Royal Portrush GC and Portstewart GC, September 8-9, 2016
Pat and I drove up to Northern
Oreland’s north coast the morning of September 8…there is lots on road
construction in progress. With the Open
Championship returning to Royal Portush in 2019 (held there once before, in
1951), the north coast is buzzing with activity as preparations for the Open
proceed.
Royal Portrush GC, Dunluce
Links, September 8, 2016: We were
being hosted by a former RP Captain, John M., and his wife, Lynda. Craig W., a friend of Fergal’s who played
with us at Portmarnock and is a member of RP and a former member of Portstewart
caddied for us. After a brief lunch it
was off on #1 of RP’s Dunluce Links at 1:40pm.
As you may have read elsewhere, the R&A and RP agreed to a series of
changes to the course for the Open and these were overseen by Martin Ebert. Some new tees, a new green on #2, and a bunch
of new bunkers are being added. The
biggest change is the addition of 2 new holes, while dropping the current #17
and 18. RP has two courses, the Dunluce
Links (its championship course) and the Valley Links. The new holes have been constructed on land
occupied by the Valley Links and are expected to be inserted into Dunluce as #7
and 8, which would mean the Open course would flow as follows:
Holes
1-6…current Dunluce holes 1-6
Holes
7 & 8…newly constructed holes
Holes
9-18…current Dunluce holes 7-16.
While exact yardages have not
been announced, I would expect the Open course to play at over 7200 yards (par
70). The new holes #7 & 8 are in
their “grow-in phase” and are expected to open for play in 2017. While I was able to view them from a distance,
I did not have an opportunity to walk them…but they certainly look
imposing. As such, my comments below
refer to the current Dunluce Links.
Royal Portrush Golf Club was
founded in 1888 and was known at the time as The Country Club (sound familiar?...if
so, please note that The Country Club in Brookline as founded and named in
1882). A nine-hole course was
constructed in 1888 and expanded to 18 the following year. In 1929 Harry Colt laid out the original
Dunluce Links.
I really liked the course. I love false fronts and I doubt there is
another course with as many greens with false fronts (except maybe Portstewart...see below)…my guess is that there are
as many false fronts here as at the average 9th grade
classroom. It has:
--good
elevation changes,
--rumpled
land that rolls in every direction,
--almost
no land with flat lies,
--firm-fast
fairways and greens in excellent condition,
--deep,
well placed bunkers,
--very
special greens guarded well by humps and mounds, and
--has a
wonderful variety of holes that blend together beautifully.
What else can one ask for? Without question, its two best holes are #5
and #14.
#5 is a 411-yard par 4 dogleg
right with a two-tiered raised green perched above a hill the drops straight
down toward the beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
The back of the green is about 18” from the start of the downslope to
the beach so watch out if you are pin hunting for a back pin. The tee is elevated and I found it hard to
force myself to aim far enough left off the tee. See pic below.
 |
| #5 from tee...green is straight ahead but I had to aim left of the large mound in left center of picture. |
#14 is a par 3 (perfectly named
“Calamity”) that will play from about 235 yards from the tips during the Open,
with a huge, 60’ deep ravine on the hole's right side extending from the tee to
about 5 yards short of the right front of the green. With any wind (and it can really blow here),
this hole can terrorize. RP is famous
for this hole and deservedly so… See pic
of (R-->L) John, Lynda, Pat, and me in from 14th tee.
 |
| 14th green in left background |
I thought holes 1-16 were
fabulous…not a weak or average hole among them.
On the other hand, holes 17 and 18 move away from the dunes and are
disappointing.
I ended up with a 41-43 =
84. Wind blew at about 15-20 mph most of
the round but we remained lucky, avoiding any real rain for the 4th
straight round. Not sure what John M
shot but he was a virtual machine, and both John and Lynda are very special
folks. Our friend and caddy, Craig,
proved to be a terrible caddy…no matter where either of us hit the ball, he
immediately went and found it, leaving me with some impossible lies to play
from (when Pat hit it in these places, Craig would toss it back into the
fairway).
Royal Portrush’s ratings on
World Top 100 lists were included in my write up of Royal County Down posted a
couple of days ago. My sense is that
based on the courses as presently laid out, the rating of RCD and RP are about
right. However, things could get a shake
up after the new holes come into play and the Open Championship is played at RP
in less than three years. Too soon to
tell but it could become very interesting.
Portstewart GC-Strand Course,
September 9, 2016: Portstewart is a
mere 5 miles west of RP, and to summarize, despite RP’s long shadow, this one is absolute worth playing as well.
Originally founded in 1884, this
course was redesigned by Willie Park Jr. about 90 years ago, but was totally
transformed about 25 years ago by the addition of 7 new holes constructed among
the dunes lying between the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the River Bann to
the south (land known as “Thistly Hollow”).
The result is a course with a fun and brilliant first 12 holes and a
very good final six.
It all starts with a
breathtaking first, sharply downhill off the tee (a good 60-70’ IMO) this 425
yard dogleg left is a cape hole over high dunes…at least high from fairway
level (felt a little like a dramatic version of #1 at Bethpage Black). Then after a walk sharply uphill, #2 is a
short par 4 (366 yards) downhill off the tee then uphill to a small green made
smaller by a false front. A large chasm
on the right side of fairway into the rough, that goes from about 110 yards to
35 yards short of the front of the green limits tee choices for big hitters to a
max of 240 off tee or going for the green in a very risky effort.
#5, is the best hole on the
course IMHO. Stretching to 461 yards, it
turns slightly left and gently rising between large dunes to a deep deep (56 yards deep) three
tiered green with a postage stamp of a back tier.
#6 is a wonderful 143 yard par 3
to a green falling off on all sides and also protected by two small deep
bunkers in front…and this hole was made better by my tee shot to about 3’ and
birdie 2.
#9 is a superb 378 yard uphill
par 4 turning slightly right around a massive dune to a deep narrow green with
a false front and sharp falloff over the
green
#10 and #11 are both excellent 407
yard par 4’s; #10 turns right and slopes downhill with tee shot calling for you
to hit to left side of fairway that is well protected by two bunkers; #11 also
turns right but is uphill to a raised green and this tee shot needs to
negotiate 5 fairway bunkers.
By the time we reached the 15th tee, the wind was more like 40mph and the rain started coming down
sideways. We managed to play 15 and 16
and since 16 green is right near the clubhouse, planned to stop there. Pat was smart enough to do that, but when I
saw that the groups in front of us had also gone in, I talked Craig into quickly playing 17 and 18. 17 was dead into the
wind and I played it from about 365 yards…with driver, 4-utility and 3 wood to
the front!! Fortunately, the rain had
subsided somewhat but the wind kept up.
Was nice to get inside. Our luck
with the weather had to stop but it did hold off till the final 4 holes!
Portstewart plays from 7004
yards. It has never been on a World 100,
and that is clearly appropriate.
However, a mere 5 miles from RP…this is a stop well worth making.
The next morning we made the 3+
hour drive to Dublin airport and flew back to Boston
All in all an excellent
trip. Wedding was wonderful and five
courses played were a superb collection.
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