Portstewart Golf Club (Strand Course)

Five miles west of Royal Portrush you’ll find the Strand Course at Portstewart Golf Club, a Northern Irish links whose reputation can’t stand up to its neighbor but one whose dunes may actually overshadow those that oversee its prestigious counterpart.

The Portstewart Golf Club has ties to the 1890s when a group of amateur golf enthusiasts cobbled together a course west of town and flush against the Portstewart Strand. The first official design is credited to A.G. Gow, the head golf professional at the time. Willie Park Jr. also came in to touch up the course in the late 1910s. Many of the original holes and Park’s holes are still in use today, but in the 1980s, the club purchased a sector of land west of its property known as Thistly Hollow. This plot featured dramatic dunesland that tower over both the sea to the north and the original course to the south and east. One of the town’s schoolteachers, Des Griffin, laid out seven new holes in the dunes to reroute the front nine of the Strand Course. Today, the front nine of the Strand Course is arguably one of the best, and most dramatic, opening nines in the world. Combined with a more benign back nine that plays down to the River Bann on the southern end of the property, the Strand Course at Porstewart Golf Club is a more modern example of the beauty that is on display in Northern Ireland.

Take Note…

Lost & Found. Half a mile up the road from Portstewart Golf Club is a quaint coffee shop that hosted our team for many mornings as they traveled during Eggsplorations in 2024. If you find yourself in need of a cup of joe or a beautiful view, visit Lost & Found.

Venture to the back. Even if you don’t play the back tees (which you likely shouldn’t on this brawny golf course), take a walk back to the tips on Nos. 4 and 8. Both sit on some of the highest points in the entire dune complex and feature incredible views of the surrounding area.

Rahm’s first. In 2017, the DP World Tour took the Irish Open to Portstewart for the first time. A 22-year-old by the name of Jon Rahm completed a six-shot win, his first career DP World Tour victory and his second professional win.