Doonbeg Golf Club, Sports venue in Ireland
Doonbeg Golf Club is a golf course on the County Clare coast in Ireland with views of the Atlantic shoreline. The course spans 18 holes across dunes and coastal terrain, including par-3s, par-4s, and reachable par-5s distinguished by natural hills and bunker systems.
Doonbeg Golf Club was created by Kiawah Development Partners of Kiawah Island, South Carolina, and designed by Greg Norman; it opened in 2002, with Pádraig Harrington playing a match with Norman for the opening. Golf Digest named it Best New International Course of 2002. The club's on-site accommodation and lodge opened in 2006. After receivership in January 2014, Donald Trump bought the property that February for an estimated €15 million and rebranded it Trump International Golf Links, Ireland.
Doonbeg takes its name from the Irish Dún Beag, "small fort", after the coastal townland north of the course. The club opened in 2002 with a match between designer Greg Norman and Pádraig Harrington, and Golf Digest named it Best New International Course that year. Singer Andrea Corr held her wedding reception here, and Clare footballer David Tubridy caddied on the links as a boy.
Allow about four and a half hours for a round and book tee times and caddies in advance, especially during the season. The course offers accommodations at its resort, or you can stay in nearby coastal towns like Kilkee that have good cafes and pubs.
Greg Norman designed the course and played an opening match there with Pádraig Harrington in 2002. Golf Digest named it Best New International Course that year, and Ron Whitten wrote that Doonbeg "looks and plays like it has been there for a hundred years."
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