Ballybunion Cashen Course

The Cashen Course at Ballybunion Golf Club was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened in 1984. Built across some of the most extreme duneland in Ireland — arguably more dramatic topographically than the adjacent Old Course — the Cashen presents a links challenge of an entirely different character. Where the Old is a masterpiece of routing and history, the Cashen is wilder, more elemental and, for many players, more punishing.

Robert Trent Jones Sr. was given arguably the most spectacular raw material of his distinguished career when he surveyed the Cashen dunes in the late 1970s. The course traverses deep valleys between towering sand ridges, presenting carries and blind shots that demand both boldness and precision. Some holes play from elevated tees across near-vertical drops; others require lengthy approach shots with the wind howling off the Atlantic. The course measures 6,306 yards from the medal tees at a par of 72.

The Cashen is included in a combined day ticket with the Old Course, making Ballybunion one of the few clubs in Ireland where a genuine 36-hole day is a realistic and immensely rewarding option. Green fees for the Cashen alone run from €80 to €100. Advance booking is recommended, particularly during the summer months when demand from international golf tourists is at its peak.