Championship VenueLinks ClassicNorth Coast Route

Portstewart Golf Club (Strand Course)

Portstewart, Co. Londonderry · Est. 1894

Portstewart's Strand Course has one of the most spectacular opening stretches in Irish links golf. The front seven, added in 1992 through a wilderness of giant dunes known as Thistly Hollow, plunge and climb between towering sandhills with the River Bann and the Atlantic beach below — a sequence that turned a fine old club course into a modern championship links.

Founded in 1894 on the north Antrim–Derry coast, the club sits between Royal Portrush and Castlerock on one of the densest concentrations of great links land in the world. The Strand proved its championship credentials when it hosted the 2017 Irish Open, won by Jon Rahm with a closing eagle in front of huge crowds — the tournament's move to Portstewart a statement of how far the course had come.

The famous 1st, "Tubber Patrick," drops from an elevated tee to a fairway framed by dunes and the sea, setting the tone for a front nine that ranks with anything on the coast. It is the natural third course of a north-coast trip alongside Portrush and Castlerock.

Holes worth knowing

11st "Tubber Patrick" (par-4) — a stunning downhill opener from an elevated tee to a fairway hemmed by towering dunes, the beach and River Bann beyond. One of the great starts in Irish golf.

Highlights

Host of the 2017 Irish Open (Jon Rahm)
A front nine through giant dunes — among the best on the coast
Completes the north-coast trio with Royal Portrush and Castlerock

Good to know

→The Strand is the course to play — the newer front nine through Thistly Hollow is the reason Portstewart hosts championships. Do not confuse it with the club's shorter Old and Riverside courses.
→It sits minutes from Royal Portrush and a short drive from Castlerock, so the three make an outstanding two- or three-day north-coast links itinerary.
→Book well in advance for summer; the Causeway Coast, the Giant's Causeway and the Bushmills distillery are all on the doorstep for non-golf days.