The Complete Guide to Adare Manor Golf

Adare Manor golf takes more planning than any other round in the southwest of Ireland, because the course is part of a hotel and in 2027 that hotel is hosting the Ryder Cup. This guide is for the trip captain who wants it on the itinerary anyway. It covers the manor and the course in brief, five holes to know, how a round actually gets booked, what to see in Adare, where to stay, the links and courses within reach of Adare, and a seven-day route from Shannon built around the 2027 package.

Adare Manor golf course history

The house came first. The 2nd Earl of Dunraven and his wife, Lady Caroline Wyndham, lived in a Georgian house on the estate, and the plans for the Manor House that stands today were begun in 1832. James Pain did much of the design work, with contributions from PC Hardwick and Augustus Pugin, and the resort says the house had become a neo-Gothic mansion by the 1860s.

Adare Manor was the seat of the Earls of Dunraven until the early 1980s. The family sold it in 1981, and it became a five-star hotel in 1988. A restoration and expansion of the house was completed in 2017.

The golf course is younger than the hotel. Robert Trent Jones Senior designed the original in 1995, and it hosted the Irish Open in 2007 and 2008 and the JP McManus Pro-Am in 2005 and 2010. During the estate's redevelopment in 2016–2017, Tom Fazio rebuilt it. According to the resort:

• every green and tee was rebuilt and redesigned from scratch
• every bunker was relined with Capillary Concrete
• the fairways and roughs were sand-capped, and there's no long rough
• SubAir systems sit beneath every putting surface
• the holes still play in their original order.

The rebuilt course hosted the JP McManus Pro-Am again in 2022, and it hosts the Ryder Cup in September 2027.

The holes to know at Adare Manor

The resort's course tour gives one yardage per hole without naming the tee. Its 18 figures add up to 7,509 yds, the length it gives from the championship tees, so the lengths below are the back of the course. The resort's own FAQ names the 15th and 18th as the holes people remember.

9th, the longest hole

At 633 yds the 9th is the longest hole on the course. The first decision is whether to lay up short of the fairway bunkers or carry them, which gains a lot of roll. The second plays to the widest fairway on the course, with the Manor House as the line, and you can't see the edges of the green, so the resort's advice is to aim at the middle: the run-offs around it are some of the most severe on the course.

11th, no bunkers

The only hole at Adare Manor without a bunker. The river guards the right side, and the green is in two sections, front and back, so the club you choose depends on the pin.

15th, the driveable par 4

The resort calls it driveable if you dare. The river takes anything that strays right and a large bunker sits left of the green. The safer line is short of the cross bunker on the left, though not too far left, where the trees block the way in. The 15th also has the view of both the Manor and the River Maigue.

16th, the 85-yard green

A 157-yard par 3 with one of the longest greens in Ireland: the resort says it's the second longest, at 85 yards. A front-left pin can be attacked. For a right pin, the resort suggests the middle of the green and an extra club, because the angle of the green adds distance.

18th, the finish

A 585-yard par 5 that finishes with the Manor in view. The river runs down the left, so the tee shot favors the right. Long hitters can carry the river with the second. If you lay up down the right, the third has to be precise, and the green is hard to hold.

What the Ryder Cup changes in 2027

Ryder Cup week runs from Monday 13 to Sunday 19 September 2027. Ryder Cup Europe lists a community day on Tuesday, an All Star Match on Wednesday, and the Junior Ryder Cup final and the opening ceremony on Thursday. The matches are Friday 17 to Sunday 19.

The resort loses the whole month. For the rest of 2027, the only golf it publishes is the Exclusive Golf Experience, a limited run of one-night stays in the Manor Lodges or Manor Cottages. Each golfer plays one round in a fourball with caddies, with a tee time between 09:00 and 11:00 on the morning you leave. The resort warns that:

• grandstands and hospitality building will be visible and audible across the estate
• construction may restrict or re-route play on some holes
• the Manor House and the spa will be closed.

It lists no dates or prices for the package. If you want Ryder Cup tickets too, the public ballot has closed. Ryder Cup Europe now sells them through Ryder Cup Travel Services' ticket-inclusive hotel packages and its Premium Experiences.

Things to do in Adare and nearby

Most of what to see is a walk from the estate gates, and the Adare Heritage Centre, in the middle of the village on the N21, is the place to start. It's open daily, 09:00–17:00, and runs the castle tours and a guided village walk.

