Rush for the Open: 10 wonderful gems to play while you're up north
Scrabo, Co Down
The Open at Royal Portrush is already front of mind for golfers who love the spectacle of the game’s greatest championship. Every year brings a multitude of what-ifs and crossed-fingers, and occasionally – just occasionally – we get the winner we want. Take a bow, Shane Lowry.
Many Irish golfers will be venturing north with their prized tickets in July, to watch this spectacle. And some will be hoping to stay north of the border and play a game or two. It will come as no surprise to learn that the big guns of Northern Irish golf are already booked solid for the days of and around The Open, so here are ten golf courses – from the North’s stock of over 90 – to consider instead, along with special green fee rates before, during and after the Open. To call them ‘hidden gems’ would be an insult to their quality and reputation, so let’s call them ‘wonderful gems’ instead.
There are 36 holes here, set out across 330 glorious acres of mature trees, bumpy terrain blessed with heathland flourishes, and old stone walls that so often lead the eye.
The club is 13 miles east of Belfast, on the outskirts of Bangor. The Dufferin is known as one of the best parklands in Northern Ireland, but it is less well known south of the border. It is routed over heathland-like bumpy terrain at the top of the course before slipping down into more classic parkland mode.
The Ava course is your typical terrier: it may be diminutive at just 5,748 yards (back tees), with seven par-4s between 300 and 330 yards, but it has huge heart – and a lot of bite. Its plucky heathland characteristics come with unpredictable bumps, humps and hollows, as well as doglegs that challenge your club selection. It’s a dynamo and it also boasts one of the best par-5s in the country - the Index 1 524-yard 2nd.
It's worth noting that the Dufferin doesn’t get the same foot traffic from members as the Ava. And the clubhouse restaurant recently received a major makeover, which comes with excellent food.
Golf Ireland Visitor rates: Dufferin £45; Ava £35
Scrabo Golf Club is only a few miles from Clandeboye and Bangor. It is hard to miss, with the presence of Scrabo Tower rising high above the landscape. The tower and the 1st green are only yards apart and it is a fitting start to one of our island’s greatest and wildest adventures. A rocky, gorse-drenched and – to be blunt – idiosyncratic hilltop gives holes so much character and unpredictability that you rarely know which way you’ll be heading next: up, down or sideways. The club’s earliest greenkeepers were goats. Love the experience and thrills on offer, revel in the views, and enjoy a pint and grub in the restaurant looking down on Strangford Lough. Only then can you let the last fumes of adrenaline float free.
Golf Ireland Visitor rates: from £35
If links is your fix – and it’s only fitting give the Open Championship – the unheralded Kirkistown Castle carries quite some weight, with its James Braid credentials. The course is 30km south of Bangor, on the east coast. It is spread over two layers, with a sharp ridge in between, running the width of the course. It promises some intriguing shots and towering drives. But Braid employed his trademark deception around the greens, with punitive bunkering and oodles of subtlety. It may not feel big or long (par 69, 6,167 yards) but you will be tested. Seven of the par fours measure over 400 yards and those greens always provide a challenge. Check out the full Northern Irish breakfast – it’ll keep you going for the whole week.
Golf Ireland Visitor rates: £33 (Mon-Fri), £38 (weekend)
The golf club at Bangor is 1.5km from the train station*. Designed in the 1930s it is another course with roots planted by James Braid. Since then, trees have established themselves in great armies of colour, making Bangor one of the sweetest parklands in the region. And one renowned for its greens. One hill rises in the middle of the course, creating two levels, and it presents many exceptional driving holes. Given the quality (much of Braid’s design remains), especially the big, fast greens, Bangor warms the heart, no matter what the Irish weather throws at you. The 5th and 16th are the pick as they use the hillside to full effect.
Golf Ireland Visitor rates: £50 (Mon-Fri), £65 (weekend)
Knock Golf Club is a little east of Belfast, and there are rich pickings in this area, whether you favour Bangor or Belfast as your base of operations. Consider the prestigious Royal Belfast, the wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing Shandon Park, Carnalea, Donaghadee, and Blackwood, which is in the 2,000-acre Clandeboye Estate. There’s also McIlroy’s home club of Holywood – including a trophy room – just 7km south. Knock is an easy-going, quietly-curving parkland, sitting next to Stormont. Rory could reach the iconic Parliament Building (built in 1932) with a single drive but most of us would need a few more clubs than that. Holes 6 and 7 take pride of place, the former a heavyweight par-4 with Ireland’s oldest monkey puzzle tree looming large, the latter curling uphill beside an old wood.
