This corner of the island carries more world class links per mile than anywhere else in Ireland. Royal County Down sits at or near the top of every world ranking that gets published, and Royal Portrush has hosted The Open twice in recent years. Along the Down and Antrim coasts between them you also have Portstewart, Royal Belfast, Ardglass and Ballycastle.
They sit close enough together to fill a week without moving hotel. Slieve Donard is under the Mournes a short walk from Royal County Down, Galgorm and the Bushmills Inn put you on the Causeway coast, and the Merchant in Belfast suits groups who want the city in the evenings.
Inland, Lough Erne in Fermanagh and Slieve Russell in Cavan are the parkland resorts, each with the golf, the hotel and the spa on one site. They are the sensible choice for a society or a larger party, and they break the drive between Dublin and the north west links.
