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With each triumphant stride down the 72nd fairway on a grey July day in the summer of 2019, Shane Lowry turned Royal Portrush Golf Club from a possible one-off curiosity into a pillar of golf's oldest championship.
Long regarded as one of the greatest links courses of the British Isles, Royal Portrush was a long way from a sure thing when it was initially welcomed back into the Open Championship rota for the first time since 1951.
One stirring week of top-level golf, punctuated by a popular winner and huge crowds, made an icon of Portrush's wildly beautiful Dunluce Links, building a permanent bridge between the Open's traditional English and Scottish sites and the Emerald Isle.
More than geography separates Portrush from its Open host kin. In many ways, it is the most expressive course on the rota, laid over dunes that heave golfers up and down more than most links across the Irish Sea. Portrush's fairways have more sinew to them, more bob-and-weave, than the more formal landing areas at Hoylake and Royal Troon. Its greens exhibit more swell and sway than the subtler surfaces at Birkdale and Carnoustie. And with open scrapes and woolly pits in addition to plenty of stacked-sod pots, Portrush's bunkering is more diverse, if less profuse, than the likes of Lytham and The Old Course.
A proud recent tradition of Irish and Northern Irish Open Champions - Lowry (2019) and Rory McIlroy (2014) as well as older legends like Padraig Harrington (2007, 2008) and Darren Clarke (2011) - has raised the already-high profile of golf between Ballycastle and Old Head and dozens of places in between. Seeing Royal Portrush become a pillar of the Open Championship rota - followed soon, possibly, by Portmarnock near Dublin - should only inspire more great Irish golfers.
For now, though, it's all about 2025 and the 153rd Open Championship held over the storied Dunluce Links of Royal Portrush Golf Club. Here's our hole-by-hole guide:
Royal Portrush Golf Club - Dunluce Links
Par 71, 7,381 yards
Hole 1, "Hughie's" - par 4, 420 yards
In something of a precarious start, out-of-bounds flanking both sides of the landing area on this stately opening two-shotter complicates what would normally be a relatively straightforward tee shot in the neighborhood of 275 yards to stay shy of two fairway bunkers. The approach, though, is a perfect indicator of Portrush's specialness: a significantly uphill short-iron into a large but ornery putting surface whose false front can slough off imprecise approaches. There is some grace on the right side.
Hole 2, "Giant's Grave" - par 5, 575 yards
Even though there are three bunkers and more out-of-bounds up the right, this is a hole where many players will get things rolling with a birdie or even an eagle. The long approach is an exciting one, needing to clear more bunkers to reach a green appealingly benched into a hillside.
Hole 3, "Islay" - par 3, 178 yards
How generous that this icon of Irish golf has a hole named after a corner of Scotland, which can distract golfers from the distance as they stand on the tee here. Working from the middle of the green towards any perimeter-placed hole location is the move here, as is taking in a breathtaking 270-degree view.
Hole 4, "Fred Daly's" - par 4, 502 yards
Lengthened since the 2019 Open, this world-class blunt-force par 4 is tougher than ever, with out-of-bounds intruding from the right and bunkers menacing on the left. The smallish green sits amongst dunes, partially hidden from view even after a successful tee shot.
Hole 5, "White Rocks" - par 4, 372 yards
This thrill-ride of a par 4, which swings from left to right in broad view of the Irish Sea, can technically be reachable on a day when the wind is helping, although out-of-bounds lurks over the hourglass-shaped green. There were four eagles here in 2019, and there were 13 double-bogeys or worse. In other words, it's a brilliant risk-reward proposition.
Hole 6, "Harry Colt's" - par 3, 193 yards
Normally, turning one's back to the sea would be a letdown, but standing on this tee, hundreds of acres of rumpled links splay out before the golfer. As is often the case on approach shots at Portrush, gravity is the enemy here, with hollows drawing marginal tee shots off the bunkerless putting surface. This par 3 is named for the architect whose work in the 1920s and '30s is largely responsible for the course's current greatness.
Hole 7, "Curran Point" - par 5, 607 yards
One of two new holes laid out by architects Tom Mackenzie and Martin Ebert for the 2019 Open Championship, this is a stern execution test of a par 5 that still has to mature before it fully integrates with the rest of the golf course. Two long, straight shots will yield birdies and the occasional eagle. Poor strikes will be punished in the dunes that line the slithering fairway.
