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rom some of the world’s best turret bar. As the late-afternoon sun casts courses, legendary Irish long shadows across this memorable course, GOLF F hospitality, plus a visit to the we raise our glasses to the days ahead. Our home of Irish whiskey, the north accommodation for the night is the Slieve of Ireland is a top destination for a golf Donard Resort & Spa situated immediately TO trip. From Dublin airport we drive two adjacent to the world-famous Royal County hours up Ireland’s north-eastern coast into Down , home to the 2015 Irish , to the first course of our Open. trip – Ardglass Golf Club. This spectacular, The following morning, we continue driving A old-style links and clifftop gem hugs a rugged northwards to join the stunning Causeway headland on the County Down coastline, Coastal Route to play the second course of our offering sea views from every hole. The trip: the Strand course at Portstewart (home TEE course begins with a bang, where a line of to the 2017 ), which boasts arguably cannons point the way to the green of the the best opening hole in Irish golf. Played from 1st. Holes 11 and 12 (the Amen corner of an elevated tee with topography that bucks Ardglass) are particularly exciting, set across and plunges like a raging river, I need to focus IF THE RECENT BRITISH OPEN from Coney Island – made famous by Van on my ball and avoid being distracted by the GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP, HELD AT Morrison – and on clear days you can see stunning coastal views. ROYAL IN NORTHERN past the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man. IRELAND FOR ONLY THE SECOND Protected by water on the right and wind TIME SINCE 1951, HAS GIVEN YOU bushes on the left, at the 11th it’s essential A TASTE FOR GOLF – AND to hit three straight shots to reach the green WHISKEY – FOLLOW GOLFING in regulation. As the course guide says: “Play BROTHERS ANDREW AND PAUL this hole with the same ball and be happy!” MARSHALL ON A JOURNEY The 12th is arguably the course’s signature AROUND IRELAND’S BEST This page: Golfers tee off at the opening hole; the view from the elevated tee, with a hole at Ardglass Golf backdrop of the Irish Sea and the majesty of Club the brooding Mourne Mountains, is worth WORDS: ANDREW MARSHALL PHOTOS: PAUL MARSHALL Opposite, top: the green fee alone. Ardglass Golf Club Ardglass is home to one of the oldest and Opposite, bottom: most distinct clubhouses in Northern Ireland Portstewart’s -4 on and Ireland – a castle that dates back to the the Strand course is one of Ireland’s best 15th century. We hole out on the final green opening holes and then enjoy some cold beers at the rooftop

