a — Golfing Gems on the Emerald Isle —

 Adare Manor Golf Clubs
Adare, County Limerick, Central Ireland
Two courses; same location; different personalities

ADARE MANOR RESORT

LENGTH & PAR: 
Resort Course:
    White Tees:     Par 72, 7125 yards
    Red Tees:        Par 72, 5389 yards
    Shortest Tees: Par 72, 5082 yards
Local Adare Course:
    White Tees:   Par 69, 5764 yards


Greens Fees per ROUND:
    Resort Course: €130 April thru October; €70-€95 November thru March  
    Local Adare Course: €35

Credit Cards Accepted: AMEX, VISA, MasterCard

Open and Playable Year Round

Advance Booking of Tee-Times Strongly Recommended; Visitors welcome any day

Facilities:
        Changing rooms for men and women
        Club Shop
        Putting green
        Driving Range (resort course only)
        Full bar and restaurant

Rentals:
        Clubs: YES—€40/round at the resort course (plus €10/shoes)
        Pull carts (trolleys): YES—€5/round at the resort course
        Golf carts: Resort Only—€45/round, weather permitting
        Caddies: Resort Only—€45-€35/bag/round

LOCATION: Adare village, 12 miles south of Limerick City, Ireland, on the Limerick-Killarney Road (N21.
Address:  Adare Manor Golf Club, Adare, County Limerick, Ireland

Bookings (from the USA):   Resort: TEL:  011 353 (0)61 396566
                                                       FAX:  011 353 (0)61 396124
                                          Local:    TEL:  011 353 (0)61 396204

Minimum Handicap Required: NONE

Special Rules and Regulations: Jacket and tie required at resort manor house restaurant.

Nearest HOME AT FIRST lodgings:
    In Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland, 29 miles northwest.
    For more information about HOME AT FIRST's Central Ireland travel program

ADARE MANOR RESORT COURSE
        Without a doubt, Ireland has been bitten by the American Golf Resort bug. There must be an Irish growth market for lavish hotel facilities coupled with designer golf courses. That would explain the development in recent years of 1991’s Arnold Palmer-designed parkland K Club course in County Kildare, and the under-development (but locally contested) Greg Norman-designed Doonbeg links course in County Clare, and the Robert Trent Jones 1995 parkland Adare Manor Golf Club in County Limerick.

        With their luxury resort environment, activities for golfers and non-golfers alike, five-star restaurants and hotels, and deluxe gated condominiums, it’s clear who the target duffers are for such courses—the only Irish accents you may hear will be spoken by staff and caddies.

        Adare Manor Golf Club belongs to the five-star Adare Manor Hotel and aspires to be one of the finest inland courses in Ireland. In a country where the great courses have all been coastal, the building of great inland courses must be viewed as the Americanization of Irish golf.

        Unlike Ireland’s coastal links courses Adare Manor is long (7,125 yards, although there are three progressively shorter alternate tee-boxes per hole), wooded, and involves water (3 lakes and the River Maigue) in the play of several holes. So American is Robert Trent Jones’s design that the architect claims to have attempted to give Adare Manor "the flavor of Augusta National."

        But Augusta National, for all its rich history and formality, provides nothing like Adare Manor’s ancient, noble surroundings. The estate of which Adare Manor Golf Club is a part is the centuries-old former demesne of the Earls of Dunraven. Scattered around its 800+ acres are the ruins of a fourteenth Augustinian Priory, a fifteenth century Franciscan friary, and a twelfth century castle. The estate’s manor house, dating from 1862, has been converted into the 5-star hotel. The whole conversion project began with the 1987 purchase of the Adare Manor estate by a New Jersey family. Accommodations on the estate include 63 manor house bedrooms, 11 clubhouse bedrooms and 25 two and four-bedroom townhouses.

        Adare Manor’s restaurant features Irish cuisine and an extensive wine cellar. And there are services aplenty at Adare Manor, almost from A-to-Z: aromatherapy, bicycles, clay pigeon shooting, driving range, fishing, gymnasium, horse riding, indoor swimming pool, massage therapy, mountain bikes, reflexology, rowing machine, sauna, stair climber, stationary cycle, treadmills, weights. All this starting at the minimum of $200.00 per persons per night (double occupancy; breakfast $17.25 per person extra.

  APPROACHING THE MANOR ON THE 18TH FAIRWAY

        Oh yes, the golf. The course, exclusive of the manor house and resort, is neither overblown nor an afterthought. It presents an interesting mix of holes through the trees and around the three lakes. The course is a typical Robert Trent Jones design, with large contoured greens, lots of doglegs, and large, deep bunkers. The back nine includes several of the better holes: the 187-yard 11th (par 3 over a lake to a huge, narrow green), the 550-yard wooded, uphill, dogleg 12th, the short, par 4 15th with the River Maigue defining the right side play limits, the 16th (a 170-yard par 3 also over a lake), and the par 5 18th, Adare’s signature hole, 544 yards straight back to the manor. Although the course has a distinct resort flavor about it, Adare Manor can be demanding when played from any of the tees.

ADARE MANOR GOLF CLUB (local)
        Importantly, Adare Manor Golf Club, should not be confused with the like-named par-69 (par-70 for ladies) Adare Manor Golf Club, also in the picturesque village of Adare. This inexpensive, short (5,764 yards from the blue tees) local course also plays around historic ruins and among the trees in the Maigue River valley. Visitors (always welcome; Saturdays can be crowded) playing this non-resort course report challenging golf in a superb setting for a value price.

ADARE VILLAGE—KNOWN FOR ITS THATCHED COTTAGES

ADARE VILLAGE
        Playing either Adare course means visiting Adare village, often called Ireland’s prettiest town. The Dunraven family, former owners of Adare Manor, restored the thatched cottage village in its woodland setting over the last two centuries. Adare is a mecca for tourists who come to enjoy its antique shops, clothing boutiques, and many restaurants and pubs.

Want to learn about other courses throughout the British Isles
including some of the greatest tests of golf in the world?
See our SCOTLAND, IRELAND, ENGLAND, and WALES Course Guides for more information.