Royal Portrush Golf Club, Home of The Open and How a Visitor Gets On
Royal Portrush Golf Club is the only club outside Great Britain ever to host The Open Championship, and it has now done it three times: 1951, 2019 and 2025. Shane Lowry won by six in 2019, and Scottie Scheffler by four in 2025. With greens like the 5th perched right on the edge of the Atlantic, it is easy to see why The Open keeps coming back.
It is also a working members’ club on the Causeway Coast, which means visiting golfers play on the club’s terms rather than their own. There are two full courses, the Dunluce Links and the Valley Links, and the club takes its rules on tee times, handicaps and dress seriously.
The catch is getting on. There is no instant online booking and no ballot, the visitor windows are narrow and change by day of the week, and there are no Dunluce tee times for visitors at all on a Wednesday. Plan the trip around the tee time, not the other way round.
Below you will find the history of the club, both courses, the green fees and visitor times, how a visitor actually gets a tee time, the dress code, caddies and buggies, and getting there. I am on this stretch of coast right through the golf season, so I will also answer the question the club’s own website does not, which is what the non golfer in your party is supposed to do all day.
What Is in This Guide
The Club, Founded in 1888 and Royal by 1895
It began in May 1888 as The County Club, on nine holes. Eighteen followed the next year, when Old Tom Morris came over to play an exhibition match and gave his advice on the layout.
It became The Royal County Club in 1892 under the patronage of the Duke of York, and Royal Portrush Golf Club in 1895 when the patronage passed to the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII.
The club has been at the centre of Irish golf from the beginning. Members helped form the Golfing Union of Ireland at the Northern Counties Hotel in Portrush in 1891. The club hosted Ireland’s first national tournament in 1892 and its first professional tournament in 1895, when Sandy Herd, then the club professional, beat Harry Vardon.
In 2016 Queen Elizabeth II attended a civic reception at the clubhouse. The club states it was her first official visit to any golf club.
The Royal Portrush Dunluce Links, Harry Colt’s Finest Work
The championship course was designed by Harry Colt, who was engaged in 1929 and whose layout opened in 1933. The club describes it as now regarded by many as Colt’s finest work, and few people who have played it would argue.
Martin Ebert redesigned it in 2015 ahead of the 2019 Open: five new greens, eight new tee boxes, ten new bunkers, and two entirely new holes, the 7th and 8th, built on ground that had been part of the Valley Links. The revised layout came into play in June 2017.
The holes people talk about
4th, Fred Daly’s. Out of bounds right, a narrow entrance between the dunes, and stroke index 1.
5th, White Rocks. A dogleg playing downhill to a green perched on the edge of the Atlantic.
14th, Causeway. A raised green with a cavernous bunker left.
16th, Calamity Corner. A par three of up to 236 yards with no bunkers at all, because it does not need any. The green drops away into a chasm on the right. The club’s own advice is to take plenty of club and aim back left. They call it one of the most famous holes in golf, and for once that is not marketing.
The Royal Portrush Valley Links, Not a Second Course
One thing worth correcting before you plan anything. The Valley is a full eighteen hole championship course, not a nine hole second course, whatever some listing sites say.
It hosts one of the two qualifying rounds for the North of Ireland Open each year, and the club states it is consistently ranked among the top forty courses in Ireland. Graeme McDowell learned his game on it.
It runs through the War Hollow, believed to be the site of a battle around 1102 between the Chieftains of The Route and Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway. The 4th green sits below the hill the Calamity Corner tee stands on, which ties the two courses together neatly.
At £200 against £420, for a golfer who cannot get a Dunluce time or who wants a second round without a second championship green fee, the Valley is a serious course in its own right rather than a consolation.
Royal Portrush Green Fees and Visitor Times
Green fees. The Royal Portrush green fees are set by season. Dunluce Links £420 per person and Valley Links £200 per person, from 1 April to 31 October. A Golf Ireland rate for groups of four is available on request and subject to availability. Rates outside that window are not published, so ask the club.
Visitor tee times, the Dunluce. Monday from 11am. Tuesday and Thursday 9.40am to 11.52am and again after 2pm. Wednesday no visitor bookings at all. Friday 9.40am to 11.52am only. Saturday after 3pm. Sunday after 1pm.
