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FRIDAY MAY 13

DEPART USA

Depart home today. Board your overnight flight to Dublin Ireland (airfare not included).

NOTE: There are non-stop flights to Dublin from most major U.S. cities.Connecting flights to Dublin are available via London, Manchester, Paris or Amsterdam.Expanding Horizons can assist with flight selection and/or early arrival options for those wanting to arrive early.

DAY 1, SATURDAY MAY 14

ARRIVE DUBLIN IRELAND AND DRUID’S GLEN RESORT

Upon arrival at Dublin Airport you will be met and transferred to Druid’s Glen Hotel & Golf Resort in County Wicklow, carved from 175 wooded acres south of Dublin.Tonight get together to meet our fellow players for drinks and a traditional Irish welcome dinner in Hugo’s Restaurant. (D)

Overnight: Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort(2 nights)

DAY 2, SUNDAY MAY 15

PLAY DRUIDS GLEN HEATH COURSE

County Wicklow is arguably the richest landscape in Ireland; heavily wooded with mountains, streams and beaches. The Druids Glen Heath course is a stunning manicured landscape, a kaleidoscope of color and flora with changing elevations. Meandering creeks and ponds present challenges on many holes. Par 3 holes are long. The 18th hole is a monster 450 yard par 4.This is an excellent test of golf for our first round, and the only non-links course we will play in Ireland.(B)

DAY 3, MONDAY MAY 16

PLAY DONEGAL GOLF CLUB

Depart this morning and travel across Ireland on our private motor coach to the Donegal Golf Club on the Murvagh Peninsula (257 km/160 miles). This wind-whipped magnificent course is our first Irish links test, a world class track with beautiful vistas in all directions.The different holes wind through the dunes with elevation changes and some blind shots. Greens here are fast and true. (B)

Overnight: The Mill Park Hotel – Donegal Town (1 night)

DAY 4, TUESDAY MAY 17

PLAY NARIN & PORTNOO LINKS

Today enjoy a round at the 6,600 yard Narin & Portnoo Links, considered one of the most natural, golf courses in all of Ireland. Golf has been played here since 1905, and the course had a masterful renovation in 2018.The signature hole is the 7th hole, a 143 yard par 3.Players tee off over a chasm to a two-tiered green located on an adjacent sand hill. The hole is beloved for its supreme natural beauty and tricky green, with focused putting required.After the round experience a tasting at Sliabh Liag Distillery, a relative newcomer to the Irish whiskey scene, but widely acclaimed for their Silkie, a smoky single malt with “pear notes and a hint of treacle“.(B, D)

Overnight: The Nesbitt Arms – Ardara (1 night)

DAY 5, WEDNESDAY MAY 18

PLAY CRUIT ISLAND

Cruit Island is described by many as “the greatest 9-hole course on earth.”This 2,809 yard par 34 track is the most hidden links course in Ireland, connected to the coast by a short causeway. For stunning scenery Cruit Island rivals Old Head and even Pebble Beach, with a green fee literally 1/10th of the price of those renowned tracks. Playing here will be memorable. The 6th hole is as scenic a golf hole as found in the world, “an abyss of sea-cave and closing tide separate tee from green” according to Tom Coyne.After play we drive one hour to the delightful village of Downings, on the Rosguill Peninsula. Enjoy a well-deserved pint tonight here in the heart of Donegal’s Irish-speaking Gaeltacht area. (B)

Overnight: The Beach Hotel – Downings (1 night)

DAY 6, THURSDAY MAY 19

PLAY OLD TOM MORRIS LINKS – BALLYLIFFIN

In 1891 Old Tom Morris visited Donegal from St. Andrews as a guest of Lord Leitrim.Before leaving Old Tom laid out this links track, enjoyed and played over 130 years by tens of thousands including the world’s finest golfers. “The Strand” front nine is traditional duneland.The back nine “Valley” plays across flatter land against the backdrop of Sheephaven Bay. Holes 9 through 12 are set parallel to the shoreline that’s blessed with a beautiful sandy beach. Holes 13-18 loop back around, with play in the shadow of mountainous dunes.Close play in front of a statue of Old Tom Morris, who watches the putts and handshakes on the final green.Tonight enjoy dinner in the hotel and the comforts of this golf resort hotel. (B, D)

Overnight: Ballyliffin Lodge & Spa (1 night)

