About Golf in Northern Ireland
Consistently ranked as one of the most challenging courses in the world, the Royal Portrush Dunluce Course takes its name from the castle nearby, the remains of which overlook the course. This course is 1 mile from our accommodation and is the only course in Ireland to have hosted the British Open Championship. Surrounded by magnificent views of the hills of Donegal to the west, the Isle of Islay and the Southern Hebrides to the north and the Giant’s Causeway and the Skerries to the East, this championship course is truly one of the finest links courses you will ever play.
The Open is set to make a triumphant return to Royal Portrush in 2025, marking an exciting new chapter in the history of golf’s original Championship and providing another outstanding showcase for golf in Northern Ireland.
Following the success of The 148th Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, it has been announced that the Championship will be played there from 13 – 20 July 2025.
Royal Portrush’s second course, The Valley, lies on the sea side of the Dunluce Course and is home to Royal Portrush Ladies Club and the affiliated Rathmore Club. Continually growing in stature, the Valley is a slightly shorter, less challenging course than the Dunluce, but is nonetheless a serious test of your golfing skills. This is a beautiful course, actually lying below sea level in some places, but remarkably dry. Together with three other local courses, the Valley hosts the Causeway Coast Amateur Tournament, the biggest amateur tournament in the world. Do not underestimate the Valley because of the mighty Dunluce – there are no weak holes on this course.
Boasting a long history, golf was first played in Portstewart as far back as 1889 and Portstewart Golf Club was founded in 1894. The Strand Course has spectacular views across the bay to the blue Donegal hills, the Atlantic Ocean and the estuary of the River Bann. Set in classic links country amid towering sand dunes, the greens are fast and in superb condition all year round. Expansion was undertaken in the 1960s and the Strand Course as it is known today was opened in 1992. The new championship layout of the Strand Course is now a formidable links course to compete with the best links courses in Ireland and testimony of this resulted in the Irish Close Championship being held here in 1992. Having hosted all of the major amateur national Championships, Portstewart presents a genuine test of golf. There is a widely held view that the Strand Course has the best opening hole in Irish golf – perhaps the best opening hole in all of golf.
Another fine example of courses in the area is Castlerock Golf Club, a truly magnificent links course set among rolling sand dunes where you can see the River Bann flowing out to the Atlantic, with wonderful views of Donegal and on a clear day, towards Scotland and the Isle of Islay. Steeped in history, it is believed that the sand dunes, where part of the course winds its way, were occupied by humans in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. The Club consists of the 18-hole Championship Mussenden Course and the 9-hole Bann Course, which has a par five said to be one of the most scenic holes in Irish golf. Castlerock has played host to both amateur and professional competitions over the past hundred years and more recently, the World Student Games in 2000, the first time the competition was played in the United Kingdom, and the Irish PGA championships in 2001. Castlerock, together with the neighbouring links of Royal Portrush (Valley Course), Portstewart and Ballycastle is long established in the highly successful annual Causeway Coast Tournament, a competition sponsored by Bushmills, the oldest whiskey distillers in the world. This event is extremely popular with golfers and spectators alike, both nationally and internationally.
These are some examples, but whatever the calibre of your golf, you cannot fail to enjoy playing the wonderful courses on the North Coast.