Visitor tee times, the Valley. Monday from 11am. Tuesday and Thursday 9.40am to 11.52am and again after 2pm. Wednesday no visitor bookings at all. Friday 9.40am to 11.52am only. No visitor bookings at all on Saturday. Sunday after 1pm.
How to book. There is no instant online booking and no ballot, whatever other golf sites tell you. Contact the tee reservations department on +44 (0)28 7082 2311 or use the club’s enquiry form. Visitors are expected to be members of recognised golf clubs and a handicap certificate may be requested before play.
Where it is. Dunluce Road, Portrush, County Antrim, BT56 8JQ. On the edge of Portrush town, with Dunluce Castle, Bushmills and the Giant’s Causeway all a few minutes away.
How a Visitor Actually Gets a Tee Time
This is the section most articles get wrong, so here it is plainly.
There is no instant online booking and there is no ballot. You will read on several golf sites that visitor times are balloted. They are not. The club’s Book a Tee Time page is an enquiry form asking for your name, email, preferred date, number of golfers and preferred course, and tee times are then handled by the reservations team.
The visitor windows above are published by the club and are worth checking before you fix your dates, because a Wednesday trip means no Dunluce golf at all and a Saturday means teeing off after three. Those windows do change, so treat the club’s own visitor page as the authority rather than any third party summary, this one included.
Handicaps, and a myth worth ignoring
The club’s current published wording is short and precise: visitors are expected to be members of recognised golf clubs, and handicap certificates may be requested prior to play.
You will find third party sites quoting a maximum handicap of 18 for men and 24 for women, plus a letter of introduction. That does not appear anywhere on the club’s current website. It may well be historic. Do not plan around it and do not panic about it. Ask the club.
There is a second route worth knowing: the club welcomes visiting golfers into its open competitions on both courses from time to time.
Dress Code, Caddies, Buggies and Rental
Dress code
On the course, suitable golf attire. No blue denim, no collarless tee shirts. Tailored golf shorts are fine, beach shorts and multi pocket cargo shorts are not.
In the clubhouse, smart casual including golf wear and soft spike shoes. Not permitted anywhere: blue denim, collarless tee shirts, flip flops, caps and hats. Shorts are not permitted in the Dining Room, and in the Babington Room gentlemen wear jacket and tie. Mobile phones on silent throughout, and smoking, including e-cigarettes, is prohibited on club premises.
Caddies and buggies
Caddies are booked through the club and many of them are local. On a course like this the local knowledge is a substantial part of what you are paying for.
Both courses are walking only. Carts are available only for golfers with a disability or medical condition, driven by a senior caddie who accompanies you, and you must produce a medical note and sign a disclaimer beforehand. If someone in your party has assumed they can ride, sort that out well in advance rather than on the morning.
Rental clubs from Titleist, TaylorMade and Callaway are available through the professional staff. Powakaddy electric trolleys with GPS can be booked ahead. Pull trolleys need no booking.
If You Are Not Playing
This is the question the club’s own website does not answer, and it is one of the questions I hear most.
What the club does publish is that the Clubhouse Restaurant and Bar is for members, visitors and residents only, so it is not open to the general public, and that the Babington Room is members only. Both courses are walking only, so there is no question of a buggy tour.
Beyond that the club publishes no policy on whether non golfers may look around, walk any part of the course, or use the pro shop without a tee time, and I am not going to invent one. If you are travelling with a golfer and want to know what you can do while they play, contact the club and ask directly.
What I can tell you is that the coast here is superb and nobody is short of things to do. Portrush town, the beaches at Whiterocks and Portstewart, Dunluce Castle and the Giant’s Causeway are all within a few minutes of the clubhouse, and Old Bushmills Distillery is ten minutes along the road.
Visitor information
Whiterocks Beach. Off the Causeway Coastal Route on the east side of Portrush. Free parking beside the beach, toilets and outdoor showers, and RNLI lifeguards in July and August from 10am to 6pm.
