Updated Royal Portrush course profile...

[Ran Morrissett]

...is now posted under Architecture Timeline and Courses by Country.

Colt’s design is one of my favorites but I must confess that I could name 50 or maybe 60 courses that I would rather play. The reason? The thick, lush rough that now seems ever present season after season on the Dunluce Links. Alister MacKenzie wrote eloquently about the ugliness of thrashing around for balls in thick rough. Impossible to improve on what he said, I’m only going to say I agree with him. Especially at Portrush where the scenery is so breathtaking (the new photos in the course profile back up this statement), it’s a pity to have one’s head down looking for Ted Sturges’s lost tee balls

At some point the combination of wind, topography, and relatively narrow playing corridors (the 10th fairway pinches down to 23 yards at one point) take away some of the playing interest. The game becomes defensive –  stay short and straight and you’re fine. The positiveness of bold golf that MacKenzie praised is lacking. Chasing after the back hole location at the 6th or going for the par fives in two becomes an exercise in stupidity.

The Valley Links, right next door, offers something that the Dunluce Links has lost: the chance for the spectacular recovery shot. That very shot is so integral to separating links golf from parkland golf that to see it lost on the Dunluce Links is a great shame.

Regardless, look at the photos and you’ll swear that the Dunluce Links is one of the dozen finest courses in the world. You’re probably right but you’ll find me down the road at County Down instead.

Cheers,

PS I don’t want to talk about how embarrassingly close my approach shot is in the picture of the 13th green ……unless you ask and I’ll tell you what I had for breakfast, etc. leading up to that epic moment in the match.

[Kevin Pallier]

Ran

Great review - for mine this comment sums up Royal Portrush "The way Colt found/created green sites on top or in dunes separates Portrush in quality from all most all other links."

I love the view from the tee at Calamity...across the Links and down into the Valley course.

That rough certainly looks much thicker than when I played there last -I'll see if I can dig out some photos.

Many thanks
KP

[Guy Nicholson]

Great review and some lovely photos.

[Josh Smith]

Ran,


       I am loving the humor thrown in on this update.  A sure sign you guys had a blast.

Josh

[Jason Blasberg]

Ran:

If you had 5 rounds at Portrush and Portstewart how would you split them?

Jason

[Tim Pitner]

I've never thought of Ran and Matt Ward as kindred spirits, but Ward said much the same thing in reviewing Portrush/Dunluce--that the fairways are too narrow.

[Dan Moore]

Jason,


Not to prempt ran but if it were me I would split them 2 Portstewart and 3 Dunluce.  On the other hand if I had 10 rounds I might do 2 Portstewart 8 Dunluce.  I didn't play the Valley when there but wish I had.  

For what its worth when I played Dunluce a year ago I did not find the fairways overall to be to narrow though some of the higher handicappers in the group did.  

[Matt_Ward]

Glad to see the comments I originally made about Dunluce have now been verified.

The issue I have with overly narrow fairways is exactly what Ran described -- you begin to play way too much defensive golf because the penalties are clearly draconian. Losing balls is a very easy proposition when playing a course that is open to a very stiff breeze much of the time.

There is also the high proability that the recovery shot is then also eliminated because the only likely play is to take your SW and PW and pitch sideways to the fairway.

Frankly, I have to say that courses that overdose on the rough element are trying to boost the "toughness" aspect of the course when candidly that's not needed with the sterling pedigree that is Dunluce.

Widening the layout just a tad and trying to provide for a playable grass between the fairway and the hay would only add to the grand time when there IMHO.

[Andy Scanlon]

Great review.  Love the pics.

[Paul_Turner]

Ran

A vast improvement on the old pics!  Some really nice ones and some good angles...like the one of the 3rd.  Good call on the left greenside bunker on the 1st, I'd forgotten about it.

Glad to see you're converted with the 12th; I think the green is a bit like Worlington's famous 5th.  What did you make of 10 and 11, I remember you thinking they were a bit bland when we last chatted.  But doesn't the 10th have a nice tee shot and a really cool green too?  Can you chase a shot through the gap between the bunkers on 11th and hook it round??

Didn't highlight the 7th?  Surely one of the best holes?

Why is the 9th fairway so flat (no lumps)?  It was constructed (along with the 8th) after the others and I think something went wrong with the construction there.  The green is decent but it's my least favourite hole after the 17th.

What do people think of the 15th (Purgatory)?  Ran thinks it's awkward,  I remember an exciting old fashioned hole (bit like a couple of holes on Gullane #1) with another cool green that is different from the rest.  I know others who don't really rate the hole...the potential/inevitable hanging lie?

How do clubs control the rough on dunes?  Do any GB+Ir links ever cut it?  Is it the bracken that's the worst?  I think the fairways were always fairly narrow since the course was built on a shoestring unlike say NGLA and many of the fairway widths are defined by the dune ridges.

Part of Portrush's difficulty is also due to relatively small greens.

Any chance of a Portrush Valley review, any pics?  Good enough course?

[Andy Levett]

Was the green at the 5th was re-done post-Colt? I found a pic from 1961 on the St Andrews Uni site Martin Bonnar pointed out to us. (The site is http://special.st-andrews.ac.uk/saspecial/index.php and the pic is the third of the series below).
There's no sign of that big rise so prominent in Ran's pic, which is first. (The middle picture is one of mine from March 2005, to bridge the different compostions of the other two images)



Check out the caravan in the far right of the b&w pic!

Purgatory was one of my favourite holes (good toboggan run if they ever get any snow too) but what's with the name - surely not denoting a transition between the heavenly heights and the  hellish plain of the trio leading back to the clubhouse?

On the issue of the rough, in March it wasn't an issue, so maybe that's the time to tackle the Dunluce, especially as the green fee is half the summer rate.

[Paul_Turner]

I think Sean is right.  The green has been extended forward.   I  know they had some cliff erosion problems behind that green.

[ward peyronnin]

As someone who was there I can say that Ran's review accurately mirrored our trio's concerns about the Dunlace course with what I would term a gentle and appropriate tone.

This course has so many great holes on it but the set up prevents it from being near as much fun as it should be.

The seventh, Paul, in our experience played very long (~440+/-)into a prevailing wind. The landing zone for the tee ball was far to narrow. The cross bunkers were placed so that , unless one hit an absolutely perfect long iron running shot from a slightly downhill stance over them, reaching the green in two was almost impossible and the risk ; having in almost every case to hit out sideways or backwards, hardly justified the uncertain reward. I think one bunker justified but two vastly reduces the chance for a thrilling shot.There was bailout area right which would be better if this was a par five ( I did par hole our second round from here with a 50 yard chip laid dead but I would hate to play the hole every time relying on that). Once again; a very nice looking hole that suffered, in our play, from the current details.

By the way , for those of you travelling to play this area may I recommend a B&B called Hillrise in Portrush http://www.hillrise-portrush.com/ that is very affordable with a nice view and lovely host.

Ward ( not Matt) Peyronnin

[ward peyronnin]

Andy

While the 15th is a decent golf hole it seemed to be more of an effort to find a way to get to the 16 th. Not one of the stronger lines of charm and if you are big off the tee not too difficult either.

[Voytek Wilczak]

What a majestic golf course.

Great pics, too.

I don't share the concerns about the narrowness of the fairways and potential lost balls.

I think in the part of the world where this particular golf course sits, the players generally know how to play the game in the wind, and shoot it mostly straight, unlike the general American golfing public.

The golf course was designed for the locals who can play the game.

It is magnificent.