Portstewart Golf Club

Portstewart Golf Club
7004 YARDS
PAR 72
Designer: Willie Park Jr., Des Giffin

If Major Haversham was to ask our first-time visitors to Portstewart to approximate the age of the Strand course, most would likely presume that it was at least 100 years old. Generally a safe assumption in this part of the world, but at Portstewart it’s only half right.

Golf arrived to this corner of Northern Ireland’s coast in the 1890’s in the form of a rudimentary 9-hole course that measured a mere 1500 yards. The club quickly outgrew their humble ground and in 1908 welcomed a new 18-hole course on the Strand links. Willie Park, Jr. soon arrived for a redesign and put to use the talents that served him well at places like Sunningdale and Maidstone. The two-time Open champion’s layout meandered over a relatively flat and uninteresting piece of land, yet the property next door was a magnificent stretch of links that was littered with towering sandhills. For nearly a century, the members of Portstewart played past those dunes and dreamed of the possibilities.

Fast forward to the 1980’s, that alluring piece of neighboring property finally came up for sale and Portstewart wasted no time in securing the deed. The club tapped a member and local school teacher, Des Giffin, to incorporate the newly acquired property, known as Thistly Hollow, into its course. To the bewilderment of every professional golf course architect of the day, the end result was a stroke of brilliance.

Portstewart had long been known for its spectacular 1st hole; an outstanding par-4 that dives around the beachfront dunes. Now, thanks to the new property and their school-teacher architect, the club had 7 more just like it. The 2nd through 8th holes twist and turn their way through the sandhills in dramatic fashion, and are sure to produce the most vivid memories of the day. The par-4 5th hole is perhaps the best example, while the tiny target at the par-3 6th does a fine job of living up to its name: “Five Penny Piece.”

After a front-9 that is filled with one highlight after another, the inward side at Portstewart is often criticised as a bit of a let down. There is no doubt that the back-9 plays over less dramatic ground, yet the original Willie Park holes are filled with plenty of interest if one is willing to look for it. The rumpled terrain and shelf-top greens are a delightful throwback to another era, and it’s likely that most of the holes would never be built today. Still, the argument that Portstewart is a tale of two 9’s does hold some merit.

For the entirety of its existence, Portstewart has lived in the shadow of its colleague down the road at Portrush. The club is slowly gaining the attention of golfers across the globe, however, and the limelight of hosting the 2017 Irish Open has only reinforced that fact. We find Portstewart to be a worthy complement to its royal neighbor while on a golf trip to Ireland, with the front-9 alone making the journey across the pond entirely worthwhile.


For more insight on planning your golf trip to Ireland, visit the links below, read our Ireland golf trip reviews, or have a look through our Yardage Book, where you’ll find answers to many of our most frequently asked questions.

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