South-west Ireland

Ireland's famous south-west offers more than just links courses. Kevin Markham enjoys some of the beautiful parkland golf in and around the town of Killarney

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Ask anyone in Ireland to rank the most beautiful places to visit in this country, and Killarney will be high up on that list. The town is charming and you are never short of accommodation options. Alongside, Ireland's full beauty is on display, wrapped up in the Killarney National Park - all 41 square miles of it - and so entwined with the towering MacGillycuddy's Reeks and the shimmering Lough Leane.

Within this park, at the foot of those mountains and running alongside the lough, is the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, home to two swaggering parkland courses: Killeen and Mahony's Point. The clubhouse sits on the water's edge, the long driveway revealing the club's extra cherry on top: a herd of 700 red deer. It is the last indigenous such herd in Ireland, and they roam the courses freely and come surprisingly close.

A big reputation

The Killeen course has hosted four Irish Opens, with Nick Faldo winning back-to-back titles in the 1990s.