Ballykilmurray,
Tullamore, Co. Offaly
Office
+353 (0)57 935 5999Pro shop
+353 (0)57 935 5999Fax
+353 (0)57 935 5021Website
Visit websiteThe Course:
18 holes. Tree-lined & open parkland. Undulating terrain - several slopes to climb.
Surroundings:
Rural countryside.
Designer:
Christy O'Connor Jr.
53.295362
-7.563979
35 km SE of Athlone
From Tullamore in Co. Offaly, follow the N80 direction Clara and Moate. After approx 5 km turn left off the N80 and follow direction Esker Hills.
Esker Hills Golf Club: It must have been difficult to envisage the creation of a championship golf course amongst this tightly folding and somewhat hilly terrain. However, that didn't deter Christy O'Connor Jnr from designing a thoroughly absorbing, challenging and highly enjoyable layout.
Every hole at Esker Hills, home club of Open Champion Shane Lowry, has its unique contours and challenges. Sometimes a blind drive or approach shot is required, at other times water hazards try to get into the act. Whether meandering uphill or down dale, along tree-lined fairways or into more open spaces, O'Connor continually keeps the interest of the golfer in mind, testing your overall game, but fairly so.
The greens are generally large and sloping, with good quality bunkering offering additional defence. If you choose to walk the course you'll certainly have burnt off some calories by the closing stretch, but you'll also have the opportunity to reflect on a wonderfully scenic, always probing and delightful layout here in the midlands of Ireland.
Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.
Must book in advance. Handicap required.
Credit cards accepted. Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, etc. [Last updated: 2019].
Soft spikes only. Players generally walk this course. Golf carts available for hire (if pre-booked).
Good
Esker Hills is home to European Tour professional and Open Championship winner Shane Lowry. Shane had a glittering amateur career at Esker Hills, which culiminated in 2009 when he became the first amateur golfer ever to win the Irish Open championship. In 2019, as a professional, he went one better and became one of the select band of Irish golfers to lift the Claret Jug as the (British) Open Champion.
Sculpted by natural forces at the end of the last Ice Age (10,000 years ago), County Offaly's narrow ridges of sand and gravel now form the Esker Riada and provide Esker Hills golf course with its contouring. Research has shown that a nine-hole golf course existed for a number of years from 1885 adjacent to the present 16th tee. The revival of golf in this natural location was the brainchild of the Molloy and O'Brien families who own these lands.
Nearby Tullamore is home of the world famous Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey.
Ireland: 91st best course in Ireland (Golf World, 2019).
Tullamore, Co. Offaly
+353 (0)57 934 6666
Visit websiteLocated on the outskirts of Tullamore, Co Offaly, the Tullamore Court Hotel is an ideal central Ireland location, just over 60 minutes to Dublin, Galway and 75 minutes from Limerick. A short 5-minute walk from Tullamore train station, the hotel offers luxury accommodation, highly acclaimed food and extensive leisure facilities, which includes a 20-metre swimming pool.
No
Esker Hills
New Forest; Mount Temple; Tullamore (not yet covered by Where2Golf).
Tullamore, Co. Offaly
+353 (0)57 932 2000
Visit websiteTullamore is located in the heart of Ireland, 90 minutes from Dublin. Two championship golf courses (Esker Hills and Tullamore) are within a short drive of the Bridge House Hotel.
No
Esker Hills
New Forest; Mount Temple; Tullamore (not yet covered by Where2Golf).
Tournaments:
European Tour: 2021 marks the 50th and last season of the world renowned European Tour, launched in April 1972 at the Spanish Open. From 2022 the Tour will be sponsored by Dubai-based global supply chain and ports operator DP World, and will be known as the DP World Tour.
South African Open: December 2021 events in South Africa have again been impacted by the Covid pandemic. The South African Open (Dec 2-5) will no longer be played as a DP World Tour event, and the Alfred Dunhill Championship (Dec 9-12) has been cancelled.
Who's Who:
Bernhard Langer: at age 64, Langer collected a record sixth Charles Schwab Cup, the only player to have won the season-long points chase more than twice. He also topped the PGA Tour Champions money-list for the 11th time out of a possible 13 since 2008.
Carlota Ciganda: the five-time Solheim Cup star was delighted to record a fourth Ladies European Tour win in her home national championship, the Ladies Spanish Open.
Lee Elder: Trailblazer, Ryder Cup player, four-time PGA Tour winner and eight-time Senior PGA Tour winner, Lee Elder died on November 28, aged 87. In 1975 he became the first African American golfer to play in the Masters tournament, and in so doing provided one of the pivotal moments in the history of professional golf.
Golf World Top 100: Best Golf Courses in Europe. From France to Spain to the Netherlands and Norway, the Golf World Top 100 panel reveals the places you have to play (published 20 October 2021).
New 27-hole golf complex to be built in southern Belgium
A new golf complex in southern Belgium, close to the border with Luxembourg, will start construction in June 2021.
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club "makes its tournament debut with the hosting of the Italian Open on the European Tour" by Richard Humphreys
Gamble Sands opens short course:
David McLay Kidd’s 14-hole QuickSands short course has opened for play at Gamble Sands in Brewster, Washington.
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