Diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the right lung on my 58th birthday (14th July) So not really ...
Diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the right lung on my 58th birthday (14th July) So not really in the humour for writing much at the moment, although I *WILL* be back before too long...Ken
Member since:06.12.2000
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~ ~ The Royal PortrushGolf Club was the first true links (seaside) course in Ireland, opening for play in 1888. It is situated no more than a drive and a pitch from the town on the north County Antrim coastline, almost within spitting distance of the famous “Giant’s Causeway”.
~ ~ Similar in design and layout to the Old Course at Saint Andrews, Scotland, it boasts large, undulating putting greens, and fairways carved from the natural humps and hollows of the ever-present sand dunes. Precise accuracy is at a premium, with no fewer than ten holes out of the eighteen bending either left or right, and the rough is both plentiful and very thick and heavy to severely punish any wayward shot. The feature hole is the aptly named 14th, “Calamity Corner”. A par-three measuring 215 yards, it is perched on a cliff edge, and failure to carry over the huge chasm to the right has destroyed many a promising scorecard. Even if this hole is negotiated successfully, the very next (15th) is called “Purgatory”. Sinners beware!!
~ ~ Portrush is the only golf course in Ireland to host the British Open (1951), and is the permanent venue for the North of Ireland Amateur Championship every July, and has also hosted the British Seniors Open on many occasions in recent years. In 1895, the club’s first professional, Sandy Herd, defeated the famous British player Harry Vardon in the very first professional event ever staged in Ireland. I used to play in the North of Ireland Championships every July until a couple of years back, when my handicap began to take a bit of a nosedive with my advancing years, and I always looked forward to competing with great anticipation, as the Club and members are both hospitable and very friendly to strangers, and make you feel very welcome. It has bred many famous sons. Fred Daly, Ireland’s only British Open Champion ( Hoylake 1947 ) honed his skills on the Portrush dunes, as did modern day super star Darren Clarke, the well known and much respected European Ryder Cup player, and doyen of the current European Tour.
~ ~ While the course that everyone goes to play is the ‘Dunluce’ links, Portrush also boasts a second eighteen hole course called the ‘Valley’. While not so long or demanding as Royal Portrush itself, it is nevertheless a formidable challenge, and one not to be missed if you are making a golfing pilgrimage to this lovely area of Northern Ireland.
~ ~ A major problem the Club have faced in recent times is coastal erosion, particularly on the exposed point which houses the 5th and 6th holes. This prompted Joe Carr, the famous Irish amateur and past Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrews (1993) to plead, “These links are one of the great heritages of golf and must be protected for present and future generations of golfers”. Mr. Carr speaks for golfers everywhere. Royal Portrush is rated at number thirteen in the list of the worlds’ best courses.
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INFORMATION (2002)
Address
Royal Portrush Golf Club Dunluce Road, Portrush, Co. Antrim BT56 8JQ
It sounds magnificent.What a shame it is so far away! My father made us all have private lessons starting from when we were about eight. We were lucky to have John Jacobs as our teacher.I have had a love of golf ever since. Haven't played recently though.Your interesting op made me want to get the clubs out! Kim
petersmyth1 10.01.2002 16:05
Ken I've,in my youth, played this links many times and as tou say some holes are spectacular but I found the lower par Valley course much harder to produce a good score on. In other words we need the par 5s. Cheers, .....Peter
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