Our 2026 trip to Ireland’s Ancient East, always relished by the MG Team, took place this year May 11th – 13th. Magazine owner/editor Phil took his son Dec to sample the many delights of a golf break here. Organised as ever by Club Choice Ireland our society section sponsors and experts in Golf Tours to Ireland.
It always begins for us with a ferry trip from Holyhead to Dublin which takes just over two hours by car from our home in Staffordshire not far from Stoke-on-Trent. Midlander golfers living further south have another option of the Fishguard-Rosslare ferry route. Both routes are operated by Club Choice Ireland’s travel partners, Stena Line UK/Ire.
A 10 am ferry, getting us into Dublin at 1.30pm, Tiernan, the owner of CCI, treated Dec and I to seats in the Stena + Lounge there and back. A complimentary service of hot and cold drinks and snacks awaited us, the full English we enjoyed too was part of the morning menu offering.
A safe sail and then straight off via the streets of Dublin city heading for the motorway. This was my fifth trip via ferry, and I’ve always appreciated the advantage of it. You can get going to your first game straight away without having to hang around baggage carousels for your clubs and checking in at car hire companies. It’s not just the time taken, it can be stressy at airports, but your own car and clubs in the boot already is the relaxing side of ferry travel.
Druid’s Heath – Co Wicklow
We began our golfing mid-afternoon at Druid’s Heath, no not the one in Staffordshire. Druid’s Heath in Ireland is part of the sprawling Druid’s Glen Hotel & Golf Resort. It’s set up as the second course here, as second courses go, this one is right up there.
If you begin a trip here you can hardly fail to get off to a more inspiring sight as Druids Heath’s elevated first tee treats you to a lovely Irish Sea vista all the way over to the Wicklow Head lighthouse in the distance on the right. It also comes though as a gentle warning that sea breezes are prevalent at times around this undulating inland links styled track.
Nice hole the first, then you descend gently for the next two, both of which show you water of a different variety, in front of the green on the par five second, then all the way to the green on the left of the short third. It’s a testing start alright and doesn’t relent all that much. Maybe the run of mid length par fours on the front nine can offer some birdie chances, among them another splendid view comes around, this time of Sugar Loaf mountain and its neighbours behind the elevated green on eight.
After the turn, two eye-catching holes back-to-back come around at 12 and 13. The former is a something of a links special lottery when it comes to the run of the ball on sloping and contoured land, you might have to cope with a hanging lie or two here. The 13th is shorter yet threatens progress with a double water hazard.
How did we do? Off the boat and typically straight on the tee, the ring rust showed earlier on, but we were beginning to get to grips with the challenge on the back nine. Dec, who was playing outside of England for the very first time was hardly re-assured when I informed him that nothing comes easy in these parts and the comparatively easy breezes we’d encountered so far might not remain that way in the next 54 holes!
Dec almost managed a notable ‘first I’d ever seen’ on the 18th – his ridiculously well hit tee shot found one of the fairway bunkers, a distance that senior golfers such as myself have now given up trying to reach. Ball slightly up against the lip though so he hit that instead of fresh air for his second…….and found himself 40 yards further back! Undaunted, he found a perfect wedge for his third, all of 150 yards to about five feet from the pin. Had he holed the putt, and he didn’t, I think it would have been the only par I’d ever witnessed where one of the shots went backwards!
Round one, a disappointing 20-20 point tie. We put it down to rust and ferry legs, both vowing to improve during the next two days – turned out only one of us was good to his word. But to sum up, if Druids Heath is the second course, the numero uno has got to be pretty special indeed.
5*s and a preview view
Our home for the night was seriously impressive. The Druids Glen Hotel have worked tirelessly and invested much in recent times to turn four stars into five and maintain those high standards. We were in for a treat and we got one, a super-sized twin room with all the luxuries provided and an amazing view too, looking over the 12th green and the start of the 13th on Druid’s Glen, our venue for tomorrow morning. Mouthwatering.
As was the Seafood Chowder starter we enjoyed and the steak that followed in The Garden Rooms Bistro. If you ever stay here, linger a little around the huge reception area and around the staircase, lift area and take it all in, the architecture and décor is something else.
Ireland’s Augusta
We had a busy one on Tuesday, 36-holes of golf and in between, a further course visit to cram in. So, the full Irish was a little rushed but very nice, as soon after we hopped in the car for the two-mile ride to the other side of the resort and Druids Glen Golf Club.
