he Causeway Coast is the crown of Northern Ireland. It is craggy, weather-beaten, and bejeweled with a rare array of nature, great golf courses, and drops of golden Irish whiskey. Centering on the old fishing town of Portrush, we have compiled a four-day itinerary featuring three golf courses that might be as good as any links trio anywhere. This one is for the links connoisseur.
From Belfast International Airport, it is a 50-mile, northwesterly drive through green and rolling countryside to the Causeway Coast at Castlerock. Forgoing a gentle warm-up on this tour, we head straight into the thick of vintage Irish links on the classic Mussenden Course at Castlerock Golf Club (above), alongside the River Bann estuary. This 18-hole layout, defined by peaking dunes and forbidding pot bunkers, opened in 1901, before being shaped by clubmaker Ben Sayer and, later, by Harry Colt.
From Castlerock it is a 12-mile drive to Portrush, which is the ideal hub for this Causeway tour. For traditional Irish hospitality, stay at the Antrim House Bed & Breakfast, right in the heart of town. The many pubs and restaurants of Portrush are an easy walk from here.
At breakfast in Antrim House, try the hot porridge before your day on the links. Note the bottle of Bushmills by the porridge pot, for extra warmth (optional).
From the center of Portrush, it is a five-mile drive back west to Portstewart Golf Club, home to 45 holes amid one of the most dramatic dune systems anywhere in the British Isles. The championship Strand course can be tight and twisting, but it is not to be missed, and hardy golfers will enjoy the par-64 Old Course and the Riverside nine.
A break from golf gives the chance to travel eight miles up the coastline to the Giant’s Causeway, which is Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. The enigmatic, hexagonal, basalt columns took their defiant stance against the Northern Atlantic almost 60 million years ago, at a time when the Emerald Isle literally split from North America. Or you might prefer the legend of Finn McCool, a giant who is said to have built the Causeway in order to cross the Irish Sea to face his Scottish rival, Benandonner.
A compulsory diversion on the journey back to Portrush comes at the Bushmills Distillery, founded in 1608 and now the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. See how malted barley is triple distilled in copper pot stills, before tasting the golden produce and enjoying a traditional, hearty County Antrim dinner at the Bushmills Inn.
Is Royal Portrush on day four saving the best for last? You can decide in the bar afterward.
The mighty Portrush offers a pair of 18-hole courses, the Dunluce and the Valley, with the Dunluce being the only golf course outside England and Scotland to have staged the Open. The course, renovated by Harry Colt in 1929, hosted the event in 1951 and 2019, and it will do so again next year.
To get the most of this legendary links—as with all the great links courses—hire a caddie. The breaks on the greens can be surprising, and these people know them all, as well as more than a few tall tales.
Top off your round with a pint at the Rathmore Club, at the town end of the Portrush links. Rathmore is the locals’ club that enjoys access to the Royal Portrush courses, and this is where the U.S. Open champ of 2010, Graeme McDowell, grew up. He donated a replica of the U.S. Open trophy to the club, which takes pride of place in the clubhouse.
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