There are in the region of 3,000 golf courses in the UK and Ireland and a very slightly smaller number of golf clubs. While the norm is a one-to-one ratio, there are still a healthy number of two-course clubs such as Archerfield, Ballybunion and Carden Park. Surprisingly, this is also true in the Golf Monthly Top 100 where The Berkshire, Saunton, Sunningdale and Walton Heath each have two entries. Far rarer are the clubs which have three 18-hole courses. Some actually have even more such as the St Andrews Links Trust with six and a 9-holer, and the Manor and Ashbury Resorts in Devon with their mind-boggling 103 holes. Others such as Killarney used to have three but no longer do. So for the sake of this article, we are looking exclusively at clubs with 54 holes, and by that I mean clubs that welcome green fee golfers; sorry Wentworth! By my reckoning, there are ten, and I am lucky enough to have visited them all.
Portstewart
The twelfth on the Strand is a beautiful par 3 close to the River Bann
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
Having played its three remarkably different courses this Summer, I am going to kick off with the ever-improving Portstewart Golf Club in Northern Ireland. Just a hop along the coast from this year’s Open host Royal Portrush and its own pair of excellent links, this extremely welcoming club is one that is very much heading in the right direction. In its 131 years it has developed into one of the finest golfing set-ups in the UK&I. It is also blessed with a glorious expanse of mountainous dunes now occupied by its premier course, The Strand. This has hosted plenty of prestigious events, none more so than the 2017 Irish Open which was won by former world number one, Jon Rahm. He said, “The golf course is amazing. It’s probably one of the most beautiful golf courses I have ever seen, if not the most.” It would be hard to argue with this with the sea on one side and the expansive River Bann on the other. I hadn’t been here for almost 30 years and was very taken indeed. I also enjoyed the more forgiving and tranquil Riverside Course which had been expanded into a full 18 since my last visit. It would be wrong to mention my 70-foot putt for birdie on the closing hole, but that won’t stop me! On the other side of town is the chalk and cheese Old Course with eight of the original holes played along by the rocks and the remainder over the road. At £15, I wonder if there is a better-value 18-holer anywhere? Everyone in the clubhouse…
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