Royal County Down Golf club
At a glance Type of course: Links
Through all the changes of the years, Royal County Down has retained its essential character. “It is one of those rare courses where you could feel a perfect handshake between the hand that created the land and the hand that shaped it into a golf course.” (Tom Coyne, “A Course called Ireland”) Royal County Down is located in the naturally beautiful links setting of the Murlough Nature Reserve, where the links stretch along the shores of Dundrum Bay. Narrow ribbons of fairways thread their way through sand dunes surrounded by heather and gorse – so beautiful but also punishing! The famous ‘bearded’ bunkers feature overhanging lips of red fescue and heather. The greens are fast and many are domed, rejecting any shot lacking conviction. The 9th hole is one of the most photographed holes in golf. A 486 yard par 4, it is played from one side of a huge mound to a fairway 60ft below and 260 yards from the tee. The second shot is played over two bunkers to a raised green. Golf writer Bernard Darwin described the course as one of “big and glorious carries, nestling greens, entertainingly blind shots,
Par: Championship: 71; Annesley: 67 Best days for visitors to play: Championship course Mon, Tues, Thurs am, Fri, Sun pm; Annesley: Any day with the exception of Wednesdays and Saturdays
local knowledge and beautiful turf – the kind of golf that people play in their most ecstatic dreams.”
Belfast
Royal County Down hosted the 2021 Ulster Men’s & Women’s Strokeplay Championships. The event moved from its perennial home at Galgorm Castle to the renowned links of Royal County Down in Newcastle. The Ulster Stroke Play remains very much part of The ISPS HANDA World Invitational events where elite amateurs from the men’s and women’s game not only compete in the prestigious event but have the chance to win a place in the tri-sanctioned ISPS HANDA World Invitational. Royal County Down was voted the no. 1 course in the world (Golf Digest) 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Did you know? Royal County Down was originally laid out in 1889 by ‘Old’ Tom Morris from St. Andrews. The Club Council, in a mixture of enthusiasm and parsimony, commissioned Tom to travel from Scotland “for a sum not to exceed £4” to advise on a second nine holes. 13
Length of course in yards: Championship: 7186; Annesley: 4594
Main Map Reference F5, 30 36 Golf Links Road, Newcastle, County Down, BT33 0AN Tel: +44 (0) 28 4372 3314 Email: golf@royalcountydown.org
www.royalcountydown.org