DAY 7, FRIDAY MAY 20

PLAY BALLYLIFFIN GLASHEDY LINKS

Bring your “A” game today. Play the Glashedy Links at Ballyliffin, Ireland’s most northern golf club and site of the 2018 Irish Open. Designed by Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock between 400 acres of beautiful dunes, this championship course is 7,200 yards long with nine long par 4s.Huge undulating greens here are well protected by bunkers. The views are outstanding, both around the course and the surrounding oceanfront.The signature par 3 seventh hole “Loch na nDeor” plays 180 yards from an elevated tee overlooking the entire course to the North Atlantic. (B)

Overnight: Magherabuoy House Hotel -Bushmills (1 night)

DAY 8, SATURDAY MAY 21

BELFAST SIGHTSEEING

Begin the day proper Irish breakfast, followed by a guided tour and tasting at Bushmills Distillery, serving good Irish whiskey “since 1608”.Mood elevated, visit the Giant’s Causeway for a photo opp at one of Ireland’s most well-known natural landscape.Here thousands of individual hexagonal volcanic rocks form a pathway into the Atlantic. Follow this with entrance and a tour of the Titanic Museum. Dinner tonight is at Dean’s Love Fish, one of Belfast’s most popular restaurants. (B, D)

Overnight: The Ten Square Hotel – Belfast (2 nights)

DAY 9, SUNDAY MAY 22

PLAY GALGORM CASTLE GOLF COURSE

Today we play Galgorm Castle, Northern Ireland’s most popular tournament venue in the heart of a 220 acre estate. This Galgorm course is a magnificent test of golf, having hosted the 2020 Irish Open, the 2019 Northern Ireland Open and PGA European Tour events. Dine tonight in Belfast’s historic Crown Bar, a wonderful, ornate temple to 19th century Victorian opulence.(B,D)

DAY 10, MONDAY MAY 23

PLAY COUNTY LOUTH BALTRAY LINKS

This morning journey one hour south of Belfast.Cross the Irish border to the charmingly named village of Terminfeckin to play County Louth Golf Club, known locally as “The Baltray Links“. Though the ocean only comes into view for a couple of holes on the back nine, this marvelous course features a variety of holes. While the terrain isn’t as dramatic as Ireland’s northwest, the Baltray Links offers one solid hole after another. The back nine holes 11-16 are a delightful stretch, playing through the course’s most interesting topography by sea and inlet.This championship links test is fitting end to our 8 course Irish tour. Tonight we bunk at the D Hotel in Drogheda on the river Boyne. An urban and industrial port city today, Drogheda was a Norse stronghold from the 8th to 11th centuries, and site of a bloody 1649 massacre by the forces of Oliver Cromwell. Dinner in the hotel is included tonight. (B,D)

Overnight: The D Hotel — Drogheda (1 night)
TIP: Clarke’s Bar after dinner

DAY 11, TUESDAY MAY 24

NEWGRANGE MONUMENT / PLAY PORTMARNOCK LINKS

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast and morning in the port city of Drogheda. Depart mid-morning for the Newgrange, Monument, an ancient Neolithic tomb dating to 3,200 BC., pre-dating both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. While there is no agreement about the site’s intended use, it certainly had religious significance. The entrance is aligned with the rising sun. On the winter solstice, the sun shines through a roofbox hole above the passage entrance, flooding the inner chamber with light. This afternoon arrive at Portmarnock Golf Club, an historic and championship Irish golf institution where Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus all won victories. Nineteen times host of the Irish Open, Portmarnock was the site of the 1991 Walker Cup, an American triumph led by Phil Mickelson and David Duval. After play arrive at our Dublin hotel, hopefully with a bit of energy for a cleansing pint. (B)

Overnight: Radisson Blu Royal Hotel – Dublin (2 nights)

DAY 12, WEDNESDAY MAY 25

DUBLIN SIGHTSEEING / FAREWELL DINNER

This morning experience the best of Dublin.Ireland’s capital was originally a Viking city when, beginning around 800 AD, those pesky Norseman went about a few centuries of raping and pillaging. Walk through Trinity College and its famous library “The Long Room” with the amazing Book of Kells. See Dublin Castle and visit Kilmainham Gaol, site of the imprisonment and executions of Ireland’s 1916 rebels. Later visit the Guinness Storehouse, Ireland’s most popular attraction.Enjoy a guided tour and lesson in how to pull pints.Follow with a tour of the Jameson Distillery.Tonight we have our farewell dinner and presentation of the Irish Cup and awards at The Norseman Restaurant. (B,D)

DAY 13, THURSDAY MAY 26

DEPART DUBLIN

Farewell Ireland.You will be transferred to Dublin International Airport for onward flights. (B)