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At Faraway Fairways we’ve noticed an increasing number of overseas visitors seeking to utilise the often less-expensive ‘gateway’ of Dublin as their point of arrival. It presents us with the possibility of combining the best of England’s open venues with Ireland in a beguiling circuit. Our first assignment is the world top-100 rated Portmarnock golf course, which is widely regarded as one the fairest and truest tests of any links golfer on the planet. The following day sees us heading north where we tackle the world top-10 rated masterpiece at Royal County Down before moving onto Belfast. The next day sees us launching a snatch and grab raid against the host of the 2019 Open Championship , the world top-20 ranked links of Royal Portrush, before returning to Belfast to begin our pursuit of England’s Open venues
We have the choice of flying, or sailing overnight. Either way our target is the trio of Open Championship venues on the Lancashire coast. Royal Lytham has perhaps, statistically speaking at least, eclipsed Carnoustie as the most difficult on the rotation. Lytham with its red bricked and green gabled clubhouse is one of the most recognisable in golf. Royal Birkdale, is widely regarded as England’s premier links golf course, and the host venue that allowed Jordan Spieth to have his name carved onto the claret jug in 2018. The next day we play Hoylake on Merseyside, an old-fashioned links that since it returned to the Open rotation has rewarded Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. This completes the rump of England’s Open venues with Ireland added for extra value.
All that remains now is to get back to Dublin (although you might of course decide to fly open jaw and head back home from Manchester?). Our scheduled day of arrival back in Ireland will be a Saturday, which does limit our scope. The Portmarnock Links are an excellent course which features in a list of Ireland’s top-20.
For a comparatively short break, this truly is a pageantry of golfing royalty. Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Royal Lytham, Royal Liverpool and Royal Birkdale are amongst four clubs to have hosted the Open Championship. Six courses, played over seven days hold world top-100 rankings. That’s impressive in any language and probably doesn’t require any further justification. Taken together you’ve got the best of England’s Open venues with Ireland, and can also count the vibrant and atmospheric cities of Dublin and Liverpool as additional reasons to look favourably on this comparatively inexpensive option. You could do a lot worse than build yourself a ‘recovery day’ into the itinerary!
7 Nights
Ireland & UK
Transport
Self drive, (although could use a hired driver on the Irish leg). Involves a ferry crossing. A flight is possible if you prefer, but means processing a second vehicle hireLogistics
Point-to-point tour with multiple short stop-oversNon-Golf Offer
Strong - Dublin, Belfast, & Liverpool. The tour requires you to keep movingMileage
High - Approx 900 miles Circa - 22 hrs (includes 7 hrs sailing)Travel Class
Luxury, Premier and AffordableSunday - Portmarnock GC
With a rich history closely aligned to the progression of golf in Ireland, Portmarnock has hosted numerous Irish Open Championships, the Walker Cup, Irish Amateur Championships and the British Amateur Championship. From Sam Snead to Seve Ballesteros, some of golf’s best-known names have tested their skills against this majestic narrow tongue of shallow dunes-land, just north of Dublin. Considered by many as one of the fairest links courses in the world it delivers an incredible challenge and true test of golf. Perhaps five-time Open Championship winner Tom Watson summed up the links best during his visits saying, “There are no tricks or nasty surprises, only an honest, albeit searching test of shot making skills.”
Monday - Royal County Down
Royal County Down is the world’s highest rated golf course according to Golf Digest on their 2016 rankings. It is framed in one of the most stunningly natural links settings. The Murlough Nature Reserve provides the stage, the magnificent Mourne mountains the backdrop. The narrowest ribbons of fairways thread their way through as impressive a set of sand dunes as could be imagined. The fairways are surrounded by purple heather and golden gorse, so beautiful to look at, but so punishing for any who may stray from the prescribed path. The ‘bearded’ bunkers are world famous, featuring overhanging lips of marram, red fescue and heather. The greens are fast and many are domed, rejecting any shot lacking conviction.
Tuesday - Royal Portrush
Portrush is constructed on an area of natural dune land framed by limestone cliffs. The Open was held here in 1951, and won by Max Faulkner. In 2019 it returned, Shane Lowry playing the elements best of all to prove a popular local(ish) winner. The fifth is an iconic short par 4, that taunts you into over clubbing. Get it wrong and you plunge down the cliff onto the beach below. The sixteenth is arguably even more famous, an intimidating par 3 that involves driving across a valley of no recovery onto a surface in another dune system that falls sharply away on all sides. With out of bounds down both sides, Rory McIlroy’s first hole quadruple has probably entered folklore too. It’s difficult to imagine that the Open has a tougher opening assignment
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Wednesday - Royal Lytham
Royal Lytham could never be described as a “classical” links course. It doesn’t have any giant shaggy dunes, nor does it have undulating roller-coaster fairways or pretty sea views, but with its red brick, green gabled clubhouse it has character and bags of history. The course itself is extremely tough. An analysis of the most recent Open Championships that Faraway Fairways has undertaken suggests that Lytham is in fact the most difficult of the courses on the rotation. Numerous sandhills, particularly long and snaggly grasses, and an abundance of bunkers (174 of them) do the defending. It’s perhaps not surprising that a renowned escapologist like Seve Ballesteros twice lifted the claret jug here
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Thursday - Royal Birkdale
Whereas the argument to be called Scotland’s best links is competitive, the English title is less contested. Royal Birkdale is widely acknowledged to wear the crown and renowned for its fairness, immaculate condition, and being a tough assignment to conquer. The fairways are laid out in the flat-bottomed valleys between towering dunes making it particularly hazardous in the wind. Shots breaking from sheltered positions suddenly begin to take on their on sense of independent thought. It’s part of a select group of courses to have hosted the Open (10 times) and the Ryder Cup. Birkdale’s roll-call is equally impressive with the names of Palmer, Trevino, and Watson prominent, and who can possibly forget the travails of Jordan Spieth at the 13th in 2017 on his way to victory
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Friday - Hoylake
Hoylake has a long and illustrious history of playing host to the Open, and has now staged twelve, its first in 1897. Since it’s return the names of Woods and McIlroy were added to the claret jug, which perhaps hints to the fact it rewards the worthy. Founded in 1869, Hoylake is the second oldest seaside links in England. Only six holes are in the dunes – otherwise there is little protection from the ever-changing wind. The land is unusually flat, offering little in the way of definition and reference points. In this regard it requires you to envision a shot. The Open returns to Hoylake in 2023
Saturday - Portmarnock Links
This Bernhard Langer designed links borders its illustrious neighbour, the Portmarnock Golf Club. For such a new layout, the Hotel Links is a very natural and under-stated course. There is nothing showy about the design; the natural land is used simply and effectively. The first eight holes play across gently-undulating ground with definition provided by varied grasses and pot bunkers. Then, around the turn, a cluster of shaggy sand dunes provides a much more pronounced aspect. Resort courses tend to be regarded by golfer’s with suspicion, but this one quickly established itself in Ireland’s top-20 and should be treated as an exception
Handicap requirements
Hoylake - operates a handicap threshold of 21 for gentlemen and 32 for ladies
Royal Portrush - operates a handicap threshold of 18 for gentlemen and 24 for ladies
Some known issues to consider
Royal County Down (RCD) normally open their diary in the third week of May for play the following year. Their popular tee-times sell-out within a week
Royal Portrush normally shadow RCD, although they can sometimes operate an advance 'wait list'. We tend to advise making an enquiry in February for play the following year
The programme we've modelled makes an allowance for an overnight night ferry between Belfast and Liverpool. This saves an accommodation but needn't be to everyone's preference. You can of course fly instead but will need to process separate vehicle hires
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