Portstewart Strand. 118 Strand Road, Portstewart, BT55 7PG, run by the National Trust. The beach is open dawn to dusk. Parking on the strand is £8.50 per car, card only, and free for National Trust members and Blue Badge holders.
Dunluce Castle. 87 Dunluce Road, Bushmills, BT57 8UY, a few minutes east along the coast road. Our Dunluce Castle guide has the opening times and tickets.
Old Bushmills Distillery. 2 Distillery Road, Bushmills, BT57 8XH, about ten minutes along the road.
Giant’s Causeway. 44 Causeway Road, Bushmills, BT57 8SU, a few minutes beyond Bushmills.
Getting There and the Wider Golf Trip
The club sits on the Dunluce Road on the edge of Portrush town, with the Giant’s Causeway, Bushmills and Dunluce Castle all close by, so a round here fits naturally into a day on the Causeway Coastal Route. From Belfast it is about 60 miles, roughly an hour and a quarter by the direct road.
Most golf visitors combine Royal Portrush with other courses along this coast, and the practical problem is always the same: early tee times, golf bags that will not fit in a hire car with four people in it, and nobody wanting to be the designated driver after a round.
That is what our private golf transfers are for. We run golf transfers across Northern Ireland and into the Republic, with room for the clubs and a driver who knows the roads between the courses. In the Republic we provide the transfer and the driver rather than a guided tour.
Royal Portrush Golf Club FAQ
What are the Royal Portrush green fees?
From 1 April to 31 October the Dunluce Links is £420 per person and the Valley Links is £200 per person. A Golf Ireland rate for groups of four is available on request and subject to availability. Rates outside that window are not published.
How do you book Royal Portrush tee times?
Through the club’s enquiry form or its reservations team on +44 (0)28 7082 2311. There is no instant online booking and no ballot, despite what several golf sites say.
When can visitors play the Dunluce Links?
Monday from 11am, Tuesday and Thursday 9.40am to 11.52am and after 2pm, Friday 9.40am to 11.52am only, Saturday after 3pm and Sunday after 1pm. There are no visitor bookings at all on Wednesday. Check the club’s own page before fixing your dates.
Do you need a handicap to play Royal Portrush?
Visitors are expected to be members of recognised golf clubs and handicap certificates may be requested before play. No specific handicap limit appears on the club’s current website, whatever third party sites say.
Are buggies available at Royal Portrush?
Both courses are walking only. Carts are available only for golfers with a disability or medical condition, driven by a senior caddie, and you need a medical note and a signed disclaimer in advance.
Can non-golfers visit Royal Portrush?
The club publishes no policy on this. Its restaurant and bar are for members, visitors and residents only, and the Babington Room is members only. Contact the club directly to ask what is possible.
Is the Valley Links worth playing?
Yes. It is a full eighteen hole championship course, not a nine hole second course. It hosts North of Ireland qualifying, the club says it is consistently ranked in the top forty courses in Ireland, and it is where Graeme McDowell learned the game.
How many times has The Open been at Royal Portrush?
Three times: 1951, 2019 and 2025. Shane Lowry won by six shots in 2019 and Scottie Scheffler won by four in 2025. It is the only club outside Great Britain ever to host the Championship.
What is the dress code at Royal Portrush?
Suitable golf attire on the course, with no blue denim and no collarless tee shirts. Smart casual in the clubhouse, no flip flops, caps or hats, no shorts in the Dining Room, and jacket and tie for gentlemen in the Babington Room.
What is Calamity Corner?
The 16th on the Dunluce Links, a par three of up to 236 yards with no bunkers because it does not need any. The green falls away into a chasm on the right. Take plenty of club and aim back left, which is the club’s own advice.
Can you get transport between golf courses in Northern Ireland?
Yes. We run private golf transfers Northern Ireland wide and into the Republic, with room for the clubs and early starts covered. In the Republic we provide the transfer and driver rather than a guided tour.
Where is Royal Portrush Golf Club?
On the Dunluce Road on the edge of Portrush, County Antrim, BT56 8JQ, a few minutes from Dunluce Castle and the Giant’s Causeway.
How far is Royal Portrush from Belfast?
About 60 miles, roughly an hour and a quarter by the direct road.
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