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sticking with it, and they did invent it after bourbon barrels, Spanish Oloroso sherry scorecard of 61 that he shot (aged 16), when all. Their version, like their accent, is gentler casks and Port pipes), before heading to our he won the 2005 North of Ireland Amateur USE FUL and more beguiling. accommodation for two nights at the nearby Championship. WEBSITES The heart of the whiskey-making process Bushmills Inn. In the afternoon, it’s time for some more North & West Coast Links: is the stillroom. Inside, it’s around 25 degrees On day three, as Royal Portrush Golf off-course attractions, and top of the list With decades of experience, and the atmosphere is thick with alcohol. Club first comes into view round a curve in is a visit to the famous Giant’s Causeway, North & West Coast Links are As we arrive, the still-man is busy at work the Causeway Coastal Route, it provides us Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World experts in organising quality testing for quality among the traditional with a magical sight with its green fairways Heritage Site. Made up of thousands of golf trips to Ireland’s north and copper stills. The principle behind distillation hiding among shaggy-topped dunes and the hexagonal pillars that climb out of the north-west region. Contact John is simple, to separate alcohol from water. great headland of Inishowen contrasting Atlantic Ocean, this stunning natural McLaughlin or Paul Collins who At a precise moment the still-man collects vividly with the low line of the Skerries and formation was created by Finn MacCool, can help arrange a bespoke the pure spirit. “The cut-off point is a trade the sea beyond. Established in May 1888 an Irish giant that lived along the Antrim golf trip for you and your mates, or join one of their organised secret,” he says with a grin. and included in every list of the world’s Coast. The logical and less romantic version itineraries. Depending on the The oak casks in which the Irish whiskey top 100 courses, Royal Portrush’s Dunluce is that about 60 million years ago there was size of your golf group, there are matures are those once used for bourbon, course has long been regarded as a great intense volcanic activity along the coast, various transport options, from a sherry or port, which helps provide not only test of a golfer’s skill. It hosted the British after which the lava cooled very quickly. The self-drive, four-seater Mercedes the whiskey’s colour but also its flavour. Open in 1951, when ’s eccentric uneven cooling rate resulted in the basalt V-Class vehicle, to a chauffeur- Casks may remain undisturbed for up to 25 lifted the trophy, and in July, contracting into the characteristic hexagonal driven Taurus vehicle (6-12 years. In the process of maturation, a portion it was home once again to the prestigious and octagonal pillar shapes you see today. golfers), and a full-size chauffeur is lost. This is known as the “angels’ share”. championship. The Giant’s Causeway may be the star driven coach (12-28 golfers). After visiting the stillroom and the bottling There are plenty of great holes at Royal of the Causeway Coastal Route, but other Accommodation options can section, our guide announces that there will Portrush and it’s truly difficult to choose worthwhile attractions include the stunning range from comfortable guest houses to luxury hotels. be a taste test in the distillery bar. just one. On the front nine, the 5th with its Carrick-a-Rede swinging rope bridge that For more details, visit It is here that we learn the proper way cliffside green is a worthy contender, but spans a gaping chasm between the coast and www.northandwestcoast to drink Irish whiskey. The experienced on the back it’s got to be the 16th, known as a small island used by fishermen, and the links.com whiskey drinker will often say: “If you want Calamity Corner. This testing hole calls for haunting ruins of 16th-century Dunluce to drink whiskey you drink whiskey. If you a long shot over an 80-foot ravine to reach Castle perched precariously on the edge of Old Bushmills: For more information about the whiskey Clockwise from top: The Bushmills Inn is an want to drink water, you drink water. You the green. Once we finish our rounds, we a rocky headland. Later that evening at the distillery and guided tour details, excellent base for golfers; try some Bushmills never mix the two.” At the end of our visit, enjoy soup and sandwiches in the clubhouse Bushmills Inn we spend a convivial evening visit the website: whiskey with your porridge at breakfast dining room, and on the way check out by an open peat fire, sampling Bushmills when you stay at the Slieve Donard Hotel in we can’t resist buying a bottle of Bushmills www.bushmills.com Newcastle; the still-man tests for quality among 16-year single malt (matured for 16 years 2011 British Open champion Darren whiskies and swapping golfing tales with the traditional copper stills at Old Bushmills or more in a combination of American Clarke’s winner’s medal and Rory McIlroy’s other guests.

Opposite, below: Giant’s It’s a memorable start to a wonderful links the distillery on this cool spring day, we take Causeway dominated by huge dunes peppered with a guided tour to learn more about Bushmills This page: The Dunluce plenty of testing holes. One of these is the whiskey. “We get visitors from all over Course at Royal Portrush 6th, aptly named Five Penny Piece, and with the world taking a Bushmills tour,” says a green not much larger than a snooker table, our guide, literally walking and talking us it can be anything from a rescue club to a gap through the whiskey-making process, one wedge depending on the wind. It’s been a that takes malted barley, grinds it up into a tough nine holes, so we head straight to the mash with water and then distils it before windswept bar near the 10th tee to enjoy a putting it in casks to mature. smooth Bushmills whiskey before tackling Whiskey drinkers worldwide can thank the excellent back nine. a band of Irish monks for their favourite tipple, who in the sixth century brought back THE HOME OF IRISH WHISKEY from the Middle East the ‘alembic’ used to In the afternoon, it’s time to discover distil perfumes, but soon adapted it to a more more about the region’s other draw – Irish recreational use in the creation of the still. By whiskey. It is difficult to explain to the distilling the essence of barley they created uninitiated the pleasures of this smooth a golden spirit, “Aqua Vitae” – the Water of amber fluid. James Joyce wrote of “the light Life, or in Gaelic, “Uisce Beatha”. music of whiskey falling into a glass – an “Many people confuse Irish whiskey agreeable interlude”. An old Irish toast gets with Scotch,” says our guide inside the Malt straight to the point: “Too much of anything House. While the Scots roast their barley is good for nothing. Too much whiskey is over open peat fires (which gives Scotch its barely enough.” Amen. distinctive smoky taste) and distil it only A ‘must do’ while in the area, is to make twice, the Irish roast their barley in closed the pilgrimage to the place where it all began, kilns and distil it three times. Our guide also Old Bushmills (1608), the oldest licensed points out that the Irish spell whiskey with whiskey distillery in the world. Here, inside an ‘e’. No one quite knows why, but they’re

