The Royal Belfast Golf Club is the oldest golf club in Ireland. When the Club was founded on 9…read moreNovember 1881 it marked the birth of the game of golf in Ireland and in 1891 the Club became one of only nine founder member clubs of the Golfing Union of Ireland. As one of the country's premier 18 hole private members' clubs, visitors are assured of a very warm welcome, a wonderful golfing experience on the Harry Colt designed course and first class service in the splendid Victorian clubhouse. It is one of the more up market golf courses in the area and having played it once or twice I have found it a little bit stuffy. Its £35 a round for visitors which is definitely pricey but worth it if you want to treat yourself. Expensive but probably not worth the extra dough unless you are a pretty handy golfer in the first place.

Clandeboye Golf Club, situated in the country surrounds of Lady Dufferin's Estate, offers two…read morecourses of international standing. To compliment our two courses, Clandeboye also offers a luxurious Clubhouse where comfort is central to your day, both on and off the course. This course is located above Conlig Village off the A21 between Bangor & Newtownards. Conlig is just two miles from Bangor. Before the dual carriageway was laid, the main road used to run through the village street, but visitor traffic is now largely limited to golfers en route to the two 18 hole championship courses of Clandeboye Golf Club. The course itself is quite tough and the couple of times I have played it I have really struggled so its maybe not for the complete novice. Its one of the more expensive courses for visitors, coming in at at least £25 which is a little steep.

My fiance and his dad play golf here a few times a week and as a golf course it is visually…read morestunning. Set up high over the Bangor carriageway there are lovely views of Belfast Lough from the club house. They run a loyalty card scheme so members can eat for slightly cheaper than the non-members. The food is really, really tasty and so well priced. I had lasagna and chips which came with a small salad. Others had the steak sandwich with looked amazing - a large roll filled with onions, steak and pepper sauce - gorgeous. The chips are fat and homemade - really good. There is a bit of an 'old boys together' buzz about the clubhouse and of the men are just in off the course chatting loudly about who got the wee ball in the wee hole and who didn't. The booze is reasonably and they stock a full bar. I have only one complaint - if you order a coffee after dinner make sure you ask for an americano as we didn't and received instant coffee - we had to send it back - not really what you would expect from a luxurious clubhouse. All in all an excellent meal with lovely views and a nice pint of cider.

Great golf course . The course has under gone extensive…read moredraining works on the 1st and 18th to make them more playable all year round

We visited Belfast via cruise ship and wanted to experience golf at an historic course. Fortwilliam…read morewas everything we imagined an Irish golf experience would be! The course is beautiful and the staff and members went above and beyond to make sure we enjoyed our visit. Particularly enjoyed the conversations with the bartender and patrons in the pub. It will be a must stop for us whenever we visit Belfast!

This large complex is home to a number of venues used for a number of different purposes. From here…read moreyou can access Ballyearl Golf Club which I believe is popular even though it is only a 9 hole course. There is also a large driving range with floodlit courts. Inside the complex there are a number of multi purpose rooms which are currently used for yoga, pilates, body toning, aerobics, step & tone and line dancing as well as ballet and junior drama.At Ballyearl you can also attend a range of arts classes. Recently the complex was renovated and now includes a state of the art Zest Fitness suite and a number of squash courts. Ballyearl is also home to The Courtyard Theatre, which, in the days before the shiny new theatre complex that is Mossley Mill arrived, Ballyearl was the epicentre of arts and creativity performace in Newtownabbey. It was about time that we got a new concert venue as Nallyearl, although it is average for a performace venue was not bringing the crowds that it should have. Indeed it is ample for performances but was becoming outdated and unpopular. It is still used for performance purposes, in fact I'm going there next Wed so I'll re-review with my most recent knowledge. For information & prices etc See http://www.newtownabbey.gov.uk/Ballyearl

This leisure centre is in no way close to my home and there are a few close by that offer some…read moresimilar things. Apart from one. Ballyearl has a driving range and golf course. This is the perfect place for the glorious novice to start to ply his trade in the ever frustrating game, known as golf! The course is 9 holes, but each time you pay, you're permitted to go around twice, giving the proper number of holes. For those who find it hard as flip to hit the ball, there's a driving range to hone your skills. Midweek the price for the course is £6.50 which is a bargain.

I have only been introduced to the game of golf by my friend Andrew in the last few months. Golf…read morehas always scared me in the region of price, and I don't think I would suit the pastille pink jumper being draped around my shoulders look! However with golf stereotypes avoided and a cheap set of excellent clubs located off Ebay for £60, away we did go to Mahee for my first flavour of golf, and lord I am happy I started off here. Located near Comber, this plac eis really off the beaten track. The course is a challenging nine holes, and is a small but perfectly formed course. The course overlooks a bay and is a truly stunning location to golf. The course is immaculately preened, with all fairways and greens kept in glorious condition!The course itself is also quite challenging, with the par 3 on the 6th hole a real challenge, which made this newbie feel better when I duly planted my ball in the bunkers! The clubhouse is small but functional, and there is a club shop that contains ample drinks and snacks alongside a range of golf balls, shoes and other accessories. A visitor's midweek 18 holes is £13, which in the extortionate world of golf,and for the quality you are getting here is a total bargain. So all that remains is for me to actually become good at the game!Watch out Tiger! ;)

