Royal Portrush Golf Club

Royal Portrush Golf Club

Club information
Coordinates	55.200°N 6.635°W / 55.200; -6.635
Location	Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK
Established	1888, 136 years ago
Total holes	36
Events hosted	The Open Championship (1951, 2019) The Amateur Championship (1960, 1993, 2014) Boys Amateur Championship (2018) Irish Open (1930, 1937, 1947, 2012) The Senior Open Championship (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004) Ladies Irish Open (1979, 1980, 1981) Irish PGA Championship (1907, 1911, 1922, 1938, 1949)
Website	www.royalportrushgolfclub.com
Dunluce Links
Designed by	Harry Colt
Par	71
Length	7,337 yards (6,709 m)
Course record	63: Shane Lowry (new course record) (2019) 61: Rory McIlroy (old course record) (2005)
Valley Links
Designed by	Harry Colt
Par	71
Length	6,346 yards (5,803 m)

Royal Portrush Golf Club is a private golf club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The 36-hole club has two links courses, the Dunluce Links (the championship course) and the Valley Links. The former is one of the courses on the rota of the Open Championship and last hosted the tournament in 2019.

In 1951, Royal Portrush first hosted the Open Championship, the oldest of golf's major championships; it was the first Open tournament not held on the island of Great Britain. The Open returned to Portrush in 2019, and it will host again in 2025. It also hosted the Irish Open in 2012, the first in Northern Ireland since 1953.

The Dunluce Links course is considered to be one of the best courses in the world. It was ranked fourth by Golf World in their list of "The 100 greatest courses in the British Isles" in November 1996. Golf Magazine ranked it twelfth in their list of the Top 100 Courses in the World, and Golf Digest ranked it as the fourth best course outside the United States in 2007.

Location

Situated on the North Antrim Causeway Coast, Royal Portrush occupies a triangle of giant sand hills with views of the hills of Inishowen in County Donegal in the west, the Isle of Islay and Southern Hebrides in the north, with the Giant's Causeway and the Skerries in the east. The course is overlooked by the ruins of the 13th century Dunluce Castle, which gives its name to Dunluce course.

History

The Royal Portrush Golf Club was founded 136 years ago in 1888 as The County Club. It became The Royal County Club in 1892 under the patronage of the Duke of York and assumed its present name in 1895 under the patronage of the Prince of Wales. In 1947, Rathmore Golf Club member Fred Daly became the first Irishman to win The Open Championship, and four years later the club hosted the championship itself, the first time the event was held in Northern Ireland. The club has also hosted the Senior British Open Championship between 1995 and 1999 and again in 2004. The club was also host to the 2010 Palmer Cup. Daly's feat was repeated by club member Darren Clarke in 2011. Clarke also named Royal Portrush his favourite golf course in the world.

The second course at Royal Portrush is the Valley Links, and is used mostly by members of the 'town' club Rathmore and the ladies and juniors of Royal Portrush. It is shorter and considered less demanding than the Dunluce Links. Rathmore clubhouse and the ladies clubhouse are situated adjacent to the first tee. A six-hole pitch and putt course, named Skerries, starts from the same location. There is also a driving range at the club.

Rathmore Golf Club

The Valley Links is the home of Rathmore Golf Club whose clubhouse is situated near the first tee. Famous members include 1947 Open Champion Fred Daly and 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell.

Signature holes

On the Dunluce course at Portrush there are several signature holes on both the front and back nine. In particular are the fourth, fifth and sixteenth holes. The fourth hole is a long par four which is more than 480 yards from the championship tees, with out of bounds right and thick rough on the left. There are several bunkers in the undulating fairway and the green is placed between two small sand hills. The fifth hole is a relatively short downhill par four with a dogleg to the right. It has no bunkers but a heavily undulating green perched on the edge of a large drop down to the beach and has views across the White Rocks beach, and the Dunluce Castle after which the course was named. The sixteenth hole, named Calamity Corner is a long 236 yard, uphill par three. It is played to a green over a huge ravine short and right, with mounds and hollows to the back and left of the green.

