Kirkistown Castle Golf Club

Kirkistown Castle Golf Club was founded on 3 September 1902 at a meeting in Portaferry, on a lease of land — Sandgrass Farm at Cloughey — granted by Major General W.E. Montgomery of Greyabbey. The Montgomery family had already been associated with the adjacent Kirkistown Castle for decades: a Colonel Johnston and a young Master Montgomery remodelled the 1622 tower house in the 1800s, and now the same family's land would become a golf course. The castle itself is older still — built on the site of a ninth-century round tower, and a National Monument — and a windmill stump erected by a previous castle owner stands within the golf links to this day.

James Braid visited on 26 September 1934. On seeing the course for the first time he said: "If only I had this within 50 miles of London." His redesign gave the course its present character — elevated tees and greens to expose players to the coastal wind, deep revetted pot bunkers repositioned to punish errant lines, and several par-4s over 400 yards that demand precise ball-striking. The 10th, "Long Reach," is the standout: a par-5 whose pulpit green sits more than 30 feet above fairway level and is extremely difficult to hold with a long approach. The club describes itself, accurately, as the most easterly 18-hole golf course on the island of Ireland.

The setting is part of what makes the trip worthwhile. The Ards Peninsula has Strangford Lough — one of the largest sea inlets in the British Isles — running along its western side and the Irish Sea on the east. On a clear day the Mull of Galloway and the Scottish coast are visible from the elevated holes. In 2024, club member Beth Coulter became the first Northern Ireland player selected for the GB&I Curtis Cup team, and helped the side to a historic win at Sunningdale.