Dunluce Links – Championship Course

The Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club ranks amongst the world’s greatest courses. Voted Number 12 in the world by Golf Magazine, it is a masterpiece of golf course architecture. Unimaginable rough and testing greens, combined with the unpredictable weather of the roaring North Atlantic make this course an admirable test for even the most seasoned golf aficionado.

Harry Colt’s Masterpiece

Harry Colt, universally acknowledged as one of golf’s greatest course architects, used the natural contours and dunes of the links land at Portrush to create a legacy which attracts golfers from all across the globe. As the writer Bernard Darwin said, ‘Mr HS Colt…has thereby built himself a monument more enduring than brass’. The 6867 yard course, which has been extended to 7317 yards, is routed through rugged links land, and constantly changes in both direction and elevation, whilst all the time providing some of the most awe-inspiring scenery to be found in Ireland.

Featured Holes

The Dunluce Links is home to one of the most stunning par fours in golf, the 382 yard 5th hole. A dogleg hole played from an elevated tee towards the ocean, it rewards the daring shot across a wide expanse of rough. Be careful though, as an overly long approach shot will end up on the sand of the White Rocks beach which lies just beyond the rear of the green. Make sure and take a moment to enjoy the stunning views from the green towards the 15th Century Dunluce castle and the surfers braving the swells below.
Calamity Corner, the 236 yard par 3 16th Hole is a must play for any follower of the game. Between the tee and the green is a yawning chasm, which must be cleared to stand any chance of making your three. It is hard to describe the feeling as you stand on this tee, looking out across the Valley links below, knowing it will take a fantastic shot to hit the small target across the void.

Valley Links

The Valley lies between the East Strand and the Dunluce golf course in Portrush. As its name suggests, the course is situated between the huge sand hills immediately along the Atlantic shore and the higher ground on which the Championship course is laid out. That is not to say the holes of the course are routed over anything like plain, level lying land, far from it, as the Valley has more than its fair share of the humps, hollows and undulations to be found on any links worthy of the name.

Designed by Harry Colt

The 6,346-yard, par 71, Valley is a very fine test of links golf, with greens, in particular, every bit as well tended on the Dunluce Course. Harry Colt is credited with designing the course three years after the Dunluce and he was never known to put his name to many, if any, poor courses.