Ireland Golfing
 

My boys 18 and 19 want to golf at least once on our trip. They are occasional golfers. Any hints?

There is a golf course very close to anywhere in Ireland. This will list every course in Ireland. -- www.golfeurope.com

I'm sure they want to play Links Courses in Ireland; they probably don't get to play many of those in the U.S.
The 'big name' courses like Ballybunion charge about 150 Euro green fee for an 18-hole round. For an introduction to Links courses (without spending an arm & a leg) I recommend Spanish Point in County Clare. It's a 9-hole Links layout about 10mi from Lahinch (also on the order of 100 Euro). The last time I played there, it cost me 25 Euro. But I have the same surname as one of the Board Members, so I might have gotten 'homeboy' treatment.

If you get up to Mayo, there's Carne Golf Links just outside Belmullet. It's the best course I've ever played and it's been rated among the top-3 links courses in Ireland (with Ballybunion & Royal County Down). Carne has a website. http://www.carnegolflinks.com last time I played there, weekend greens fees were 50 Euro, weekday 35 Euro

Sorry! I just checked Carne's website for current greens fees: 55 Euro weekdays; 60 Euro weekends. That's as inexpensive as you will find a course of that quality. As I mentioned in my earlier message, Ballybunion will cost almost 3-times that.
BTW
'Trolleys' are pull-carts; 'Buggies' are riding carts. Courses like Spanish Point don't have any buggies, just trolleys.

You can see some photos of two of the nine-hole layouts by clicking on this link:
http://groups.msn.com/nedsirelandPubsandgolf I had some photos of Carne Golf links but msn trashed my Carne webpage. You can take a tour of Carne Golf links online at their website.