Despite being a top class golf course Blackwood doesn't have the pomp and ceremony of other local…read morecourses. This isn't at all a bad thing as it makes it an ideal place to learn the game of golf without the fear of being judged. Blackwood comes equipped with a driving range with automatic Tees, a full 18 hole course and an 18 hole par 3 course. The par 3 course is the course I play. This course costs £10 and can be played in around 2 hours or shorter depending on your skill level. Despite Blackwood being more laid back than other courses I would still recommend wearing trousers and a collared top although I doubt you'll be refused entry if you don't wear these. On a nice day Blackwood is a fantastic course and they have recently opened a new cafe at the clubhouse that allows you to extend your stay even longer. If you're thinking of taking up golf or getting the old clubs out of the garage make Blackwood your first port of call.

I've been coming to Blackwood since I was about 12, 15+ years later I am still coming and they…read morehaven't dropped their standards. The one thing that impresses me about this course/courses is that anyone can play here whether you are a member or not. You would think this extra footfall over the course would ruin the quality of the course but it is not noticable. The green keepers to a fantastic job at keeping it up to scratch, particularly the par3 course which is being constantly hacked up by beginners. The larger course is a full size 18 hole course on a par (pardon the pun) with some of the best in North Down. Working your way round this course it is easy to forget that you are just on the outskirts of Bangor. Spectacular views across the the course you can see the rolling hills of North Down meet the sea at Crawfordsburn. I highly recommend this course to anyone, it is ideal for fair weather golfers like myself who only come out of the woodwork April-Sept when the sun is out and not a member of any club. Be warned it can get very busy at peak times so be prepared to get there early!

All I can say is that if you haven't been to Citigolf then you should go. It's different, it's fun,…read moreit's active and it has plenty on offer. The concept of Citigolf is pretty simple, you are presented with real golf clubs, a real ball and a simulator screen and a variety of courses to choose from. Then all you do is swing your club and hope for the best, well that's what I did anyway. This might sound complicated but don't worry you'll be in the capable hands of Andrew the host who talks you through the technique and instructions in perfect detail. What's that I hear you say? 'I'm not that in to golf?!' Well that's the beauty of the place it's not just golf you can use the (at least) 8ft screens to play the Wii, Xbox connect or even sing your favourite Frozen song on Karaoke. But whatever you do, don't do what I did and get beaten at connect boxing by a girl - it's embarrassing for everyone. There's also a fully stocked licenced bar and a kitchen. We took advantage of a pizza, golf/connect and drink deal for £20 a head and that gave us 2 hours game time. Make sure you book ahead if you want to go - Andrew is even impeccable on the phone and he will talk you through deals that are on. I would just keep in mind that the actual Golf is relatively difficult. I could imagine it would be excellent for stag parties but definitely don't wait for a friend to get down on one knee before you check this place out. Northern Ireland has had a bit of a golf revolution over the last few years but Citigolf may just create a fun revolution of their own in Belfast City!

My department in work recently hired out citygolf for the evening, with around 20 people turning…read moreout for the occasion. When the invites went out there were a lot of questions as to what exactly we would be doing, with no one having been before. Needless to say, there was a lot of scepticism about the night, however, intrigue certainly helped keep the numbers up. We were greeted on arrival by Barry, who I believe owns the business. He explained how the night would run, starting with teams being picked 'playground styley'. It's amazing how quickly that fear sets in that you may be left until last (I wasn't in case you are worried). Being somewhat competitive the evening was perfect for me. The games included quizes, bobsled, running races, dance mats, karaoke and cracker eating competitions. Barry was a fab host, quickly familiarising himself with our group and referring to us by name (nice touch). We were served a warm curry and wedges half way through the night to help soak up the alcohol, which was served by the lovely Nico. He too was very friendly, remembering my drink order each time - not sure if that says more about him or me! Haven't tried this place on a 'normal' booking, however I would look no further for a group. Great craic and Barry allowed us to stay on after and have our own karaoke, probably to assist the bar sales!

A friend of mine (Mr Colm H of Yelpshire) is a keen golfer. One sunny day I decided to go with him…read moreto Ballyearl golf course. This is a public golf course open to anyone who owns a set of clubs. Its a 9 hole course at par 3 for each hole ( I averaged 7, which I was quite proud of being a complete novice) . For around £12 you can go around the course twice which is a good four hours worth of play which makes it incredible value for money. For complete beginners who don't wanna go to the expense of getting into a proper golf course, Ballyearl is a good place to start.

Ballyearl Driving Range is where I learnt how to be the golfer that I am. That being said I am…read moreunfortunately still a terrible golfer, but that is by no means the fault of the driving range. The range has 27 flood lit bays that aim out onto 200+ yards of distance markers and greens. It also has 10 - 15 outdoor bays in the summer as well. The golf course is a challenge to any golfer starting out. It is tricky enough to be enjoyable, but not too hard as to make you want to sell your clubs and take up fishing. It gets very busy at weekends with parents taking their kids out to practice, so I would suggest a weekday visit would be best if you do not want to queue.