The Golf Course at Adare Manor Review

Top 100 Ranking 2021/22 – 23

Previous Rankings
2019/20 – 25 Re-Entry
2017/18 – Next 100
2015/16 – Next 100
2013/14 – 98
2011/12 – 83 Re-Entry

Summer Green Fees

Round – €395, €350 Hotel Residents

Visitors: welcome at all times, subject to availability

Medal Tee: Par 72 – 6,505 Yards

adaremanor.com

Changes since previous ranking

The course is still essentially very young having reopened in 2018 following the renovation work, so there were no significant changes. There was a major tree planting programme on holes 5 and 7. The club added mature specimen trees to enhance both the holes’ aesthetic as well as frame their dogleg designs with a bolder tree lining to create more of a turn.

The Golf Course at Adare Manor Review

Several years ago, the new owner took the bold and indeed expensive decision at Adare Manor to close both the course and the hotel for a full and comprehensive upgrade. The parkland course was already highly rated, but the aim was to refresh, renew and reinvigorate the beautiful Robert Trent Jones Snr layout.

The opening hole – don’t be short!

Leading American designer Tom Fazio is no stranger to big-budget course design with his creation at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas said to have cost $37 million. And that was more than 30 years ago! He oversaw the re-creation here and effectively kept the same routing while enhancing literally every aspect of the tees, fairways, bunkers, greens and water features. No expense was spared in installing and utilising the latest and very best equipment and materials.

The approach to the ninth with the Manor beyondThere is more than 6,600 square metres of new bunkering and there are completely new playing surfaces, all of which has effectively led to this being not so much a refurbishment, as a brand new course. The result is the most Augusta-like experience you can get anywhere in Europe.

The par-3 eleventh is played over the river

Perfect Conditioning

Every aspect is pristine. The tee complexes are presented like greens. The bunkering is superb both from a playing perspective and visually. The greens are simply as good as you will find anywhere.

The thrilling par-4 fifteenth

Having staged two Irish Opens in its previous incarnation, the 2027 Ryder Cup is heading to Adare Manor. This will make for the perfect venue in every respect.

WATCH: GM’s Joel Tadman played the newly-reopened Adare Manor soon after its reincarnation

Every green is protected by water, bunkering, fall-off areas, or a combination of all three. There is drama and great beauty every step of the way. It is virtually impossible to pick out individual holes as most would be the signature hole elsewhere. However, at 15, 16 and 18 you have as spectacular and memorable a par 4, short hole and finishing par 5 as you will find anywhere.

Looking back from behind the short sixteenth

Caddies are compulsory, and the green fees are certainly not for the faint-hearted, but ultimately this is true, bucket-list material and a golfing experience unlike any other.

Assessor Feedback

If ever there was a hotel and golf course classed as millionaires’ golf in the UK and Ireland, Adare Manor is at the top of the list.

The closing hole is exceptionally pretty

GM Verdict

For modern, perfectly-conditioned parkland golf of the very top order in terms of interest, excitement and beauty, there is simply none better