Club News
TRIPLE-A GOLF ON THE EMERALD ISLE
Shopping in Belfast City Centre
By Michael Wilson
ith
the
Open
Championship
returning to Northern
Ireland next year
for only the second
time in its 159-year
history, the province
enjoys a portfolio of prominent professional
players and a choice of courses entirely
disproportionate to its size, but anyone who
believes that Royal Portrush is the sum total
of the island’s offer is certain to be very
pleasantly surprised.
Accessible, Authentic and Affordable
are the adjectives that drive golf and golf
holidays in what is a spectacular setting
off the north west coast of the UK, which,
as is claimed, Northern Ireland is, ‘Made
for Golf.’ When it comes to reviewing golf
in Northern Ireland, it is important to draw
a distinction to the territory to the north of
the, ‘Emerald Isle,’ the part which, for the
time being – notwithstanding the vagaries of
‘Brexit,’ at least - is part of the UK. Ireland,
as a whole, the Republic to the south and
Northern Ireland up top offer, individually
and collectively offer some of the best golf
anywhere on Planet Earth; indeed, such is the
abundance of fi ne layouts across the entire
island that each is best reviewed in isolation,
even though there is free and easy access
between the two.
60 G o l f P l u s
DECEMBER
Indeed, it would also do something of
a disservice to Northern Ireland were any
in-depth review attempt to embrace golf in
the Republic; both sides of the border fully
justify scrutiny in their own right, and,
when it comes to Northern Ireland, the most
obvious – but far from only – place to start
must be Royal Portrush. Back in July 1951,
Englishman Max Faulkner lifted the Claret
Jug on the only occasion to date golf’s oldest
and most prestigious ‘Major’ championship,
‘The Open,’ was played away from the United
Kingdom’s mainland, at Royal Portrush,
County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Tourism Board and the
people of the province made an unarguable
case for the Open to return following a hiatus
of 68 years, the 2012 and 2015 Irish Open
championships, at Royal County Down and
Royal Portrush – fourth and 15th respectively
in the Top-100 golf courses in the world –
both sold out within weeks of tickets going
on sale. The biggest challenge of the 2019
Open Championship, the 148th staging of
world golf’s most venerable and prestigious
event will be getting tickets; already, nine-
months from the fi rst stroke being struck on
the morning of Thursday 18th July 2019,
almost all 200,000 available tickets have been
sold out, leaving secondary ticketing sites,
corporate hospitality passes or volunteering
as the sole means of catching the action.
2018
However, some tickets, costing as little as
£15.00 (approx. US$19.75 / HK$155.00) and
up to £40.00 (approx. US$52.50 / HK$410.00)
are available for the practice days.
Remarkably for a small country with a
population of under two-million, Northern
Ireland boasts a glittering array of world-class
professional talent, ‘Major’ winners Rory
McIlroy, who hails from Holywood, County
Down, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke,
who both hail from Portrush and, such is the
accessibility for visitors, there is not a golf
course or club where those seeking to follow
in the footsteps of these, ‘Major,’ champions
will be anything less than welcoming, and
with open arms. Both Royal Portrush and
Royal County Down, the latter less than an
hour’s drive south from the Northern Ireland
capital city of Belfast both go out of their way
to welcome visitors, as does the northerly
classic, Portstewart, another splendid links
course which hosted the Irish Open in 2017,
may be the jewels in a crown consisting
almost 100 clubs and courses in Northern
Ireland, across six counties, Antrim, Down,
Armagh, Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone. And
perhaps even more remarkable for a country
with less than 2m residents is the roll of
honour, three Northern Irish, a trio of ‘Major’
champions all from the same small parish,
four-time ‘Major’ winner Rory McIlroy and
his two compatriots, Darren Clarke, Open