Royal Portrush Golf Club's Dunluce Course will host the 153rd Open Championship in 2025. It is a place with a rich history and several fascinating chapters, despite being relatively inexperienced in terms of the Open rota.
However, given its status as one of the best links courses in the world, it has not only welcomed The Open since starting up but also The Amateur Championship, the Irish Open for both men and women as well as the Senior Open Championship - among others.
Originally named The County Club when it was founded in 1888, it became The Royal County Club four years after that before switching to Royal Portrush in 1895 under the patronage of the Prince of Wales.
As well as the Dunluce Links, Royal Portrush owns the Valley Links - which is the home of Rathmore Golf Club and commonly used by the club's juniors given its shorter length.
Below, discover 10 facts about Royal Portrush Golf Club and what makes the 2025 Open host the place it is today.
NAMED AFTER A CASTLE
The course on which the 153rd Open Championship will be played is called the Dunluce Links, named after Dunluce Castle - which sits just along the coast from Royal Portrush to the east.
Historians believe there is evidence of settlement in the castle from before 1000 AD, but the current castle ruins - which barely hang on to the land above these days - are thought to be from the 16th and 17th century. It is still possible to see the ruins from the fifth green.
FIRST OPEN VENUE OUTSIDE OF GREAT BRITAIN
Royal Portrush has only hosted The Open three times in its history, with the first occasion coming in 1951. Four years earlier, Rathmore Golf Club member Fred Daly became the first Irishman to lift the Claret Jug. As a result, the fourth hole on the Dunluce course is named after him.
When the Northern Irish layout welcomed a premier field to its links, though, it made history as the first golf course outside of Great Britain (England, Wales, Scotland) to host The Open. Max Faulker (pictured) was named Champion Golfer of the Year.
THERE WAS A 68-YEAR HOSTING GAP
Despite a successful first attempt at hosting The Open, there would be a 68-year wait until Royal Portrush was afforded the opportunity to do it again.
That coincided with the incredible career of Northern Ireland's greatest ever golfer - Rory McIlroy. However, he wasn't able to add to his Open collection and missed the cut. Fortunately for home fans, Ireland's Shane Lowry picked up the slack to secure his first Major and ensure the party mood continued.
DUNLUCE COURSE WAS REDESIGNED BEFORE 149th OPEN
Originally drawn up by legendary architect, Harry Colt, Royal Portrush's two golf courses underwent a number of alterations ahead of the 2019 Open Championship.
Starting in 2015 and led by Martin Ebert, five new greens, eight new tee boxes, 10 new bunkers and the creation of a fresh seventh and eighth hole were generated - on land that was once part of the Valley Links - across the next 18 months.
The Dunluce Links' original 7th to 16th holes were redesignated to become the new back nine, while it was also lengthened by around 200 yards and reduced to a par 71.
FEWEST BUNKERS ON OPEN ROTA
Something which is almost conspicuous by its absence at Royal Portrush is the lack of bunkering throughout the course. Despite the aforementioned changes before 2019, there are still only 62 bunkers on the Dunluce Links - by far the fewest of the layouts on The Open rota.
Instead of bunkers, Royal Portrush's defence comes in the form of the significant elevation changes and pronounced sandhills that frame each of the holes. And although there are very few sand-based traps, there is one large one called 'Big Nellie' on the par-5 7th hole for players to watch out for.
ONE OF THE UK & IRELAND'S BEST COURSES
Royal Portrush's Dunluce Course is ranked number seven in Golf Monthly's Top 100 courses across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Already a contender for the best course in Ireland before the changes were made, those alterations prior to the 149th Open only solidified the Dunluce Links' standing.
Commenting on it, Golf Monthly judges said: "It's a wonderfully natural and extremely good-looking links that is completely at one with its environment. Much is done at Royal Portrush to encourage a diverse ecosystem where flora and fauna flourish, all of which adds to the enjoyment of an already wonderful round of golf."
COURSE RECORD
What is the course record at Royal Portrush? Don't ask that question in front of good friends, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. Before the changes in 2015, McIlroy fired a scintillating 61 around the old set-up as a 16-year-old during the 2005 North of Ireland Amateur.
However, after the introduction of two new holes during the third round of the 149th Open Championship, Lowry set up his run to the title via an extraordinary eight-under 63.
CALAMITY CORNER
The 230-plus-yard par-3 16th hole - aptly named Calamity Corner - is Royal Portrush's signature hole on the Dunluce Links and is capable of causing mayhem as a championship reaches its climax.
With the wind likely facing into the players, one of the longest clubs in the bag is almost always the right play, as is firing out towards Bobby Locke's Hollow to the left of the diagonal green. If you miss short or right, golfers can be left down a huge ravine which sinks to 100 feet below the hole in one place.
MOST FANS OUTSIDE ST ANDREWS
2025 is set to see the biggest attendance for an Open Championship outside of St Andrews, with up to 278,000 people expected throughout the eight days of competition. In 2019, a respectable 237,750 spectators entered the grounds at Royal Portrush.
Roughly 260,000 people attended both Royal Liverpool in 2023 and Royal Troon in 2024, although the record crowd for an Open Championship was set in 2022 at St Andrews when 290,000 fans watched either a practice day or competition round.
IT BOASTS SOME FAMOUS PROS
This wee corner of Northern Ireland has produced some incredible talent over the years - not least, a trio of Major winners. Firstly, 1947 Open Champion Fred Daly was a member at the attached Rathmore Golf Club, as was 2010 US Open champion, Graeme McDowell.
Possibly its most famous son is Darren Clarke, however, with the man who was born in Portrush going on to claim a highly emotional Open victory of his own at the 2011 championship at Royal St George's.