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around the incredible dunes on predominately higher ground above and beyond the Old Links, offering stunning views as you play. ’s Glashedy course was a worthy stage for the 2018 Irish Open, which Scotland’s Russell Knox won Castlerock Golf Club 10th green after beating New Zealand’s Ryan Right: 18th green and clubhouse at Fox in a play-off. Here, we tee Ballyliffin’s Glashedy Links it up with two other golfers we meet – Jo from Belgium and Scott from America, and engage in a thoroughly-enjoyable matchplay The following morning, after enjoying a contest. The challenges never let full Irish breakfast, our fourth round awaits up – negotiating cavernous peat- at Castlerock Golf Club’s Mussenden Links, riveted bunkers, large contoured situated further west along the Causeway greens, and fairways that twist Coastal Route, and only a 30-minute drive and roll between towering dunes. from Portstewart and Royal Portrush. It’s been a tight contest all day Founded in 1901, this historic links, set amid and the Marshall brothers are tall sand dunes besides the picturesque River one up standing on the tee of Bann estuary, is a worthy neighbour of the spot, that six-time major champion Nick 18th. Paul is safely on the dance floor in two aforementioned courses and will test every Faldo used to visit it before playing the and I am already anticipating the taste of that facet of your game. British Open and at one time was so smitten winning Guinness or Bushmills whiskey and One of the standout holes is the 4th, with the place he tried to buy it – on the sliding some euros into my wallet. Paul takes called Leg O’Mutton, which requires a tee cheap, according to locals. A remarkable 36 two putts to secure a par and then it’s over to shot struck over a burn, with a railway line holes meander through this most beguiling Jo. He’s also on the green in two and stalks lurking to the right and a tricky pot bunker of links land, with rocky outcrops, perfect his putt like a hungry lion. He lines it up and in front of a raised green. Great courses have greens and enchanting views of the coast. takes one last look at the cup. Amazingly, he great closing holes and Castlerock’s short Principally designed by Mother Nature (with holes it for birdie to halve the match and the dog-leg right 18th is a beauty. We enjoy a upgrades by Faldo including new bunkering, place erupts like the final scenes of the Ryder 19th-hole pint of Guinness before taking a tees and enlarged greens), the classic Old Cup. It’s a golfing adventure on a brilliant short drive west to Magilligan Point, Links undulates in the glory of its natural course and a fitting finale to our golf and =] where we board the Lough Foyle terrain. The rippling fairways give the course whiskey trip… car ferry to Greencastle back in Ireland, a unique character and charm, and it’s the and then continue north-west across the type of place where you can easily imagine FLIGHT DETAILS scenic Inishowen Peninsula to the village of the golfing forefathers striding along the Ballyliffin, and our bed for the night at the sheep-cropped turf with hickory clubs. Flybe has flights to Dublin from Cardiff, Ballyliffin Lodge & Spa. The more recent Glashedy Links (designed Doncaster Sheffield (until 25th October), Ballyliffin is such a beautiful and intriguing by Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock) is fashioned Exeter and Southampton.

WHERE TO PLAY WHERE TO STAY

Ardglass Golf Club Slieve Donard Resort & Spa Bushmills Inn Ballyliffin Lodge & Spa Hotel www.ardglassgolfclub.com This 100-year-old Victorian This multi-award-winning luxury Set in the heart of Ballyliffin property is one of Ireland’s four-star accommodation village with spectacular www.portstewartgc.co.uk most stunning and luxurious in the heart of Northern panoramic views of Malin golf hotels and is situated Ireland’s Causeway Coast Head and the Inishowen www.royalportrushgolfclub.com immediately adjacent to the is an excellent base for coastline, the four-star world-famous Royal County golfers, being well situated Ballyliffin Lodge makes an Castlerock Golf Club Down golf club, home to the for Royal Portrush, Portstewart excellent and comfortable www.castlerockgc.co.uk 2015 Irish Open. The property and Castlerock. This former base for playing Ballyliffin’s boasts a luxurious spa (16 coaching inn oozes character, two courses, which are ideally www.ballyliffingolfclub.com treatment rooms, a 20-metre from intimate ‘snugs’ with located within 1km of the pool and vitality rooms), fine aged timbers to the secret hotel. After a tough day on dining or relaxed bistro-style library and the cosy glow of an the links, enjoy the facilities and a sumptuous breakfast open peat fire. The AA Rosette at the award-winning leisure featuring a full Irish or perhaps Restaurant blending ‘new Irish complex including a 17-metre porridge with a dash of cuisine’ with the finest North pool, sauna, steam room Bushmills whiskey. Antrim fresh produce overlooks and Jacuzzi, or book a spa www.hastingshotels.com/ the garden courtyard. treatment or massage. slieve-donard-resort-and-spa www.bushmillsinn.com www.ballyliffinlodge.com

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