The Social Media Open has been going since 2013 and has visited some of the finest golf courses in Ireland over the years – Adare GC, Ballybunion, Castlemartyr, Dooks, Doonbeg, Mount Juliet, Old Head and Tralee. Next year is no different!

The Social Media Open returns next April for its 8th Annual Tournament! The venues of 2016, 2017 & 2018 and 2019 return once more as well – namely, The Old & Cashen Course at Ballybunion Golf Club, along with Tralee Golf Links & Dooks Golf Links to make up 4 tremendous tests of golf. The dates for the Event will be Monday 28th June – Thursday 1st July 2021.

Ballybunion’s 10th Green and 11th Tee

Day 1 of The 2021 Social Media Open will take place at the tremendous Tralee Golf Links on Monday 28th June! Course designer, Arnold Palmer, claims credit for the front 9 but has always maintained that “God designed the back 9”, unfortunately for all golf fans Mr Palmer has now passed on but we can luckily still enjoy his amazing work in County Kerry. Tralee Golf Links only opened in 1984 but has been getting rave review ever since, as PGA Tour player Kevin Stadler attests to…. “My favourite courses are Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Tralee Golf Club”. Not bad company eh! Beautiful views of Kerry’s picturesque surrounds and beaches are the perfect backdrop and the sounds of the Atlantic Ocean make up an ideal soundtrack to bring the curtain down on what we promise will be another excellent week of craic, with a bit of golf in between!!

Day 2 of The 2021 Social Media Open takes us back to Dooks Golf Links in Glenbeigh. This beautifully located links course was a favourite of many a team last April and it promises to present a great golfing test once more along with the now famous Dooks welcome! Also known for its narrow links fairways and well contoured greens, you will get a real taste of traditional links golf at its very best. The west Kerry scenery and a scattering of gorse, heather and wild flowers will go down a treat as well. Dooks has been welcoming golfers since 1889 and the course has gone from strength to strength each year, we are very much looking forward to returning here on Tuesday 29th June!

Tralee Golf Club

Day 3 of The 2021 Social Media Open will involve a 2-course start at the Cashen Course & Old Course at Ballybunion Golf Club on Wednesday 30th June with half the field playing on the Cashen and the other half taking on the Old Course for the 1st Round. The Cashen Course, opened in 1982 and designed by renowned golf architect Robert Trent Jones Senior, requires acute precision especially off the tee as fairways frequently disappear around corners. The careless tee shots can easily run out of fairway and find their golf ball buried in the marram grass, hopefully there won’t be many of them next April! The ‘BallyB’ website puts it well in that “if the Cashen Course at Ballybunion Golf Club was anywhere else it would attract far more attention and plaudits than it does. It’s hard on a girl if her older sister is Sophia Loren!”

The last Day of The 2021 Social Media Open will again involve a 2-course start taking in the World famous Old Course and Cashen Course at Ballybunion Golf Club on Thursday 1st July. The famous English golf writer, Peter Dobereiner said of BallyB’s Old Course: “If sheer pleasure is the yardstick, then Ballybunion’s Old Course gets my vote as the No. 1 in the world”. According to Ivan Morris’ editorial on the Ballybunion GC website, “by the mid-1970s, there was a growing trickle of well-read, international visitors that overnight turned into a flood in 1982 when Tom Watson made his famous off the cuff eulogy after accepting the Claret Jug at Royal Troon: ‘Nobody can call himself a golfer until he has played at Ballybunion; you would think the game originated there!’ Ever since, the North Kerry links has been one of the most lucrative and recognizable brands in world golf. Knowledgeable golfers realize that if they haven’t played golf at Ballybunion their golfing education is gravely incomplete”.

The Tournament Format will stay the same for the Event from previous years – Par 4s & Par 5s: Both players tee off and pick one tee shot, from this spot both players then play their own ball from there. The first player to play will be the player whose tee shot is chosen (Play as Lie depending on the Local Rules on the day), the 2nd player may then place their ball within a scorecard not nearer the hole. Par 3s: Both players play their own ball for the duration of the hole Team of 2 with both scores on holes 9 & 18 and 1 score to count on the other holes each (3/4 Handicaps apply) – while the Tournament packages are as follows:

• Golf Only – €409 per person / €818 per Team of 2
• Play & Stay 3 nights – €589 per person sharing / €1,178 per Team of 2
• Play & Stay 4 nights – €699 per person sharing / €1,398 per Team of 2 (includes Prize Giving Dinner)
• Play & Stay 5 nights – €759 per person sharing / €1,518 per Team of 2 (includes Prize Giving Dinner)

Other Packages available on Request – Contact Us for details. Along with the great golf and awesome accommodation there will hopefully be some “social gatherings” organised over the course of the few days, always something to look forward to post-round! We are looking forward to another great few days of golf & craic in the South West of Ireland and hope you can join us next April! If you have any queries regarding The 2021 Social Media Open please email info@experienceirelandgolfandtravel.com or call +353-64-6622830.