down the best visitor golf courses in Ireland by green fee tier. If you missed the first articles, check out our guide to Courses Under €75, the courses that charge €76 – €150, and the mid-tier price range of between €151 and €250. Our last article will list the eight most expensive rounds in Ireland.
