Special Places - Portrush

With Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell winning the US Open last week, this is a good time to look at the new champion’s home course, Royal Portrush. The club also boasts three time major winner Padraig Harrington and European Tour stalwart Darren Clarke among its members.

Portrush began life in 1888 as a nine-hole layout and was expanded to eighteen the following year. Originally named The County Club, royal status - due to the patronage of HRH The Duke of York - was first granted in 1892 just after the second eighteen were added. In 1895 The Royal County Club was renamed Royal Portrush Golf Club, with HRH The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) as patron.

Portrush comprises two courses, the Valley Links, and its more famous sister the Dunluce Links, which is the championship layout. Both courses as we know them today are credited to celebrated golf architect Harry Colt, who carried out his major redesign in the decade before World War II. Laid out on the higher ground, the Dunluce presents constant changes in elevation and direction coupled with some of the most breathtaking scenery in Northern Ireland. The Dunluce Links is named after the ruined Dunluce Castle, perched on tall limestone cliffs and overlooking the course. A little further along the coast is The Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the world’s oldest licensed distillery, Bushmills, is also nearby.

Portrush is approached by a spectacular drive along the coastal road, and on arrival you are greeted by a beautiful expanse of undulating knolls and dells so typical of links land, with flags fluttering in the ever-present breeze. The fairways meander naturally between the huge sand dunes, and the greens blend seamlessly into the landscape. The course is an ever-changing challenge due to the vagaries of the weather blowing in from the North Atlantic.

The undoubted star of the Dunluce is the par four 5th - from an elevated tee the sharp dogleg right sweeps down to the cliff edge, with the green perched twenty metres above the beach. Particularly noteworthy on the inward nine is the 190m par three 14th, which has a gaping chasm on the front right of the green waiting to gobble up the slightest push or fade.

Royal Portrush is a special experience as befits the only course outside England and Scotland to have hosted The Open Championship. Always rated well inside the top twenty of any list of the world’s best golf courses, this seaside links paradise rightfully attracts eager visitors from all corners of the globe.

Ed.