Ireland golf trip early may - southwest links or do we go north?

[BirdieQueen]

Okay so this has been brewing for two years and I'm finally pulling the trigger. 8 of us, first week of May, flying into Shannon. Half the group wants the classic southwest run (Lahinch, Ballybunion, Tralee, Doonbeg) and the other half keeps yelling about Portrush and the north. I've done Scotland twice but never Ireland so I'm flying blind here.

My big worry is that early May is still proper spring over there. Like, 12 degrees and sideways rain and I've spent €200 on a green fee to get hyped on a golf course. Do the southwest links hold up when it's blowing? I keep reading that Lahinch is actually better in weather because it's got some shelter, and Ballybunion just absolutely does not. Anyone played both in crap conditions?

Second thing, and this is the one keeping me up at night, is the driving. Left side of the road, narrow as hell roads, and we've got 8 guys and two rental vans. Every itinerary I've sketched has us doing Lahinch to Ballybunion to Tralee which looks reasonable on a map and then someone tells me it's 2.5 hours of single track roads each way. Do you base in one town and drive out every day, or hop hotels every night? Hopping hotels with 8 blokes sounds like a nightmare tbh.

Also, handicap certs. Do they actually check? One of our guys is a 26 and plays fast, but he's sweating the whole thing. And caddies, is it €60 plus tip now or has it climbed? I got a quote back for roughly €2,300 per person for the week with lodging and that felt... steep? Maybe normal? No idea.

Anyway if anyone's done the southwest in early May I'd love to hear whether you'd do it again or whether I should be looking at the Ryder Cup side of the country instead.