For a week this upcoming July, the focus of the golfing world will be centered on Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland as it stages the 153rd British Open. Also, the days preceding, during and after surely will be time for one of golf’s best travel destinations to promote an array of the world’s top links layouts.
There will also be heightened anticipation for the opening of the Republic of Ireland’s latest links course design adjacent to the white sands of Curracloe Beach, the filming location of the epic movie “Saving Private Ryan.”
Curracloe Links, designed by the American architectural team of Dana Fry and Jason Straka (Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design), will debut with preview play in fall 2026. The layout is expected to fit in quite nicely with the more than 50 links courses scattered across the self-proclaimed “Land of Links.”
“The land for Curracloe Links is truly spectacular,” says Straka, who along with his partner Fry visited the site in late March to update the course’s progress and ready its crew for the grassing of fairways heading into the growing season. “Roughly half of the holes have sweeping vistas of the Irish Sea and the other half has prototypical views of the Irish countryside with sheep farms, gorse lined fields, narrow, rock-lined roads and green pastures.
“The natural topography heaves and rolls, providing a variety of lovely golf holes that will be great fun to play. Curracloe Links will be a reason for the golf traveler to visit the sunny southeast of Ireland.”
The course, developed by the Neville Hotel Group, will be located two hours south of Dublin in an area called Ancient East.
Golf travelers can stay at the Ravenport Resort, a luxury hotel with 50 rooms, a spa and leisure club. The $21 million project was the culmination of a 25-year dream to develop a golf destination and resort that introduces players from around the world to the untouched beauty of southeast Ireland, one of the country’s undiscovered gems.
Neville Hotels is a family owned and managed Irish company focusing on offering the highest standards of service and quality. Ravenport Resort is the fifth luxury property in Neville Hotels.
“Curracloe Links has been raved about and it’s a very unique part of the world, and what I mean by that is there are not a lot of links courses around it,” says Marty Carr, co-founder of Carr Golf, which specializes in luxury golf excursions to Ireland, Scotland and England.
Carr notes that most of Irish golf travel centers on areas with “clusters” of high-end golf courses. He describes Curracloe as “off the beaten track quite a bit,” located about 3 hours from world-renowned Old Head to the south.
“I think Curracloe is going to have to carve out its own path,” Carr says. “It’s going to be interesting to see how they market it. It could be a great place for corporate groups or for guys helicoptering from Old Head back to Dublin, they could swing by and drop off there.”
Fry agrees that the east coast of Ireland is “sort of the forgotten part for golfers” but believes Curracloe Links will create a mystique all its own and become a “destination course.”
“Most people go up north or to the south, or west side of Ireland for obvious reasons — that’s where most of the great golf courses are,” Fry says. “There are very few inland golf courses in Ireland that are well known, but Curracloe hopefully can take its place among the great course and be another alternative for people to play some compelling golf.”
The course’s unique topography lends itself to bold and dramatic golf holes, which will be a selling point, Fry said.
“And we’re doing some really dramatic bunkering where they’re just cut into the ground and look like they’re troughs or trenches,” Fry says. “It’s definitely going to be a good addition to Irish golf, but it’s completely different than most of the links courses that have been built on true links land. Curracloe Links is very dramatic in its own right.”
The land’s elevation also lends itself to sweeping views of the sea and beyond.
“We are not right on the beach — we’re less than a mile – but we’re up in the air a hundred feet, so on at least half of the holes you’re looking at the beach and the sand dunes on the beach,” Fry says. “It’s a pretty dramatic piece of land because it’s just got big, rolling contours and big deep valleys. A lot of what I always say Americans think of inland Ireland. The site really is quintessential Ireland.”
Stylistically, Straka says he and Fry wanted to design something a bit different in links golf, something that hasn’t been seen in Ireland, comparing the look somewhat to Bill Coore’s and Ben Crenshaw’s design at Friar’s Head in New York.
“We need to make sure we add all the nuances to this design,” Straka says. “So, you do know that postcard perfect backdrop of the 12th hole with the sheep in the background is on purpose, right? We’re creating that painting to where it’s 18 holes of a journey.“And I look at it as an honor, quite honestly,” Straka added of being selected to design Curracloe. “It’s the experience of a lifetime.”