If you score a tee time at Tralee you’ll be met with challenges on every single hole on the course, set against a backdrop of rugged cliffs, the roaring Atlantic Ocean, and an old stone tower dating back to the 1190s. Treacherous traps and rolling, undulating greens greet you at every turn - it's a course you’ll want to play time and time again.
Tralee golf course is widely acclaimed as one of the world’s finest links courses and a Top 10 ocean course. It featured in the 1970 Academy Award winning movie, Ryan's Daughter, where panoramic shots captured spectacular beach views running behind the first and second holes.
About Tralee golf club – Brief history
- Dating back to 1896, originally a nine-hole course
- The first European course designed by Arnold Palmer
- The current Arnold Palmer-designed course opened in autumn 1984, having relocated from the original nine-hole course at Mounthawk near Tralee
- In the 1920s Captain Lionel Hewson was hired to design a new course in Oakpark
- In March 1921 Major McKinnon from the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary was shot dead here while playing golf
- The beach just north of the 15th tee box is where Sir Roger Casement disembarked from a German U-boat in 1916
- The beach behind the 16th and 17th holes is where numerous ships have run aground, including one from the Spanish Armada fleet in 1588
- Ranked 7th in Golf Digest Ireland's 2016 Top 100 list
- Ranked 9th in Golf magazine's Top 18 course in Ireland list
Tralee golf club scorecard
Click here to view the scorecard
Featured hole – Hole 3
Hole 3, The Castle, is a 194-yard par three and the course's signature hole. Set on the peninsula, The Castle is situated at the back of the green and acts as a natural target for your tee shot. The beach winds blowing in off the ocean can be quite volatile here, so you need to be really careful with your tee shot if you want to avoid sending the ball into the waves. Go for a one-shotter and play just under 200 yards from the back tees to the green, which is defended beautifully by three bunkers.
Known for being Arnold Palmer's best ever design
Plenty of experts say it: this is the very best Arnold Palmer design in the world, with an amazing front nine to set you off nicely followed by a back nine so dramatic it leaves you reeling. Add to that one of the most stunning and wild sites you've ever seen, plus excellent turf conditions and perfectly manicured greens, and you can see why no golf trip to Ireland is complete without a game at Tralee.
Tralee Golf Club golfing vacations
Would you like to play Tralee golf course for yourself and experience one of the world’s finest course’s? Here at The Experience Ireland we have years of experience and expertise in delivering superb golf vacations – and all our Irish golf deals can be fully customised to create a personalised itinerary. Contact us to book or find out more.
Featured Tralee Golf Package:
South West 7 Nights 5* Programme: The South West coast of Ireland is famed as one of the greatest golfing areas in the world and this Tralee golf vacation offers the chance to experience some of its finest courses. This golf vacation package includes 6 incredible rounds of golf on world-famous courses, including Tralee itself. Elegant 5* hotels will take your experience to the next level, with sumptuous accommodation and a full daily Irish Breakfast to enjoy, as well as an evening meal in Killarney Park Hotel on one night of your stay. Included as standard are an airport meet-and-greet service and full transfers to your hotel and between the golf courses every day.