€99 for 3 of Kerry's under-appreciated courses

[Photo: Dooks par three 4th. It doesn't get more stunning than this]

If you're after a rather delicious golfing Christmas present, or you're simply planning your golfing adventures for next year, you'll do well to beat the Peninsula Pass, in Co. Kerry.

Let's start with the location... Co. Kerry is magnificent, beautiful, friendly and fun. It also has - by county - the best golf courses in the country.

[Photo: Ring of Kerry's par three 18th]

What about value for money... €99 for three courses which fall neatly into links (Dooks), seaside/parkland (Skellig Bay) and parkland (Ring of Kerry). €33 is a steal when you consider you can play them during peak season.

[Photo: Skellig Bay views, from green to tee on the par three 2nd]

Are the views worthwhile... Dooks has the best views of any golf course on the island (and it's up against stiff competition). Stand on the second green and take a nice and slow 360 degree spin. Mountains, sea, valleys. It's breathtaking. Ring of Kerry is on a hillside and overlooks the Greenane Islands in Kenmare Bay, while Skellig Bay is tucked under mountains and drifts above Skellig Bay itself (with Waterville in the distance)... alongside traditional dry-stone walls.

[Photo: Dooks - the 2nd green]

Quality Golf... Dooks, for me, remains one of the under-appreciated links in Ireland (hence the value). It's not big-dune country but it has great links tradition and challenges, a fabulous mix of holes and flora and fauna that makes it almost worthwhile to hit shots into the rough.

Skellig Bay has plenty of glorious holes (designed by Ron Kirby) and while the ones overlooking the ocean may be the most dramatic, the ones up against the mountain and along Fionnglassa River are the most stunning.

[Photo: Ring of Kerry's par three 14th and the views]

Ring of Kerry is a good course, but it wouldn't be up to the thrills of the other two - not in my book anyway. It has great flourishes, several dramatic holes (especially the par threes), good water features and some great challenges - it will certainly keep you entertained... as well as tiring you out that bit more.

Where to stay... if you have the cash, stay at Parknasilla, my favourite hotel on the planet! Otherwise you can choose between various hotels in Kenmare or Killarney... or find something in between. There are also hotels in Skellig Bay (try the Butler Arms), but wherever you stay you need to be aware of two things: you're on the Ring of Kerry, and the roads are not good. Drive too fast and you'll be rattled from your teeth to your testicles; and, if you plan your trip for summer, the traffic will get crazy busy, so remember that coaches travel around the Ring in an anti-clockwise direction.

Anything else to do... this is Co. Kerry - there's tons to do, from walking in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, strolling around lakes, driving up Moll's Gap, visiting Muckross House, checking out Kenmare (a very pretty town) and Killarney or just driving around to soak up the scenery. If you're into landscape photography, I highly recommend the Skyline Gallery in Kenmare.

[Photo: Skellig Bay's par three 14th]

Other golf courses... perhaps you fancy playing more golf. If so, you are spoiled for choice. Here's a brief list of three of the world's best courses you'll find nearby: Ballybunion, Tralee and Waterville. There are also the three courses at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, where the Irish Open has been held for the last two years. Other courses include Castleisland, Kenmare, Killorglin and Ceann Sibeal out on the Dingle Peninsula.

How to get it... Passes must be purchased in advance and can be prepaid in full by contacting the central reservations office on Tel: 00353 (0)64 6642000 or Email: info@peninsulapass.com. Passes may also be purchased in person at the participating Golf Clubs.

Parknasilla Hotel, Skellig Bay & Waterville

[Photo: shadows and sun play across the fairway on the approach to the 1st hole, with the sea and mountains as an idyllic back drop]

Memories are wonderful things… when you can remember them. Things get a bit rusty with age, as you know… or as you’ll soon find out. In 1998, I spent my honeymoon in Parknasilla in Co. Kerry. It’s the kind of place where it always feels like family. 13 years after our first visit and there are familiar faces to greet you and look after you. Sometimes that’s a wonderful reassurance, a bit like an eight iron from 150 yards. No fuss, no hesitation, you’re relaxed and content. We tried to get the same room as our honeymoon, but it was already taken.

I was down for a few days and planning visits to Skellig Bay and the mighty Waterville. Two very different courses that both capture the imagination but in very different ways. Skellig Bay came first and a late evening visit took me down the Ring of Kerry into a ball of sun that made seeing the potholes in the road nigh on impossible. This is one of the most bizarre routes on the planet: stretches of smooth blacktop interrupted with furious regularity by potholed chaos, narrow roadway and cliff-clinging barriers that look far too precarious for your health.

[Photo: stunning views over the 2nd green from the 3rd tee box]

Especially when buses come hurtling around corners towards you with a startling degree of indifference. It is just crazy and I feel sorry for tourists who are driving on a different side of the road for the first time – we encountered an American couple who had burst a tyre and buckled the wheel because they had driven too close to the edge. As we chatted to them and made calls to the hire car company, the wife threw in the classic “I told you you were driving too close to the edge.” A lesser man might have taken the jack to her, but the husband seemed remarkably unfazed.

[Photo: Skellig Bay's 11th - previously a brilliant closing 18th]

Because Waterville is almost as far west as you can go on this island the sun sets that much later, so at 9pm the sun was still high and Skellig Bay had a scattering of players across the headland. It looked glorious in all its hues and shadows as I walked up to the first tee. And this was where my reassurance took a knock. Skellig Bay has re-ordered its holes because there is a new clubhouse. The re-ordering is not the problem, nor the new location for the clubhouse which is far away from the old first tee. No, the problem is that the excellent old 18th is now merely the 11th. It was a great hole (par five, index 3), from high point to high point, and made for a brilliant finish. But the course is just as good as before, with beautiful flowing fairways neatly tucked between traditional and (mostly) authentic old stone walls, cairn and magnificent views of mountains that could only be Irish.

The holes above the ocean are the holes that are probably most memorable, but the best holes are further inland – holes 14, 15 and 16 – where a river runs and trees add to the atmosphere of startlingly rural Irish golf.

[Photo: The par three 14th - a magnificent hole]

It costs €500 to join here and while it is a long way for many golfers, it is worth a visit, especially if you’re playing Waterville five minutes away. The lady in the clubhouse was keen for me to revise my review of the course (which she hadn't even seen), on the basis that 84 out of 100 (I think) was not up to her high expectations. I think my review is a good one and Skellig Bay is something that you won’t be able to experience anywhere else. Of that you can be sure.