We played Royal Portrush in June 2011 as part of our trip to Northwestern Ireland. This was before the renovations that were made prior to hosting The Open Championship in 2019.
The view from the 1st tee. On this particular hole, I hit my approach long and right (almost on the 2nd tee box) and one of the caddies commented that there was no way I would be able to stop my chip shot on the green. Unfortunately, he was correct and I ended up rolling down into the cavernous bunker just short of the green. From there, I tried several times to get out and ended up just picking up and moving on. You can tell from the picture below that I was less than pleased.
The beach just beyond the 5th green.
I think this is the view from the 6th tee
I needed a break before playing Calamity Corner. At the time, it was the 14th hole. I believe it is now the 16th hole after the renovation.
Big Nellie, a famous bunker on what used to be the 17th hole. This hole along with 18 was removed from the course in the renovation and 2 new holes were added earlier in the routing.
Final thoughts: Royal Portrush is another amazing course and one not to be missed.
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