Booking a tee time at Ireland’s best golf courses requires advance planning. 99% of all golf clubs in Ireland welcome visitors, however visitor policy varies widely in both availability and in booking conditions.
Timesheets open on an almost ad-hoc basis throughout the prior year beginning in Q1 of the year before. Most courses accept requests for teet-times in advance while others, like Royal County Down, require immediate phone booking when timesheets open. This guide covers the essential details to help secure your preferred tee times and identifies those courses where early booking is essential.
In particular we identify the courses that require early booking (*) for one or more of the following reasons:
(*) After the 2020/2021 golf seasons were cancelled due to travel restrictions demand surged and restrictions tightened. Early booking could now generally be defined as Q1 of the year before play, a shift of approximately 9 months from pre-pandemic advice.
Tee-time availability considerations really only apply to our Southwest and Northern Ireland regions, and to a lesser degree the Eastern region. If your golf trip plan is for Northwest, Southeast, Midland or Western Ireland (excluding Lahinch) then early planning is not as critical - itineraries with preferred tee-times can still generally be made up to Q2 of the year of play (and even last minute).
Any course that is not mentioned specifically on this page and is not contained in the various tables is also 'stress' free and tee-time avaialbilty is normally not an issue.
For those courses that are mentioned, tee-time availabiltity issues can be avoided by sufficiently early planning and submission of tee-time requests..
Planning a golf tour that includes any of the courses listed in the table below affects the timing of when the trip should be planned. Our advice is to be taken as a guide only - as demand slackens (but from ridiculous levels) timelines may return towards traditional booking patterns.
| Golf Course | Advance Request | 2026 Timesheets | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal County Down | No | 31st March 2025 | Plan an itinerary before 28th March! |
| Royal Portrush | n/a | Open | Already very limited 2026 availability |
| Old Head | Yes | 13th March 2025 | 2026 request file bulging |
| Lahinch | Y | 12th May 2025 | Requests should be filed early, date restrictions |
| Ballybunion Old | Y | Early May 2025 | Requests should be filed early |
| Tralee | Y | Early May 2025 | Requests should be filed early |
| Waterville | Y | Late May 2025 | Requests should be filed early |
| Portmarnock | Y | June 2025 | Less pressure than other courses but much reduced capacity |
Advance requests are literally a queue of requests filed, usually by tour operators, before timesheets open. Once timesheets open these requests are processed on a first received basis. If a date requested is not available then, in general, there is time and flexibility to reorder the itinerary and change the date (before other requests ar handled). If a request is submitted early enough then no issues should arise except in the case where a club fixture or other event has been scheduled for that date. The premier golf courses tend not to schedule ad-hoc events, outside of annual fixtures, on their normal visitor days.
To a large degree, and except for Royal County Down, the opening dates are irrelevant to planning a golf trip - requests should already have been filed before the first course opens timesheets. When timesheets open tee-times begin to be confirmed, the full itinerary cannot be fully confirmed until the last timesheets are opened.
For the 2025 golf season, Royal County Down stopped taking advance tee-time requests. Instead timesheets opened at 9:00 a.m. on Monday 1st April 2024 and bookings had to be made, and paid for, by telephone. This has not changed for the 2026 season and timsheets are expected to open on Monday 31st March.
Many of the premier courses have annual 'blackout weeks'. These are listed in more detail on the notable course closures page.
The vast majority of Irish golf courses are member owned and member run golf clubs, founded for the playing of the game and the enjoyment of both members and visitors alike. Most courses have traditionally welcomed visitors on most days of the weeks although some days, usually one day at the weekend and two midweek days, were reserved for members competitions and a Ladies' Day (that still exists at some courses). Wednesday is members day at most Dublin golf courses as is Saturday. Outside Dublin members day tend to be either Saturday or Sunday, depending on the location.
Portmarnock, The Island, Royal Dublin, County Louth in the east, Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Portstewart in the north and Lahinch (west), Ballybunion, Tralee and Dooks (*) are member courses.
(*) Nothing exemplifies the 2023-2025 surge in demand than availability of tee-times at Dooks. Previously not an issue, Dooks timesheets now get filled and get filled nefore the end of the prior year for most days in high season.
The K-Club was perhaps the first golf course in Ireland to be created on a non-member controlled/for-profit basis. Since then there has been a proliferation of such ventures. Most courses do have members section but in general tee-time restrictions and availability at these courses is not an issue. Notable exceptions are the golf course at Adare Manr resort and Old Head.
Since its purchase by a local businessman, Adare Manor no longer offers visitor access to the golf course except to residents. Both accommodation and golf is very expensive!
Old Head is a private golf course with an undisclosed number of members. A combination of increaing membership and increased tee-time demand has resulted in Old Head being a course that must be requested in advance of tee-sheet opening. Tee-time requests made after early Q2 of the prior year are generally answered with Full or very early morning or late afternoon availability.
Some courses are privately owned but founded for the provision of local/visitor amenity. These include Waterville, a course where availabilty is usually less of a problem.
Now that you know how crucial it is to get tee-time requests made early, start planning your itinerary with expert advice from Tailor-Made Golf Tours. Our quotes are free and come with no obligation.