Northern Exposure

ROYAL PORTRUSH

What a setting! There are great golden sandy beaches on two sides. The hills of Donegal are to the west. And to the north, looking to Scotland, on a clear day one sees the outline of Islay and other Hebridean islands. Overlooked by Dunluce Castle, a 13th century Norman Fort, the Dunluce Links, Royal Portrush Golf Club’s premier course (there are three layouts here) is a thing of wonder.

It’s a very hard course through high dunes, endlessly up and down and changing direction.

The 14thhole, "Calamity" (the name tells you everything you might need to know), is basically perched on a cliff edge, the most severe one shotter you can imagine. It is more than 200 yards and golfers play across a vast deep chasm from which no ball can really be recovered. Happily, on a course of small greens "Calamity" boasts a large putting surface. And there is one area for some sort of bail out, "Locke’s Hollow", where South African legend Bobby Locke hit his tee shots on four consecutive days, preferring to pitch and putt rather than risk all with his tee shot.

That was in 1951 when Portrush became the only Irish club to have hosted The Open Championship (Max Faulkner won, never once breaking 70 such is the course’s severity). It’s not impossible to imagine The Open’s return, partly because of the recent successes of its famous sons McDowell and Clarke and partly because of the fabulous layout itself, the design genius of its architect Harry Colt. Colt built Wentworth, Sunningdale, Rye and Pine Valley and of course added greatly to Royal County Down, yet he considered Portrush his masterpiece. Its second 18-holer, The Valley Course, is also a thing of beauty.

LOUGH ERNE

Sir Nick Faldo’s course is wonderful, one of the best inland creations to emerge anywhere in recent years. Between Castle Hume Lough and Lower Lough Erne, just outside Enniskillen, Northern Ireland’s first five-star resort is spectacular. Do not balk at the idea of a new resort with golf and real estate attached. It’s a perfect place, more charming than its scale suggests, more refined than its tender age might imply. The 120 rooms and 25 luxury lodges are very special and most afford fabulous views of the water-strewn landscape. The course is laid out, mainly, on 600 acres of land known as Ely Island, a rugged parcel of terrain with wonderful woodland belts stretching across it.

We are in County Fermanagh, a beautiful place, all waterways and impossibly green hills. But above everything it’s the golf which is phenomenal. Faldo’s layout is tough but fair, perfectly presented, thrillingly routed through trees, over hills and hard by the water’s edge, always emphasizing the location’s natural charms.

Some shots here intimidate and all shots here inspire. Fairways narrow beyond average driving distance but overall the course is not long. It is best played as much by mental agility as physical effort.

Faldo often excelled by playing conservatively from the tee and aggressively from fairway to green. If you can manage it, a similar style will yield results here. Don’t go at the drives too hard; but be brave and fire at the pins because the greens here, although fast, are receptive in the US mould.

BEST OF THE REST

Countless other clubs will reward a visit, including the fast and firm links at Castlerock and at Ballycastle on the northern Antrim coastline. As will the Ireland's most easterly course – Kirkistown, a less well-known James Braid design. Belfast, Northern Ireland's capital, is home to a number of notable clubs, including Malone, Harry Colt's Belvoir Park and the oldest of them all, historic Royal Belfast, another charming Colt creation.

But the golfer needn’t travel far from the country’s top two: close to Royal County Down is Ardglass, a thrilling clifftop course with a collection of standout par threes; and hard by Portrush is Portstewart, a great seaside set-up with a spectacular front nine twisting through heaving dunes. Its first hole is rightly considered one of the best in the game.

Craig Morrison is the co-author of 18 Greatest Irish Golf Holes, a book described by The Golf Channel as ‘soul-stirring’ and by Forbes Magazine as ‘an instant collectible ... truly beautiful, a must for the golf library collector or a great gift for any golf enthusiast.’ 18 Greatest Irish Golf Holes (as well as 18 Greatest Scottish Golf Holes and photographic prints from both titles) can be purchased from many of the world’s most exclusive golf clubs and from the publisher’s website, 18greatestgolf.com. The books are limited editions and cost US$300.