Two years ago I was in Scotland and decided to take a day trip to St. Andrews to visit the Old Course. Seeing the Old Course for the first time was truly an unforgettable experience. My agenda unfortunately did not include any golf so the best I could manage was to hit a few balls at the driving range adjacent to the Old Course. Touring the Old Course was my first experience seeing links golf played in person as I come from Nova Scotia, Canada, where until recently, links golf was only accessible by a 7+ hour flight. In Nova Scotia we are now blessed to have world class links golf with the introduction of Cabot Links and the soon to be Cabot Cliffs. Having played Cabot Links more than a dozen times now I have fallen in love with links golf.
This morning one of our national airlines started direct flights from St Johns, Newfoundland to Dublin, Ireland. Living in Halifax, Nova Scotia this would mean cheap and quick flights to Ireland and links golf. I am currently booked to travel to Ireland June 27th returning July 8th. I plan on spending 3 days in Dublin and then taking off for 7 days of links golf. I have budgeted between $1000-$1200 CAD for green fees. I would like to play a few championship courses as well as some tier 2 courses. Having little knowledge of the best tier 2 courses I was wondering what ones are recommended and what championship courses cannot be missed still staying within my budget?