Adare Castle

The medieval castle on the River Maigue, also called Desmond Castle, was a stronghold of the Earls of Desmond in the 16th century. Visits are by guided tour from the Heritage Centre, which says tours run from 1 June to 30 September only. Phone or email ahead: the state's heritage listing for the castle is unclear about whether it's open.

The village

The thatched cottages were built in the 1820s for people who worked on the Dunraven estate. The Holy Trinity Abbey, founded in 1230 as Ireland's only Trinitarian abbey, was converted by the Earl of Dunraven in 1811 and is now the Catholic parish church. The Augustinian Priory, founded in the early 14th century, has been the Church of Ireland church since the early 1800s.

Limerick and Foynes

In Limerick city, King John's Castle dates from 1200 and is open daily. To the west on the Shannon estuary, the Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum covers the transatlantic flying boats of the 1930s and 1940s. It calls Foynes the birthplace of Irish coffee: the museum says chef Joe Sheridan first added whiskey to the coffee in the winter of 1943, for passengers on a flight to New York that had turned back.

Where to stay near Adare Manor

For 2027 golf, the stay is decided for you: the Exclusive Golf Experience puts you in a Manor Lodge or Manor Cottage on the estate. If you're coming for Ryder Cup week, Adare Manor isn't taking bookings, and Ryder Cup Europe's own hotel route is the ticket-inclusive packages from Ryder Cup Travel Services. Two four-star hotels are in or just outside Adare village.

• Adare Manor

  On the estate · 5-star; The Oak Room holds a Michelin star; 2027 golf guests stay in the Manor Lodges and Cottages

• The Dunraven

  Adare village · 4-star, 89 rooms, the oldest part built in 1792; pool and gym

• Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel & Spa

  Just outside Adare · 4-star, on 44 acres, with the Revas Spa

Where else to play near Adare Manor

Adare sits between two stretches of links. Lahinch and Doonbeg are in Co. Clare, Ballybunion and Tralee are in north Kerry, and each is 1 h 10 min to 1 h 40 min from Adare by road. Lahinch to Ballybunion is 2 h 15 min, so most trips spend nights at each end and treat Adare as the night in between. Each linked course below has its own page on golftripbuilder.com with its visitor days, handicap limits and how to book. For a trip that adds Northern Ireland, Royal Portrush is 5 h 20 min north, and the Royal Portrush guide covers that end.

• 

  Lahinch

  1 h 10 min

  The Old Course takes visitors any day in season (27 April–16 October in 2026), booked online and paid in full. Men need a handicap index of 24 or less, women 36, and every group takes at least one caddie.

  View Lahinch →
• 

  Doonbeg

  1 h 15 min

  Trump International's links on the Clare coast takes public tee times online and opens daily from 27 March 2027. It's 35 minutes from Lahinch.

  View Doonbeg →
• 

  Ballybunion

  1 h 10 min

  The Old Course takes visitors on weekday mornings from mid-April to early October, never at weekends. Men need a handicap of 24 or less, women 36, and every group takes at least one caddie or forecaddie.

  View Ballybunion →
• 

  Tralee

  1 h 40 min

  Visitor times on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 08:00–15:00. It's 55 minutes from Ballybunion, and men need a handicap of 28 or less, women 36.

  View Tralee →
• 

  Old Head

  2 h 05 min

  The clifftop links near Kinsale takes visitors from 14 April to 31 October 2027, paid in full at booking. Men need a handicap of 24 or less, women 36.

  View Old Head →

• Adare Manor Golf Club

  In Adare

  A different course from the resort's. It opened in 1900 as nine holes laid out by Ben Sayers for the 4th Earl of Dunraven, and the current 18, by Eddie Hackett, opened in 1992. Visitors book through the club's website.

Your Adare Manor Golf Trip Starts Here

Play Adare Manor, Lahinch, Ballybunion and the links of Clare and Kerry. Here's a sample seven-day itinerary. Make it your own in minutes.

The route is built around the 2027 package: one night at Adare Manor and a morning tee time on the day you leave. Doonbeg comes the day before and the drive to Ballybunion the afternoon after. Ballybunion falls on a Wednesday because the Old Course takes visitors only on weekday mornings, and Tralee on a Thursday, one of its four visitor days. Plan it outside September 2027. Book Adare Manor first, then Lahinch and Ballybunion, which both take full payment when you book.

The drive times are road-routing estimates without traffic, from the same table golftripbuilder.com's planner uses, so allow extra in summer.