Old Head, near Kinsale on the southern tip of the island, is set on what is surely the most spectacular golf terrain in the world, a 220-acre promontory high above the Atlantic. A St. Andrews neighbor of mine had described it derisively as "a fine place to walk your dog," but I found it far more than that. Granted, the tightly cramped setting doesn't allow for a completely straightforward course, but the six-man tag team of architects did a commendable job of shoehorning the 18 holes. Of course, it's the holes on the edge of the cliffs (there are nine of them) that make this place something special. Without question, the par-5 12th is the most jaw-dropping 564 yards I have ever walked.

At Doonbeg, Greg Norman was given an incredible setting—a stretch of mammoth, rolling dunes on the west coast halfway between Ballybunion and Lahinch—and he made the most of it. In fact, he made a bit too much. Just as with his first course, the Medalist in Hobe Sound, Florida, the Shark's first pass seems to have been aimed at his own stellar game more than those of us mere mortals.

When, after hitting the 1 st green with a sand wedge, I faced another sand wedge shot for my first putt of the day, I knew I was in for an adventure. The ensuing four hours included a traffic jam of crisscrossing holes at the center of the course (where the tee shot of one of my fellow players came within a whisker of cold-cocking a wanderer from another hole) and at least three greens where three-putting was not a possibility but  an achievement. But Greg has already begun toning things down, and in another year or so he will undoubtedly have himself a bona fide gem.

Carne, also known by its town name Belmullet, sits on the remote northwesternmost tip of Ireland. In 1984, the locals took it upon themselves to encourage tourism by forming a company, buying 260 seaside acres and commissioning Eddie Hackett (Ireland's Robert Trent Jones Sr.) to build them a course.

It turned out to be Hackett's final work, and also his best, an absolutely joyous 18-hole romp through the dunes. Hackett did not move much earth, but in exchange he asks us to trek constantly up to elevated tees, down to nestled greens, and sometimes back up to elevated greens. The result is sort of the Cruden Bay of Ireland, a course as fun to photograph as it is to play, but with arguably the strongest stretch of finishing holes this side of Carnoustie.

Situated as it is, Carne serves as a sort of gateway to a collection of equally undiscovered gems in the northwest of Ireland, and each seems to be outdoing the other for the attention of traveling golfers. There is venerable Sligo, long and treacherous, with fairways that toss your ball mercilessly right and left, and its signature 17th hole, a dogleg par 4 that is one of the hardest in the game.

There is Enniscrone, recent beneficiary of a rerouting that includes six dramatic new holes by Donald Steel set among colossal sand hills.

There is Rosapenna, its original 1891 layout now joined by a new baby brother, a rigorous Pat Ruddy examination called Sandy Hills that some feel will outdo even his European Club.

And there is the excitement of what is to come on the nearby island of Bartra, where after nearly seven years of negotiation, Nick Faldo has purchased 360 acres of duneland, accessible only by hovercraft, and intends to " handcraft" the ultimate links.