Great ValueHidden Gem

Wicklow Golf Club

Wicklow town · Designed by Pat Ruddy & Tom Craddock (redesign 1994)

The course sits above cliffs that Norsemen knew well: the name Wicklow derives from the Old Norse Víkingaló — "Bay of the Meadows" — and the town below grew from a Viking trading settlement established in the 9th century. Black Castle, whose gaunt ruins stand three minutes from the town centre, was originally built as a Viking timber fort; Henry II granted the site to Strongbow in 1173, and the stone fortification was later razed by the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles. The cliffs the course occupies were historically O'Byrne territory — the powerful Wicklow Gaelic clan held out against Norman and English authority here for centuries.

The club was founded in 1904 on farmland owned by the O'Connor family. In 1994, after acquiring land south of Dunbur Glen, Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock redesigned the layout into its current 18-hole form, adding 11 new greens and altering several others. The result reads as parkland on the scorecard — par 71, 6,040 yards, slope 127 — but plays as a clifftop examination in any wind off the Irish Sea. The 6th hole, named The Nose, requires a 200-yard carry entirely over sea and crags to a fairway that doesn't begin until the cliffs relent; the 17th, The Glen, drops into the neck of Dunbur Glen for a 150-yard carry over a chasm to a green enclosed on three sides by shrubs. Many holes carry names drawn from offshore maritime features: Churn, Codling, Hens and Chickens.

Wicklow town is walking distance from the clubhouse: The Wicklow Heather and The Lighthouse Seafood Restaurant on South Quay are the best options for post-round food. Hunter's Hotel in Rathnew (5 km north) — Ireland's oldest coaching inn, established 1720 — has a celebrated garden restaurant. Blainroe Golf Club (5 km south) shares the same clifftop character and is often combined with Wicklow for a two-course day.

Holes worth knowing

16th ("The Nose", par-4) — the tee sits on the nose of the cliff with the fairway beginning only where the land resumes after a 200-yard carry entirely over sea and crags. There is no bail-out. In a headwind off the Irish Sea, one of the most demanding tee shots in Leinster.
217th ("The Glen", par-3, 161 yards) — played from an elevated tee into the neck of Dunbur Glen, requiring a forced carry of almost 150 yards over a chasm with water below. All three remaining sides are enclosed by shrubs and rough. On a windy day this hole humiliates low-handicappers.

Highlights

6th hole ("The Nose"): 200-yard carry over sea cliffs — all or nothing off the tee
17th hole ("The Glen"): 150-yard carry into a chasm, three sides enclosed — par 3 under pressure
Named holes from local maritime features: Churn, Codling, Hens and Chickens
Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock redesign (1994) of a club founded in 1904
Post-round views from the 2002 clubhouse lounge bar over Wicklow Bay

Good to know

→Check the wind direction before going out. The 6th and 17th play very differently upwind vs. downwind, and the onshore wind at Wicklow can shift. A benign-looking card becomes a very different examination in a stiff easterly.
→Blainroe Golf Club (5 km south) shares the same clifftop character and is often combined with Wicklow for a full day — two courses, different challenges, same dramatic coastline.
→Hunter's Hotel in Rathnew (5 km north) is Ireland's oldest coaching inn (1720) and has one of the best garden restaurants in Wicklow — worth booking for dinner if you're staying overnight on the east coast.

Visitor Information

Getting There

1h drive

Common questions

What is Wicklow Golf Club like?

Wicklow Golf Club is a coastal links course on the Wicklow shore — one of the very few proper links courses in the southeast of Ireland. It looks out over the Irish Sea with views north along the coast. Good value and active, it's a natural stop for golfers exploring the coast south of Dublin.

Is Wicklow a useful addition to a Dublin golf trip?

Yes — Wicklow is an hour south of Dublin city and provides links golf on the east coast without driving far out of range. Combined with a visit to Powerscourt Estate or a walk in the Wicklow Mountains, it makes a natural Dublin day-trip. The coastal scenery along the drive south through Greystones and Bray is excellent.

How do I book Wicklow Golf Club?

Wicklow books through GolfNow with reliable availability.

What should I see in Wicklow alongside golf?

Powerscourt Estate and Gardens in Enniskerry — thirty minutes northwest — is one of the finest garden estates in Ireland with views over the Sugar Loaf mountain. Glendalough, the early Christian monastic settlement in the Wicklow Mountains, is forty-five minutes west and worth a full morning. The Wicklow Way walking trail passes through the same valley.