The Open 2025 and Northern Ireland trip

[johnspies]

Starting a loose plan for 10 days with one day of sightseeing in Belfast and one day at The Open. The courses I'm considering; Royal County Down (twice), Ardglass, Portstewart Strand, Castlerock and Royal Belfast. Would anyone who's been there care to offer suggestions/alterations? We will have a driver and will likely spend the entire time in a Belfast Hotel.

 

FWIW, some within the group have already played RCD and Portstewart (and Portrush) but in any case, I think we need to play RCD at least once for those not playing it before. Those that have won't mind, me included. The Portrush Valley course isn't open, I've asked.

[st1800e]

Have a look at Belvoir Park, (pronounced beaver park). 

[Chanceman]

Hard to do better unless you want to go across to Ballyliffin or Rosapenna for a day. In which case you could play either BL course or St Pats.

[hammergolf]

On 9/9/2023 at 3:27 PM, johnspies said:

Starting a loose plan for 10 days with one day of sightseeing in Belfast and one day at The Open. The courses I'm considering; Royal County Down (twice), Ardglass, Portstewart Strand, Castlerock and Royal Belfast. Would anyone who's been there care to offer suggestions/alterations? We will have a driver and will likely spend the entire time in a Belfast Hotel.

 

FWIW, some within the group have already played RCD and Portstewart (and Portrush) but in any case, I think we need to play RCD at least once for those not playing it before. Those that have won't mind, me included. The Portrush Valley course isn't open, I've asked.

Great choices on the courses no doubt. If you have an afternoon free, play the Bann 9 hole course at Castlerock. It’s about as much fun as you can have playing golf. I would drop Royal Belfast and add another round at Portstewart, Ballyliffin or play Baltray on your way up if you’re flying into Dublin. You might want to add another day off to take in the sights near Portrush. Carrick a Rede, Giants Causeway, Dunluce Castle, and White Rock beach are all worth the visit. You also have the Bushmills Distillery in Bushmills close by. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by hammergolf

[st1800e]

49 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

I would drop Royal Belfast and add another round at ……Portrush.

The Open will be on at Portrush when he’s there.  

To the OP, a side trip to Rosapenna for St. Pats would be worthwhile.   After playing a couple parkland courses on my first trip to Ireland, I avoided parkland courses on trip #2 and #3.  I play nothing but parkland courses at home.  Links golf is what golf in Ireland is about.  

 

[hammergolf]

54 minutes ago, st1800e said:

The Open will be on at Portrush when he’s there.  

To the OP, a side trip to Rosapenna for St. Pats would be worthwhile.   After playing a couple parkland courses on my first trip to Ireland, I avoided parkland courses on trip #2 and #3.  I play nothing but parkland courses at home.  Links golf is what golf in Ireland is about.  

 

Maybe they can work them in early before the pros go off….😉 I didn’t read that part. 

[Malvern]

If you are playing twice at RCD and assuming budgetary constraints aren't hindering choices, why not stay 2-3 nights at Slieve Donard, saves going backwards and forwards to Belfast. I kinda liked Newcastle, walked up to the Harbour House on the other side of town and pub crawled our way back one afternoon.

 

Like @hammergolf mentioned, play Baltray coming out of Dublin, then head to RCD, play Ardglass and then head into Belfast.

 

It was an unpopular opinion on my trip but I thought the black cab tour in Belfast was a bit naff.

[hammergolf]

1 hour ago, Malvern said:

If you are playing twice at RCD and assuming budgetary constraints aren't hindering choices, why not stay 2-3 nights at Slieve Donard, saves going backwards and forwards to Belfast. I kinda liked Newcastle, walked up to the Harbour House on the other side of town and pub crawled our way back one afternoon.

 

Like @hammergolf mentioned, play Baltray coming out of Dublin, then head to RCD, play Ardglass and then head into Belfast.

 

It was an unpopular opinion on my trip but I thought the black cab tour in Belfast was a bit naff.

Yeah, Belfast is just ok for me. I much prefer staying in smaller towns when I go to Ireland. I would stay in NewCastle for a few days, then Ballymoney or Coleraine for a few days.

Edited September 11, 2023 by hammergolf

[johnspies]

Thanks everyone. I'll likely drop Royal Belfast in favor or another and I should have added that I'm planning a Republic of Ireland 2024 trip starting around Galway, heading north and then east so a lot of those courses mentioned above will already have been played by most of the guys. 

I am adding the 9 holes at Castlerock; failed to mention it but I did some reading and it sounds like a cool add-on.

 

I've started another topic because I'm now trying to decide on which hospitality tent to use whilst at the tournaments. Any first-hand knowledge?

 

cheers y'all....

[hammergolf]

On 9/23/2023 at 7:54 PM, johnspies said:

Thanks everyone. I'll likely drop Royal Belfast in favor or another and I should have added that I'm planning a Republic of Ireland 2024 trip starting around Galway, heading north and then east so a lot of those courses mentioned above will already have been played by most of the guys. 

I am adding the 9 holes at Castlerock; failed to mention it but I did some reading and it sounds like a cool add-on.

 

I've started another topic because I'm now trying to decide on which hospitality tent to use whilst at the tournaments. Any first-hand knowledge?

 

cheers y'all....

The Bann 9 is about as much fun as you can have playing golf. Cruitt Island is another amazing 9 holer.