Where to stay when playing Ballybunion is a matter of circumstance.  If you’re golfing, eating and flopping, somewhere near the town should work.  If you want some surrounding culture, then head down to the bustling city of Killarney, about 45 minutes south.

One of the many festive streets in Killarney.

The drive from Lahinch to Killarney was . . . interesting, as most of the drives were.  It’s not so much the steering wheel being on the right side, or driving on the left side of the road.  It’s that the roads are unbelievably narrow, and winding.  Often, there is about two inches of clearance between sideview mirrors as you pass another car — forget a truck — and the sides of most country roads are straight-lined bushes, cut from how often you’ll clip them to avoid a head-on collision.  There are countless white-knuckle moments if you decide to drive, so get all the insurance the rental car company offers.

In that context, the drive from Lahinch to Killarney was almost enjoyable.  We drove the car onto a ferry at Killimer and it dropped us of at Tarbert, about a half-hour ride across an inlet that took us from County Clare to County Kerry.  It cut the trip in mileage, but was likely the same in time if you stayed on land and drove around.

Kerry is known for it’s wonderfully lush landscape, and the craggy peninsulas that line the western shore.  It’s biggest city is Killarney, which sits at the eastern side of the famous “Ring of Kerry,” which is about a five-hour circular drive around some of the most scenic parts of all of Ireland.   The double-decker tour buses run in and out of Killarney, and there is no embarrassment to shoulder the camera and spend the day seeing the sights.

We stayed at one of the most historic hotels in the city, The Malton, located a block from the train station right in the center of town.  The elegance of the property dates back to 1854, when it was known as The Railway Hotel, and then eventually the Great Southern Hotel Killarney.  The staff is led by general manager and fifth-generation hotelier Brian Scally, who could not have been nicer in his greeting and accommodations.  To fully experience the luxury of The Malton, stay in the suite where Jackie Onassis Kennedy and young John stayed on vacation soon after JFK was assigned in 1963.

The city itself is bustling with life.  There are pubs aplenty, along with many shopping options.  Make sure to stop in a wool store and pick up a sweater.

Not that I needed one when I left for Ballybunion the next morning.

There are days like this Ireland, when the sun shines in abundance and the clouds seem to part in just the right places.  I was graced with one of those days when I stepped to the first tee at Ballybunion’s Old Course.  Right there on the cover of the course guide is a quote from Tom Watson, the five-time Open Champion: “Ballybunion is a course on which many golf architects should live and play before they build a golf course.”

The opening tee shot at Ballybunion, with the ancient cemetery right.

Of course, Watson was at the helm during a major renovation of the links in 1995, but that was as much a labor of love than anything else.  The strategy inherent in the routing, through the dunes and along the beach, makes for that perfect mix of challenge and beauty.

It starts with a downhill tee shot, and out of bounds on the right — which is an ancient cemetery.   The second is a long par-4 that plays up a steep hill framed by two small mountains.  The fourth and fifth are both par-5s that play over the previous hole's green, but then the sixth is a relatively short par-4 that doglegs left when you make your way to the water.  From there, the course really picks up pace.

The tee on No. 11 (left) and the approach (right).

The seventh is a 421-yard par-4 that plays with the beach running down the right side, and then after a quick detour inland — which includes the terrific ninth hole, a par-4 that Sergio Garcia once made a 10 on — you step to the elevated tee of 11th.  This is the hole that Watson called “the best par-4 in the world,” and he could very well be right.  Playing 467 yards from the new back tee, the ocean is all to your right and there is considerable carry over some tall grass to reach the fairway, framed beautifully by dunes on both sides.  But the fairway slopes away, at 273 off the tee, 194 yards from the green, there is a drop-off, a patch of rough that leads to a lower fairway.  It’s from that plateau that you hopefully hit your second, just a exhilarating shot to a green behind some some staggered mounds that make distance control difficult.

Up the shute to Ballybunion's 16th green.

There is hardly any drop in quality as you hit over Kittys River on the par-5 13th, or up the “camels back” on the short par-3 14th, or down the hill on the long par-3 15th.  But the boomerang dogleg-left par-5 16th is a sight to behold, a tee shot where you can cut off as much as you want going left, but the fairway gets unbelievable narrow as it winds up a steep hill to the green.  The shot up the hill is a beauty, as well, with nothing behind the pin besides the sky.  Walking off that green is already a special moment, but standing on the 17th tee is the best view on course.  From a highly elevated tee, you’re looking down on another dogleg-left fairway, but one that breaks off for a view of the ocean and the coastline that is breathtaking.

The breaktaking view off the tee at the dogleg left par-4 17th hole at Ballybunion.

The course ends on a bit of a whimper with the 18th being less than driver off the tee and a second shot over a pseudo “Sahara” bunker to a blind green.  But there is little that can take away from what came before it — a no-brainer for one of the best golf courses in the world.