Golf in Northern Ireland

I arrived in George Best City Airport on a bright and sunny morning. With the golf group not arriving until 12.30 Feeling a little peckish I decided a good breakfast was required and Costa in the airport was not going to do it! So I took a three mile trip to the docks and into the Titanic Hotel for a full Irish Breakfast. An amazing hotel which previously was the offices of H&W Shipyard. Great pictures show you where the engineers and draftsmen did their work. One hundred metres away is the Titanic Exhibition. Painted out on the quayside are the actual dimensions and lay out of the Titanic. With group now collected it was off to Bushmills, a one hour drive. I am staying in Ballylough House a two minute drive from the Bushmills Inn where the group are staying. My hosts are David and June. The house has been in the family for 300 years with them being the current custodians! If you are looking to chill or wind down and something out of the ordinary then this is the place to visit.

Back to the golf which is the purpose of the trip. Today is Portrush which hosts the Open in July this year. You are maybe too late for this year but give us a ring for Royal St Georges in 2020. Gary McNeill is the Pro at Portrush who made us all very welcome giving me a nice set of AP3 clubs do I could play with the group. Birdie through 5,6 and 7 was the highlight of my day! The group throughly enjoyed the weather and the venue.

Apes golf was a visit to some of the Game of Thrones settings at Port Ballintoy Harbour. Ice cream and photography was followed  by a visit to Fullerton Arms to sit on the throne.

Golf today was at Castlerock, a gem of a course. Some of the latter holes reminded me of The famous Ballybunion Couse. Play Castlerock you won’t be disappointed. Dinner that night was in the Bayview Hotel party owned by Past Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke. It was a Saturday night so it was jumping! Great views over the Atlantic Ocean.

Next day it was off to Ballyliffin. About a 1.5 hour drive north into Eire. Seems strange that Eire has a more northerly point than Northern Ireland. Ballyliffin is a stunning Course with views to match and worth the the trip. We played the Glashedy Course that hosted the Irish Open in 2018. We headed back to Bushmills for dinner. Bushmills is a great place to stay. Great food and excellent service at this establishment. Sadly all good things come to an end so it is off to the airport and back to Scotland. I would recommend for a longer trip you move south and take in more golf at Ardglass, Royal County Down, County Lough, Portmarnock Links and the Island. This is very possible without too much driving.