Portrush is the only Irish club to have hosted The Open and is on the north shores of Ireland Royal Portrush Dunluce links is designed by Harry Colt. It was the first course we played on our trip to Ireland and the weather was worse than expected. I was straight in the pro shop for extra warm headwear. It was pretty windy and rained a little just before our tee off, but luckily we had no rain during our round.
the course at Royal Portrush Dunluce links
The first hole is a 380 yard par 4 with plenty of space right. I pulled my drive a little and had a 9 iron from the rough which ended up in the fringe. I made a rare birdie from the fringe and was off to a great start.
Second hole a slight uphill par 5 which I managed to reach in 2 shots, but 3 putted for par.
Par 3, 3rd hole with seaview. Important to hit the right length of shot to avoid runoff areas.
Really beautiful setting and par 4 risk/reward dogleg right. Plenty of room, but you need to decide on how aggressive to be from the tee. I hit a good drive in the fairway and got a par.
You see a few of these spaces to hide away and I can imagine the become handy when the weather is bad – which can be frequent in this part of the world.
the back nine at Royal Portrush Dunluce links
Downhill par 3 and I remember it was into the wind and I hit a knockdown 6 iron that came out low and went straight through the wind and onto the green. One of the few “links” shots that I managed to pull off to the best of my standards.
One of the famous par 3 holes that plays longer than expected and you really can not miss anywhere but left.
driveable par 4 hole 15 at Royal Portrush Dunluce links
Either layup on top of the hill of hit toward the big black pole to get in down close to the green.
My experience
Royal Portrush Dunluce links is a good test of golf and a really nice course. Only the last few holes are a bit uninteresting and it would definitely be an even greater course if they had a stronger finishing stretch.
I played really well and my score of 80 felt pretty good. 3 birdies was fantastic and I think it will be hard for me to match the score again. We could not get mucher better conditions weather wise even though the wind was strong and it was cold.
