It's a mishmash. No doubt the original patch in 1890 had something to do with the whims of Naval Commander Alfred Malcolm Causton and other early members. Holes six to nine date more or less from 1906, while most of the the rest of the course dates from 1926 when two distinguished members of Royal Portrush, Major C. O. Hezlet and Sir Anthony Babington, were asked to suggest an extension. Some of the current bunkering on the first five holes (the non-linksy section) were suggested by one Darren Clarke during a buggy ride with his father (then greenkeeper) and the then captain, payment being in the form of a few pints of Guinness. Clarke was made an honorary member after his defeat of Tiger in the World Match Play More recently the club members themselves have eliminated a couple of the holes in the humpy "warren" section to relieve congestion, altered slightly a couple of others, and added the new 13th and 14th at the extreme end of the course farthest away from the clubhouse.
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The Course
Ballycastle consists of two entirely different sections. The first five holes are parkland in style and rather flat and sedate, although the opening hole does flirt with the River Margy. The most interesting hazard, of course, is the ruined Bonamargy, which comes into play on the third.
To freshen things up a bit, the head greenkeeper asked his son to have a look at the bunkering. That might seem odd, except the greenkeeper was Godfrey Clarke and his son was Darren, the best player from Northern Ireland since Fred Daly.
‘We drove around in a buggy,’ says Brian Dillan, who was captain at the time. ‘Those new bunkers on the first five holes were Darren’s idea. We got free advice, but we entertained him afterwards with the black stuff!’
The club actually went a step further, making Clarke an honorary member of Ballycastle in 2000 after he defeated Tiger Woods in the World Championship match play event.
‘He’s a great guy, and still has his feet on the ground,’ says Dillon.
(Since their initial collaboration at Ballycastle, father and son have joined forces on the design front, and Godfrey is overseeing the development of Darren Clarke-designed courses as far away as South Africa.)
The Clarke family’s new bunkers have helped strengthen Ballycastle’s opening stretch, but to cross the Cushendall Road back towards the clubhouse to the sixth tee is to enter a different, and much more satisfying, golfing world. This is the Warren (you will still see a lot of rabbits), the linksland on which the course’s original nine holes were first laid out.