Photograph: Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Editorial Review
Waterville Golf Links
The Atmosphere
“Charlie Chaplin's favorite Irish escape. Once you've played the back nine along the Atlantic, you'll understand.”
Waterville Golf Links is one of the most remote and rewarding courses in Ireland, set on the Ring of Kerry where Charlie Chaplin spent his summers. The back nine along the Atlantic coast is among the most spectacular stretches of golf anywhere in the world. The Smuggler's Inn nearby serves the best seafood chowder in Kerry. This is golf at the edge of the world.
The long version
Charlie Chaplin spent his summers on this stretch of the Ring of Kerry, and the back nine along the Atlantic explains exactly why he kept coming back.
The drive to Waterville alone tells you how far you have come from anywhere else, along the Ring of Kerry with the mountains on one side and the ocean flashing between headlands on the other. By the time you reach the clubhouse, a modest building looking out over Ballinskelligs Bay, the remoteness has already done half the work of the day.
This is golf at the edge of the world, and the course does not soften that fact. The front nine settles you in gently enough, but by the turn, with the Atlantic now the constant companion on your right, you understand why this is considered one of the most rewarding rounds in Ireland for the players willing to make the journey.
“This is golf at the edge of the world, and the back nine does not let you forget it for a single hole.”
What the round is actually like
The front nine plays through dunes and low ground with the sea visible but not yet dominant. It is the back nine, hole after hole running along or near the Atlantic coastline, that gives Waterville its reputation. The scale here is enormous: wide fairways, big greens, and a sense of open space that few other Irish links share.
It is a physically demanding walk, longer than many links courses and more exposed for longer stretches, and the wind, when it comes off the bay, can turn a straightforward par four into a three-shot ordeal.
The holes you will remember
The stretch from the eleventh through the seventeenth, hugging the coastline with the Atlantic never out of view, is the reason people fly to Kerry for a single round. The eleventh, named Tranquility, offers a rare quiet moment before the course turns hard again toward the sea.
Payne Stewart is honored with a statue near the clubhouse, a mark of how deeply American golfers have connected with this remote corner of Kerry over the decades, Chaplin included.
Getting on
Waterville is remote by any standard, well over two hours from Cork or Shannon airport, and that distance is part of what keeps it uncrowded and unspoiled. Build in the drive time rather than trying to combine it with too much else on the same day.
The Butler Arms in the village is the traditional place to stay, close enough to walk to the first tee, and pairing an overnight there with the Ring of Kerry drive is, for our money, one of the finest single days available in Irish golf.
What we would not pretend
The remoteness that makes Waterville special also makes it inconvenient. It demands a long drive and a full day, and golfers trying to fit it into a tight Kerry itinerary often end up rushing a course that deserves patience.
How we would use it
We build a full day around Waterville rather than squeezing it in: an overnight at the Butler Arms, the round in the morning while the wind is calmer, then the rest of the Ring of Kerry drive in the afternoon toward Kenmare.
Rooms Worth Requesting
What it actually feels like.
Stay at the Butler Arms in the village. The combination of Waterville and the Ring of Kerry drive is perfection.
Why we recommend it
A space that justifies the journey.
Remote and rugged. The reward earns itself. The Smuggler's Inn nearby serves the best seafood chowder.
Experience Waterville
If you understand the feeling of this place, you will naturally want to stay.
View Tee TimesOne of Ireland's most sought-after courses