Hole 8, "Dunluce" - par 4, 434 yards
Though the bunkers are still a bit more sanitized than others, this new-since-2019 hole feels more of a piece with the rest of the golf course. It swings gracefully to the left, drawing the golfer's eye towards the low hollows and dunes that must be avoided off the tee. The green sits partially concealed with a single jealous bunker guarding it.
Hole 9, "Darren Clarke's" - par 4, 432 yards
Playing into the prevailing wind, this hole may perplex the modern fade-biased driver with a second straight right-to-left sweep. The green, angled from front-left to back-right, makes this a subtle switchback hole. Another bunkerless green is nevertheless defended by swales on multiple sides. Ahead of the 2025 Open, the hole formerly known as "Tavern," has been named after 2011 Open Champion and Portrush resident Darren Clarke.
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Hole 10, "Himalayas" - par 4, 450 yards
Doubling back on the ninth, this mid-length par 4 is something of a false-dogleg right due to the severity of missing the fairway on either side. The skinniest green on the golf course - just 10 paces across the back portion - is best approached from the short grass.
Hole 11, "P.G. Stevenson's" - par 4, 475 yards
The last of a four-par-4 knot in the routing is the longest, playing as the toughest hole on the golf course in the 2019 Open. The fairway bends to the right around a clutch of dunes, with mellower ground leading to a small, perched green with yet another false front rejecting insufficient approaches.
Hole 12, "Dhu Varren" - par 5, 532 yards
This is as close to a gimme-birdie opportunity as Portrush will yield up, but that doesn't mean this short three-shotter is a pushover. Deep bunkers down the right side need to be avoided off the tee and a false front makes the green more elusive than it may appear. Still, there will be plenty of 4s and a few 3s recorded here.
Hole 13, "Feather Bed" - par 3, 199 yards
One of golf's great finishing stretches begins with this spectacular downhill par 3 whose ornery green contours and overall front-to-back tilt can further complicate the tricky task of judging the distance. Five bunkers choke the front and sides of the putting surface.
Hole 14, "Causeway" - par 4, 466 yards
Great golf holes ask the toughest questions, and even after a good drive, players are confronted with one of the most intimidating approaches in golf: a perched green that falls away on all sides, with the cliffs of Northern Ireland's spectacular Giant's Causeway looming in the distance.
Hole 15, "Skerries" - par 4, 429 yards
Another banger of a par-4, this one meanders left around a dune, creating a semi-blind tee shot that gives way to another world-class view, this time to the north and west over the small, rocky islets that lend the hole its name. The green sits between bunkers left and hollows right.
Hole 16, "Calamity Corner" - par 3, 236 yards
Recent anti-long-par-3 hot-takes come crashing down, as will the Claret Jug dreams of several players, at this world-class hole. It requires no less than a great lash to propel the ball across a chasm to the perched, diagonally-oriented green. The only solace a golfer can take is that the putting surface is a little more generous on the left side than appears to be the case from the tee. Bunkers add zest and danger to many holes, but Calamity Corner is perfect au naturale. Grassy greenside hollows on the left provide safe haven but a tricky up-and-down.
Hole 17, "Purgatory" - par 4, 409 yards
Trying to get the ball to stop is one of the more underrated challenges in golf, which is why this penultimate par 4 is superb. A huge downslope in the fairway tends to funnel balls some 50 yards closer to the hole, but often into the left rough, where golfers will be at the mercy of the firmness of the turf, the wind and the day's hole location when determining whether they can get close enough to make birdie. One can imagine how fraught such a shot might be on Open Championship Sunday.
Hole 18, "Babington's" - par 4, 474 yards
Visually, Portrush's 18th might seem like a letdown after the picturesque run of holes that precedes it, but the stadium setup that rings every Open Championship finale will more than make up for its modest natural looks. Besides, it's a rock-solid finishing test worthy of an Open Championship: a dogleg right that sits beautifully into some of the milder dunes on the property. One more well-protected, elevated green awaits like a grand stage; which performer will take the final bow?
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