Having visited previously in 2017 I had the advantage of knowing a little of what to expect, Dec was a tad star struck, he’d never played a national championship host course before and was a little worried he might embarrass himself a little on such hallowed turf. Luckily it was early in the morning and we able to drive down the first in not much company. To be fair they weren’t bad shots either.
Druids Glen hosted the Irish Open on four occasions in the late 1990s and is often fondly referred to as ‘Ireland’s Augusta’ such is the tremendous variety of foliage, flora and fauna on view. It is a very colourful course for sure and really nicely conditioned too, kind of what you’d expect after what we’d seen from this resort so far.
The course had a full renovation since my last visit and oh my word, what a job they have done. They’ve turned a great course into a fantastic one!
Lots of highlights to enjoy, four and five are terrific holes, the former has a sneaky water hazard at its conclusion, I thought I’d nailed a lovely approach here, but it veered off at the last moment and trickled into the wet. The fifth is a straight on par five, a little different to the majority of the rest of the layout as it offers a lovely looking countryside backdrop in the distance behind the bunker clad green.
Then there’s the 13th – I have to say it’s in the top five of any par four I’ve ever played. In 2017 I did notice it then in kind of misty early evening conditions and we didn’t have a lot of time. This time in the morning sunshine it could show its full beauty. Incredibly tight tee shot with not a lot in view, but you can’t miss the rushing stream that runs all the way down the right-hand side before eventually widening and flowing into the green fronting lake. Going for it in two requires a great shot around the corner. I know my limitations, so despite a fine drive, I laid up, but absolutely perfectly, a metre to spare from the lake. Then I pulled a horrific wedge into the greenside banking and foliage. Gravity failed to come to my assistance, that felt a tad unfair, as it stubbornly stayed up there. But I managed to find it, chipped it on the green and then holed a 25-foot putt! As it’s SI1 which is justified, a nett birdie, there weren’t many of those for me this week!
The 18th hole is quite gorgeous at its conclusion, bit of water around the green, the grand old clubhouse (Woodstock House 16th century) exterior as a backdrop, a photo spot for sure.
Short and very sweet
But the best till last, Druids Glen has a simply awesome set of short holes. The second is the only one without a water hazard, a long stone wall at the far side, those who have played Wellingborough GC will find similarities. The 8th is down in a bush and shrub clad dip with a carry over the pond. The 17th is an island green with a big variety of tee locations, we got lucky at 101 yards, it can go back a lot further. That one mimics Sawgrass, the best one at no 12 is modelled on the 12th at Augusta, and it’s done a pretty good job of it, a stunning golf hole. Dec fired his tee shot into the water, then hit three from the tee to about five feet and holed it for a net birdie. His form was improving by now, giving him two shots on the lower indexes was starting to become way too generous!
We enjoyed the game immensely and as Dec’s game improved, mine didn’t, but at least I grabbed three points on my favourite 13th! On to the next one.
We grabbed a quick coffee with Liz, the Golf Sales Manager for the resort. She detailed the investment and improvements and all of the hard work that has gone into lifting the whole Druids Glen resort to its current higher status, a quite superb 36-hole location.
More than just a pretty face
In between Druids Glen and Co Kildare where we were heading next for part two we dropped into Bray Golf Club. It’s still in Co Wicklow, just a little closer to Dublin, we had a look around and a buggy ride of the course with their GM James. Even before he took me out, I could see the Wicklow mountain views from the car park, pretty special from this elevated spot. Yet James couldn’t wait to travel us higher still, up to the green of the 11th hole, here it takes one’s breath away. Not just the mountains this time, as a backdrop on the opposite side you get a full view of Killiney Bay which is just south of Dublin and on a clear day as we had, what lies further on too, right across to where we’d began this adventure some 25 or so hours earlier, Dublin Port.
Bray GC is more than just a pretty face, a newer one to this part of Ireland (2003), set down with USGA spec greens and tees, lush green and verdant fast running fairways and holes packed with interest. Over 1,000 members they’ve gathered since then and a friendly bunch they are too, it was ladies day when I visited after all! James mentioned his desire to just add a bit more visitor traffic here when space allowed, for a third course to begin or end a trip to Druids Glen Resort, you could do a whole lot worse.
We travelled a further 45 minutes, looping around Dublin on the motorway and heading west into the countryside of County Kildare.
Towards the end of day two, it was time to take on the K Club……….this feature to be continued inside issue 110 of the magazine in September and here online shortly after.
