If you want to play a winning round of golf , then drink in some classic pubs afterwards , look no further than Dublin , says ANDREW MARSHALL , who offers his mustdo “ pubs and clubs .” Photography by PAUL MARSHALL .
Golf : a sport where grown men and women use several different bent sticks to hit a ball into an area with very short grass surrounding a hole in the ground . Yep , that ’ s pretty much the gist of it , and the inhabitants of the Emerald Isle love it – alongside a good drink of course . And where in Ireland is perfect for both ? Well , none other than the capital itself .
Just a short drive away from Dublin ’ s city centre there are some amazingly high quality courses waiting to be discovered . A few miles north of the city , golfing options include Royal Dublin , Portmarnock Links and the lesser-known St Anne ’ s Golf Club . To the west , are top-class parkland tracks like the K Club and Rathsallagh . To the south , quick road connections lead to County Wicklow and championship courses such as Druid ’ s Glen and The European Club .
And when it comes to enjoying a pint or two after your round , there ’ s no shortage of 19th holes in the city . “ A good puzzle would be to cross Dublin without passing a pub ,” wrote James Joyce in Ulysses . Little has changed since Joyce penned his classic novel and Dublin ’ s approximately 800 pubs are still the hubs of social life summed up in that famous Irish word , the “ craic .”
So whether you are negotiating one of The European Club ’ s long par-4s through the dunes or sampling a few beers in O ’ Neill ’ s back in Dublin , here are 18-holes of golf clubs and pubs . Enjoy your rounds !
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