Portrush. From the Irish Port Rois translated to the port of promonotry. History surrounds the area in County Antrim in the very tip of Northern Ireland.  As a small, charming small fishing village, Portrush was slow to get started but has certainly made up for any forgotten time.  In a land of majestic dunes and Giant’s Causeway, raw and natural flora, wicked wind, and sea salt air, this area on the very northern edge of the island is special.  There is a plethora of history centered around the partitioning of Ireland into Southern Ireland (to become the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland during a time of violence and disruption. The separation happened after the passing of the 1920 Government of Ireland Act, splitting the Ireland into two governing parties with the intention of reunification.  However, the smaller block of counties, Northern Ireland, remained under rule of the United Kingdom while the larger, 32-county entity became a free state and the Republic of Ireland.  Wars and elections, fights and debates, meetings and memoranda, so much has happened over the years but at the end of the day, Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland is Ireland.

Enter the game of golf.  The date was 1888 when the founding fathers decided that Portrush was in need of a golf course.  The original 9-hole course known as “The County Club,” was laid out by Tom Gilroy, a Scottish-born gent who moved with his family to Ireland in 1885.  Learning the game of golf by George Morris (a brother of Old Tom Morris) on the famed Carnoustie, Gilroy became a very accomplished golfer and one that was abundantly passionate about the game and its components.  He is now considered one of the early pioneers of the Irish game, contributing many holes in the infancy of the game in Ireland.  From Baltray to Phoenix Park (now Royal Dublin) to County Golf Club in Portrush, Gilroy is attributed with the original layouts of each.