Golf Ireland Visitor rates: £50
Lisburn Golf Club is in Co. Antrim, and it is a perfect access point for Belfast, Bangor and the road to Portrush. It’s directly off the main A1 road from the south. The current course was designed by Fred Hawtree and opened in 1973. It has ‘classic parkland’ written all over it with big, embracing trees steering fairways over flat, lilting and hilly terrain. Pristine conditioning, strong hole variety, water features and excellent greens... they all combine to make Lisburn shine. The lake in front of the par three 6th green adds serious charm, while the closing stretch of five holes covers the highest ground and delivers a stunning finish, including the downhill par-3 18th.
Golf Ireland Visitor rates: from £45
* If you think that locating yourself and playing around Belfast, or Bangor is a long way from Portrush, there are trains between the two. From Bangor the journey takes just over two hours and a stay here means you can choose from a wide range of courses, hotels and B&Bs not caught up in the Open’s catchment area.
Stormont Hotel is very close to Knock Golf Club, while Rayanne House is a luxury guest house a pitching wedge away from Holywood’s 18th fairway. Call round to the club and take a look at Rory McIlroy’s trophy room. Who knows, he may have added to it by the end of the week! On the outskirts of Bangor is Clandeboye Lodge, which puts you minutes away from eight golf courses, while Premier Inn provides a great value option in Bangor town itself.
Belfast city has much to offer tourists, with the Titanic Centre to the forefront, but you could also try the Belfast Whiskey Distillery Tour, or, farther west beyond Bangor, the Copeland Distillery, in Donaghadee. This young distillery produces whiskey, gin, rum and vodka. For a quieter pace, visit the famous gardens of Mount Stuart, a famous 19th century estate on the shores of Strangford Lough.
You may want to approach Portrush from a different direction and avoid Belfast altogether. And while the spread of courses thins considerably, whichever route you choose you will find golf courses along the way.
The A1 heading north to Belfast separates at Newry, with the A28 road leading north-west, to Armagh. From here the A29 continues north through Dungannon (Dungannon GC), and Cookstown (Killymoon GC), west of Lough Neagh. Beyond that lies the prize that is Moyola Park. Alternatively, if you follow the M2/N2 from Dublin, you will join the A5 at the border, heading towards Omagh. Beyond the town – and its lone golf course – you will find the pretty and peaceful parkland of Newtownstewart.
From the clubhouse you will get an inkling of the sort of golf course you'll be playing. Gentle swells, heavy trees, fine routing... they all combine to make this little-known course a very worthwhile destination. At times you'll be amazed by the setting because this is on the edge of Armagh town, yet holes are completely immersed in trees and peacefulness. Co. Armagh is also old and, on this landscape, that means big mature trees and holes gliding between them. There are water features, but not too many, and the finishing stretch with its new par-3 18th is what golfers affectionately call a card-wrecker.
Green fees: £40
Getting you closer to the main event, the enchanting Moyola Park lies north of Lough Neagh. It remains one of Ireland's best kept secrets, a grand parkland of rivers, ancient woodland, and a tree-drenched hill. It is rich and colourful, and the trees dominate and define holes as they move serenely over undulating terrain. The centre of the course is the densely wooded hill with holes drawn to it like moths to a flame. The par-3 17th practically drips beauty. The club has an intriguing claim to fame: in 1980, Seve Ballesteros visited Moyola Park, played the course and then gave a golfing clinic. It is the only course in Northern Ireland played by the Spaniard.
Green fees: £40-£60
Newtownstewart Golf Club lies north of Omagh, tucked away in a perfect parkland setting, overlooked by Bessy Bell Mountain. This is old estate land and magnificent trees abound, including a giant beech behind the 1st tee. It is home to red squirrels and the canopy looms over you on the tee. The rolling landscape never stops moving you up and down, while the trees flood your eyeline constantly. It is charming and peaceful and deer, pheasants and buzzards may well be in attendance. It seems only fitting given the landscape.
If this is your route north, then you are probably driving on the N55/N3. Take a detour shortly after joining the A32, when you cross into Co. Fermanagh, and head for the Marble Arch Caves. This is an exploration of the power of water with passages, rivers and waterfalls down in the deep. They are over 340 million years old and, like the wonderful gems above, too little known and yet spectacular.
Green fees: from £20
Finding accommodation near Moyola Park may prove a challenge – it is only 50km from Portrush, and on one of the routes from Belfast – but The Inn, in Castledawson, is close by. Farther south is the budget Cohannon Inn, outside Dungannon, while Armagh has a number of options, including the Armagh City Hotel, which is on the other side of the hedge to the golf course.
