Located some 8 miles west of Kinsale, Ireland, Old Head GolfLinks sits on a 220-acre promontory high above the Atlantic. Looking like a swollen thumb jutting out to sea, the promontory is connected to the mainland by a very narrow strip of land that is primarily farmland.
The course site has both historical and environmental significance. Old Head of Kinsale is a National Monument and was once a stronghold of the ancient Eireann Celts who gave their name to the country. The Anglo-Norman invasion beginning in 1169 ushered in a long period of Norman occupation. Remnants of castles and stone circles, as well as churches and dwellings built on the site by monks during Medieval times, are visible throughout the course. One relic of note is the Stone of Accord or Wedding Stone, an upright circular stone with a small hole in the center used for centuries by tradesmen and married couples who would link fingers through the hole signifying the renewal of their contracts.
For years prior to the development of the golf course, the site was usable for little more than sheep and cattle grazing and even then it was scarcely suitable. At the tip of the headland is the lighthouse that presides over the course and lit the way for many seafarers. The waters just off shore was witness to the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 when the Spanish Armada sailed in to help the Irish fight off the invading British warships. Here also was where a German U-boat sank the Lusitania in 1915, bringing the U.S. into the first World War.