
117 Strand Road, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry BT55 7PG
117 Strand Road, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry BT55 7PG
Founded in 1894, Portstewart Golf Club heralds itself as “Three mighty courses. One magnificent club.” It’s not an idle boast. Fair to say that Portstewart’s golf courses are a venue where quality meets quantity. This Northern Irish leviathan delivers some of the world’s finest links golf and plenty of it — arguably more to be found here than almost anywhere else in the UK.
Between them, the par-64 Old Course, the par-68 Riverside Course, and the par-72 Strand provide nothing less than a 54-hole golfing feast.

The Old Course is, unsurprisingly, where it all began, with an initial 9-holes laid out here on 26 acres of the seaward edge of the Cromore Estate and extended to offer 12-holes in 1918. The 18-hole course, designed in 1934 by R. C. Davidson and the greenkeeper of the day, James Rea, still forms the backbone of the short but incredibly pleasing, 4,822-yard course, whose front eight holes still track the rocky shore of the Causeway Coast.
As the name suggests, the Riverside Course follows the banks of the slowly meandering River Bann and provides a complimentary, gentle 18-holes over a modest 5,725-yards. Looping in and back to the Clubhouse, the course is perfect for Portstewart golf tours organised for larger groups and societies and those who feel the mighty test of the Strand course a little beyond them. Riverside is not about punishing rough, devious greens and cavernous bunkers; it is designed to provide wonderful, scenic links golf to be enjoyed by players of all abilities.
Pure Golf Travel specialises in booking bespoke golf breaks encompassing some of the UK’s finest courses. We remove the stress of organising group tours, design your perfect itinerary and deliver the entertainment, challenge and relaxation that dedicated golfers demand.
However, Portstewart’s centrepiece, the Strand, is a championship course providing a challenge as tough as its links are stunning to play through. On winning the Irish Open, hosted here in 2017, Jon Rahm voiced a sentiment held by many.
“This golf course is amazing,” he stated plainly, “it’s probably one of the most beautiful golf courses I have seen. If not the most.”
Yet this brainchild of Willie Park Jr., redeveloped with seven new holes sculpted from virgin dunes of “Thistly Hollow” in the 1980s, is also a 7,118-yard beast of a links course and not dubbed “the sleeping giant” for nothing.
Finally opened in 1992 and set amongst some almost impossibly large dunes, the ride begins from the very first hole. One of the most spectacular and intimidating starts in links golf, a 425-yard par-4 that sweeps dramatically downhill even as it dog-legs towards the Atlantic. The two new par-3s at the 3rd and 6th are other high points of a course that, once played, will remain etched in the memory forever.

It’s a testament to the skill of designer Des Griffin that the old and new sections of this awesome course blend seamlessly. And if you’re lucky enough to play the Strand on a Portstewart golf tour, along with Royal Portrush and Royal County Down, you can safely say you’re played three of the very best links courses, not only in Northern Ireland – but the world.
The Pure Golf Travel Club specialises in booking bespoke golf breaks encompassing some of the UK’s finest courses. We remove the stress of organising group tours, design your perfect itinerary and deliver the entertainment, challenge and relaxation that dedicated golfer’s demand. Making lifelong golfing memories for the most discerning golfers.
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