The Full Irish: Portstewart Golf Club
Time to play The Strand and enter the world of dunes. Not Dune.
I’ve heard Portstewart referred to as a hidden gem, which is bonkers. It’s possible that it’s just that many people are not psychotic and create itineraries like we did have limited time, soar up to the northern part of the country to play Royal Portrush and zip off to check another name brand course off their list. Even before we teed off, I would have told you that is a mistake.
Founded: 1889
Designer: Willie Park, Jr., Des Griffin (1992)
Ratings:
Top100GolfCourses : 3 (Northern Ireland), 80 (Britain and Ireland)
Golf.com: 73 (UK & Ireland)
The Irish Golfer: 20 (Ireland)
I mean, those aren’t bad rankings but 80th on a list of 100 doesn’t jump out at you, and folks making itineraries based on these lists could easily skip right past it. Why? Portstewart SHOULD be one of those courses on folks must-play lists. Why isn’t it? In general, many of the courses in Northern Ireland aren’t as well known as those around Dublin or the Ring of Kerry. Additionally, I think it’s hurt because for most of its life it was a nine-hole course, expanded to 18 holes only as recently as 1990. It’s a course that is somehow both well over 100 years old, and also only about 33 years old. That said, it’s not the youngest course we’ll play this trip, but it’s one of the younger ones in our rota.
I mentioned in my prior post about Royal Portrush that we’d soon get to the larger dunescapes – and it’s worth stating that while things will get even more severe, we are absolutely beginning to enter the “holy shit, look how big those dunes are” part of our trip
First, notice that David has joined the chat. He’s the guy on the far right, and he seemed to have no discernible jet lag, almost making birdies on two of the first three holes. And if you can’t really see behind us, this is the view from the first tee:
The second hole is just as impressive.
One of my favorite facts about this course is that after additional land was acquired, and the club wanted to expand to 18 holes, the man for the job was … a local school teacher. As noted, Des Giffin was his name, and as far as I can tell only worked on this – and truly, only on what is now (mostly) the front nine, incorporating the rest of the original nine designed by noted architect Willie Park. Giffin is still a member at the club and shows up every now and again according to our starter.
Somehow, and it may well be that the land he had was simply superior, Giffin’s nine is generally considered the superior of the two. There’s hope for all the nerd architects lurking within us all! (Also, a side note - how cool is the nickname Des, or even Dez? Being named Desmond might not be awesome, but Dez is a name that I think anyone can own proudly. And yet, I digress.)
Whether it’s just because it was better land or better design, the crux of Portstewart is the front nine, or honestly the first 12 holes. It’s simply stunning each and every hole, and the dunes are impossibly big - but not too big to swallow up a LOT of golf balls. Here was a common scene:
Fun fact - AC and Thunder were playing in the group ahead of us, and AC hit a wayward shot, and when looking for it, saw a ball in the fairway that seemed to be mine - I play a Titleist #49, a number you need to special order (go Niners) and not one you’d expect to see in Northern Ireland. I was absolutely nowhere close to this hole at the time, so he was confused - until another player walked up and said it was his ball. In fact, he’d found two or three of them already so he’d started playing with them!
The truth can sting. I lost a LOT of golf balls.
The final six holes are definitely good golf holes, but it certainly pales in comparison to what preceded them, and perhaps that ends up influencing the course rating. It shouldn’t. All in all, it’s a remarkable course any golf sicko should ensure they include in their pilgrimage to Northern Ireland.
Today was our fifth straight day of golf, and it’s all been true championship golf indeed. The Theragun, stretching, and lots of Aleve have all been worth it.
Tomorrow we head back to Royal Portrush, to play the second course there, the Valley course. It’s a known fact that many of these world class courses have a full second 18 holes of golf (if not more - Portstewart has TWO other courses) that boorish Americans like us rarely acknowledge, let alone play. And in fairness, the Valley course was not in our original plans but happenstance led to that booking. We will see what fortunes await us.