What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Ireland and Northern Ireland? The green waves of Emerald Isle? An ice-cold pint of Guinness? Rory McIlroy?
One thing that should not go overlooked is the beauty of both Irish and Northern Irish golf.
The Éire boasts some of the most breathtaking golf courses in the world, and Golfweek has compiled a ranking so you know exactly which courses you need to hit on your next golf vacation.
More U.K. course rankings: 10 best courses in Scotland | 10 Best courses in England
This ranking comes directly from the hundreds of Golfweek’s Best Raters for 2021 who continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course on a points basis of 1-10. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course. Only a handful of courses in the world achieve a rating above 9, and any course rated 7 or above presents a can’t-miss opportunity.
For more of Golfweek’s Best course lists, check out the most recent selection of course rankings:
State-by-state rankings for public-access layouts
State-by-state rankings of private courses
Top 100 U.S. public-access courses ranked
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1
Royal Country Down (Championship)
Location: Newcastle, Northern Ireland
Course Founded: 1889
Designers: George L. Baillie, Old Tom Morris, George Combe, Harry S. Colt, Donald Steel
Golfweek’s Best rating: 8.95
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2
Royal Portrush (Dunluce)
Royal Portrush Golf Club before the 2019 Open Championship. (Thomas J. Russo – USA TODAY Sports)
Location: Portrush, Northern Ireland
Course Founded: 1929
Designers: Harry S. Colt, Martin Ebert
Golfweek’s Best rating: 8.53
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