Corballis Links might well be the shortest 18-hole course on any of the NCG Top 100s lists, but it has plenty to offer and plenty of challenges. 

 

The course has been around for more than 115 years, but has passed through a number of hands, including Donabate Golf Club and Corballis Golf Club. 

 

Now, the property is owned by Fingal County Council, and it is the only pay-and-play links course in Ireland. The course borders The Island to the south, a venue which features on the NCG Top 100s: Great Britain & Ireland list.

 

  

Visit the Corballis Links website here.  

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The course dates back more than a century, with employees of Portrane Hospital setting out a layout by the beach in the 1900s. 

 

Since then, the course has had many names, with Donabate Golf Club established in the 1920s, after the course was extended to become an 18-hole track. Only a decade later, the club relocated, with Corballis Golf Club then being founded. 

 

Corballis Golf Club ran until the end of the 1960s. Like Donabate, the club moved to a new location, leaving the course where it was. The course was then opened for public play in 1971, but did not become known as Corballis Links until 2004.  

 

By that point, the layout had been redesigned by the County Council, with Ron Kirby – whose best work came at the Old Head of Kinsale - then being drafted in to make more changes following the final name change. 
 

Corballis Links is the only pay-and-play public links course in all of Ireland, but remains in beautiful condition year-round. The course is, without doubt, the shortest that you will find on the NCG Top 100s: Ireland for an 18-hole layout. Corballis Links is just 5,050 yards from the tips, but there are still plenty of challenges along the way, not least that sea breeze coming in off the Irish Sea. The course features all of the typical links characteristics, including rippling fairways, pot bunkers, firm fescue and undulating greens.  

 

Eight holes on the Corballis Links run alongside the coastline, with Donabate Beach at their side. The 2nd is the first of those, which you get to after playing the opening par 3. At just 145 yards, the 1st at Corballis is not long. It plays to a large green, but there is a stream behind the putting surface and three pot bunkers in front, making club selection critical. The 2nd is only 255 yards long, offering up the option to take on the green on the first par 4 on the card. It is quickly followed by the hardest hole on the course, the 3rd. There is a wide fairway, but the green is the narrowest on the course, with the hole playing anywhere from 440 to 475 yards long depending on the flag position.  

 

4 is the shortest hole on the course, just 113 yards long from the tips. Don’t be distracted by the backdrop of the Irish Sea, as the green one of the smallest on the property. The 5th plays as a dog-leg left along the coastline, with 6 being another short par 3 of just 130 yards. There are four pot bunkers on the 6th, which make the hole slightly more difficult to manoeuvre. 7 plays back infield, and along the boundary with The Island, as a dog-leg left, with the 8th and 9th sitting in the southwestern corner of the property. 9 is the fourth par 3 on the front nine and plays over a water hazard to a long green that turns slightly around the water.  

 

The back nine plays significantly longer than the front, thanks to the only par 5 on the course coming at the 12th. It begins with another par 3, though. This is the longest at Corballis Links, coming in at 195 yards, and plays to a shallow, but wide green. 11 is another short par 4, playing as a sharp dog-leg right. Some could go straight for the green, but most will play to the fairway before making the turn. 12 is more than 510 yards long and has a double turn to the right in it. Find the fairway and there is a chance of going for the green, but if you don’t, the safe play is to lay up. 

 

The 13th is another short par 3, before the 14th takes you back along the coastline of Donabate Beach. 15 and 16 play with one massive fairway, a la the opening and closing holes on the Old Course at St Andrews. The 15th plays north, with the 16th then running south, in the opposite direction. Both are par 4s, less than 400 yards. The 17th is the last of seven par 3s at Corballis Links, with no bunkers and a large green to aim at. The closing hole is a dog-leg right par 4 with two fairway bunkers on the left side. Miss those, and there is one last chance of birdie on offer.

Where is Corballis Links located?  
Corballis Links is one of the easternmost venues on the NCG Top 100s: Ireland list, located on the eastern coastline of the country, north of Dublin. The course sits alongside Donabate Beach, and offers golfers views over the water to Lambay Island and Lambay Castle, which sits in the Irish Sea. The Irish capital city of Dublin is just 15 miles to the south. The Island – which occupies a space on the NCG Top 100s: Great Britain & Ireland list – neighbours Corballis Links to the south.  

 

Dublin Airport, the biggest and busiest airport in the entirety of Ireland, sits less than ten miles southeast of Corballis Links, offering great transport links for those visiting the country from overseas. Dublin Connolly is the nearest train station, but that is in the city centre, 15 miles away from Corballis. 

What golf facilities does Corballis Links offer?
Due to its close proximity to the coastline and a lack of space (hence the Par 66), there is no driving range at Corballis Links. There is a practice net for golfers to hit into, along with a pair of putting greens down by the 1st tee.  

What are the green fees at Corballis Links?  
The price of a green fee at Corballis Links changes throughout the year, depending on the season. It is also different depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend.  

 

For more information on current green fees at Corballis Links, visit their website here. 

 

  

Visit the Corballis Links website here. 

Go Back To NCG's Top 100s Homepage.