The Open Championship

The Open Championship was first staged at Royal Portrush in 1951; Max Faulkner won his sole major championship. The Open next returned to Portrush in July 2019.

A number of course changes were made in preparation for the 2019 Open. The 17th and 18th holes of the original Dunluce Links, the Championship course, were replaced by two new holes (the 7th and 8th) on land that was part of the Valley Links. Holes 7 to 16 were redesignated as holes 9 to 18 on the redesigned course. The land freed-up by removing the prior 17th and 18th holes was used for the tented village. There were number of other changes, including lengthening the 2nd hole by 40 yards (37 m) and realigning the 10th (the new 12th). Despite the newly designed Dunluce Links reducing the course from a par 72 to a par 71, the overall length increased by almost 200 yards (180 m) to 7,337 yards (6,709 m). The total number of bunkers also increased from 59 to 62. Since the Valley Links lost two holes to the Dunluce Links, a number of changes are also having to be made to that course.

Shane Lowry was victorious in the 2019 Open Championship.

Year	Winner	Score
		R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1951	Max Faulkner	71	70	70	74	285 (−3)
2019	Shane Lowry	67	67	63	72	269 (−15)

The Open will return to Portrush for the 153rd edition of the tournament in 2025.

Irish Open

The club's Dunluce course held the 2012 Irish Open which was won by Jamie Donaldson. This was the first time that a European Tour event had been played in Northern Ireland and the first time since 1953 that the Irish Open had been played in Northern Ireland; it was last played at Royal Portrush in 1947.

Scorecards

Dunluce Links – Championship tees

	The Open Championship
	Irish Open

Name		Pre 2016 layout					Post 2016 layout
		Hole	Par	Yards			Hole	Par	Yards
				1951	2012				2019
Hughie's		1	4	400	416		1	4	421
Giant's Grave		2	5	510	528		2	5	574
Islay		3	3	160	174		3	3	177
Fred Daly's		4	4	455	479		4	4	482
White Rocks		5	4	398	411		5	4	374
Harry Colt's		6	3	200	189		6	3	194
Curran Point		n/a					7	5	592
Dunluce							8	4	434
P.G. Stevenson’s		7	4	426	431		9	4	432
Himalayas		8	4	380	433		10	4	447
Tavern		9	5	444	475		11	4	474
Dhu Varren		10	5	473	478		12	5	532
Feather Bed		11	3	167	191		13	3	194
Causeway		12	4	400	412		14	4	473
Skerries		13	4	380	418		15	4	426
Calamity Corner		14	3	208	210		16	3	236
Purgatory		15	4	367	391		17	4	408
Babington's		16	4	440	442		18	4	474
Glenarm		17	5	520	581		n/a
Greenaway		18	4	476	484
		Out	36	3,373	3,536		Out	36	3,664
		In	36	3,429	3,607		In	35	3,680
		Total	72	6,802	7,143		Total	71	7,344
		Ref:					Ref:

Valley Links – Championship tees

Hole	Name	Yards	Par		Hole	Name	Yards	Par
1	Zara Bolton's	349	4		10	Middle Green	465	4
2	Green Lane	385	4		11	Right About	486	5
3	Fairy Ring	141	3		12	St. Andrews	421	4
4	War Hollow	534	5		13	Recess	165	3
5	Prospect	443	4		14	Giant's Elbow	391	4
6	Patrick's	409	4		15	Bunkers Hill	171	3
7	Cradle	320	4		16	Valley	493	5
8	Switch Back	496	5		17	Saucer	194	3
9	Mann's	150	3		18	Home	333	4
Out		3,227	36		In		3,119	35
					Total		6,346	71

Gallery

• 
  5th hole
• 
  7th hole
• 
  8th hole

See also

• List of golf clubs granted Royal status
• Royal County Down Golf Club
• Portstewart Golf Club
• Ballyliffin Golf Club

External links

• Official website
• Golf Club Atlas Guide – Royal Portrush Golf Club (Dunluce Links)