Royal County Down shines brightest among those Northern Ireland layouts, but travelers will first enjoy a proper warm-up on the Baltray Course at County Louth Golf Club, which stands along the shore of Muir Éireann less than 25 miles south of the Northern Ireland border. Here, golfers will at times be tested by the wind, they’ll be required to hit at least a few blind shots, and they’ll likely watch as at least a few of their tee shots funnel into fairway bunkers.

All of those experiences at County Louth Golf Club prepare golfers for Royal County Down, where their rounds will flow naturally from the first to the eighteenth. As one of Northern Ireland’s oldest courses, Royal County Down packages blind shots with perilous, dramatically shaped bunkers and small conservatively contoured putting surfaces that feel even smaller when winds gust in off the Irish Sea. Just across the bay, Ardglass Golf Club delivers an altogether divergent playing experience on a layout that offers views of the sea on every hole and a clubhouse first built in 1405.

Seventy-five miles to the north, travelers to Royal Portrush can walk an Old Tom Morris gem while also retracing the steps that Shane Lowry took to claim his first Claret Jug in 2019. Dramatic days on the links—nay, epic ones (think 36 holes)—can also be had just a stone’s throw away at Portstewart Golf Club and Castlerock Golf Club, two revered links courses that practically share a boundary.