I spent yesterday at Royal Portrush, playing the Dunluce course and then Valley. I had been to Royal Portrush 7 years ago, around the beginning of an adventure taking me to Ireland, Scotland, and Australia on multiple occasions to partake of links golf in particular and golf in remote coastal areas and smaller communities.
So much has been written of the Dunluce course which one writer called an invigorating experience which he then corrected by calling it intoxicating.
As the site of the 2019 Open, changes are underway. I thought that playing there at this time, I would have an experience similar to Torrey Pines South in years leading up to the 2008 U.S. Open or Chambers Bay in 2014 with temporary greens and other preparation work. Work is under way but I am happy to report that the changes do not detract appreciably from an extremely enjoyable experience. It did not rise to a level of intoxication but was definitely invigorating. Two new holes to replace #17 and 18 are not open yet and they are situated in the Valley course area. One is a long par five and visible from the Dunluce links as well as from the parking lot of the nearby Royal Court Hotel. Two new holes were constructed on the Valley course to compensate for holes lost to construction of new holes for The Open. Three holes are played in a different sequence to avoid walking through an area with ongoing construction.
I would recommend a 36 hole day there to anyone contemplating the possibility. I met up with a fellow member of this website and his friend from London. We had a first rate caddie by the name of Collin, a retired law enforcement officer from Belfast. He oriented us to playing holes with precise lines for playing holes, challenging features, occasional feedback about lapses in good fundamentals, and accurate reading of greens. He explained some of the changes which had been completed. Only one of us had a caddie but we chipped in with additional gratuities to thank him for a job well done. I don't ordinarily hire a caddie for myself but he was amenable to the arrangement and I was grateful for his help.
I thought about the experience of playing Dunluce from a number of perspectives.
The first related to the evolution of my playing experience with links golf. I would have to say that my first time at Dunluce in 2009 I felt a lot of frustration and was mostly focused on the seeming unfairness of fairway, greenside, and green contours. I spent most of my day back then "in the wrong place at the wrong time." Of course I lacked the creativity to make contours work for me instead of against me. With experience of several years behind me, my day was more about embracing challenges as opposed to bemoaning unfairness.
The second involved considering the experience base derived from having spent cumulatively about six months in Ireland playing golf. Initially, my travel involved course hopping and driving. Now I stay for an extended time in a vacation rental and play at a club in County Donegal where I have a membership. The extended time made me a better links player who has gone from a broad range of shortcomings in all links situations to some realistic strengths. I suppose the skill changes helped with the attitudinal changes mentioned in the previous paragraph.
The third perspective involves an appreciation of how the course reviews, golf photography, golf architecture material, golf related friendships, and GCA discussion of which I have partaken over many years contributes to my ability to experience pleasure and enjoyment in a playing environment like the Dunluce links. I was thinking as I was playing yesterday I now see shapes, details, and forms I did not see many years ago.
A fourth perspective came from playing The Valley course. In a brochure there is a quote from Graeme McDowell about his fondness for the Valley course based on his time there in his younger days. Although less spectacular and perhaps even seemingly ordinary compared to Dunluce, Valley is quite enjoyable and endearing, much like many of the links playing environments the people of Ireland are so fond of in smaller communities. There is something special about being in these kinds of playing environments, sheltered in part by dunes and separated from housing and commercial development.
So yesterday was a day of the grand and the wee, so to speak, with the grand embodied in Dunluce and the wee embodied in Valley. I continue to enjoy both aspects of the Irish golf cultural experience.
Charles Lund