Royal Portrush Golf Club
Northern Ireland is
ready and waiting
for the Open
Championship…
golfers should be, too.
Bushmills whiskey is famous around the world. Whether
you like the spirit or not you can’t say it hasn’t put the
Atlantic Ocean begins to collide with the North Channel.
This is the 148th Open and it has returned to Northern
Ireland for the first time in 68 years.
As I discovered in January, however, it is entirely possible to
enjoy two of the area’s star attractions almost at the same
time. I was spending a few days in Portrush, and I sat in the
nook of the five star Blackrock House B&B, overlooking the
town across the beach. In one hand I held a glass of 10 year
old Single Malt Bushmills… in the other was my scorecard
from Royal Portrush. No guesses for which I was enjoying
immensely and which one had me utterly frustrated.
Northern Irish villa ge of Bushmills and the neighbouring
town of Portrush on the map. Not far away is another Harry Colt’s famous links is not visible from here but Nicola
show-stopper: the remarkable and ever-popular Giant’s Neill’s B&B is becoming a boutique-type destination for
Causeway which, it is said, was created by the giant, Finn golfers, near and far. In this elegant Edwardian seaside
McCool, who used it to reach Scotland. villa (1902) golf books sit on coffee tables and there’s
a Bushmills honesty bar in the Lounge, right next to a
But this July, Bushmills and the Giant’s Causeway will take
a backseat as the world’s oldest Major golf championship
swings into town. From July 18-21, the eyes of the golfing
world will be on Royal Portrush Golf Club, where the
50
Destination Golf .TRAVEL
whiskey bar mirror that comes from Royal Portrush’s old
clubhouse. Flags signed by Rory and Darren Clarke are
here, too, and golfers ready to sit back and talk through
the triumphs and trials of their day are comfortably