Portstewart Golf Club (Strand Course)

Into the dunes from the very first tee.

Portstewart sits on the north coast of County Londonderry, about ten minutes west of Portrush, and its Strand Course hosted the Irish Open in 2017. The reason to go is the opening stretch: a high first tee looks down into a valley of huge sandhills, and the next several holes stay inside them. The club also runs two shorter courses, the Riverside and the Old, so a group can mix a championship round with something gentler without moving base.

Portstewart Golf Club (Strand Course) green fees and tee times.

Visitors book through the club’s online booking system or by calling reception on +44 28 7083 2015. Rather than listing visitor slots, the club publishes the times kept for members, and the gaps between them are yours. On the Strand, members hold sunrise to 9am every weekday, plus noon to 3pm on Mondays and Tuesdays, noon to 2pm on Wednesdays and 10.30am to 2pm on Thursdays. Friday is members only until 12.30pm, Saturday until 2.30pm and Sunday until noon. That leaves weekday mid-mornings and afternoons as the main visitor windows. The published cancellation terms return half the fee with at least 30 days’ notice and nothing inside that. Society and group bookings of 16 or more pay a non-refundable £80 deposit and confirm numbers 48 hours ahead. Tour operators have a separate password-protected section.

The courses at Portstewart Golf Club (Strand Course).

Strand Course

The championship links and the reason most visitors come. Rates run from £195 in April and October to £335 between May and September 2026, and a weekday 36-hole ticket, both rounds on the same day, adds only £50. In winter it shortens to 16 holes from 1 November and 14 from 1 December, with mats in use.

Riverside Course

Built from the holes left over when the Strand was rerouted and extended to 18 in 2001, the Riverside runs beside the River Bann and plays to a par of 68. From September 2026 visitors pay £55 on weekdays and £60 at weekends, which makes it a useful warm-up round on arrival day.

Old Course

The club’s original ground, where golf at Portstewart began in 1894. It is short, at par 64, and costs £20 on weekdays or £25 at weekends from October 2026. Weekly and monthly tickets are sold, which suits families staying in town for a while.

The round, in perspective.

The club dates from 1894 and began on the ground now used by the Old Course. Willie Park Jr laid out an earlier Strand course, and in the 1980s the club bought a stretch of dunes known as Thistly Hollow. Des Giffin, a member, routed seven new holes through it, and the reworked Strand opened in 1992. The first, Tubber Patrick, is a 427-yard par four played from an elevated tee to a fairway far below, and it sets the tone for a front nine that climbs and drops through valleys. The back nine is flatter and more exposed. From the back tees the Strand measures 7,118 yards, par 72. Jon Rahm won the 2017 Irish Open here at 24 under, and David Drysdale’s final-round 63 that week still stands as the course record.

Know before you go.

Buggies

Strand only, with a medical letter and a member driver; £100 in 2026 including the £60 driver fee

Own buggies

Not permitted

Trolleys

Electric £25, pull £7

36-hole ticket

Weekdays only, both rounds the same day

Make the trip work.

The shoulder months are the value here: the Strand costs £140 less in April and October than in summer, and the light on the north coast is still long enough for an afternoon start. A sensible plan is the Riverside on arrival, the Strand next morning in a weekday visitor window, then Royal Portrush or Castlerock the following day. If you want 36 holes on the Strand, book a weekday and start in the first mid-morning gap so the second round finishes before dark. Saturday visitors only get in after 2.30pm.

City of Derry Airport is roughly 45 minutes west by road and Belfast International about an hour south-east. Belfast City Airport adds another 15 to 20 minutes. Coleraine, ten minutes away, is on the Belfast to Derry railway, and taxis run from the station to the clubhouse at Strand Head.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Castlerock Golf Club (Mussenden Links) (4 km) · 2. Royal Portrush Golf Club (7 km) · 3. Ballycastle Golf Club (31 km) · 4. Ballyliffin Golf Club (Glashedy Links) (43 km) · 5. The Machrie Golf Links (62 km) · 6. The Machrihanish Golf Club (69 km) · Compare all Northern Ireland tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

Portstewart’s promenade has guesthouses, small hotels and a long row of self-catering apartments, many a short drive from the clubhouse at the Strand end of town. Portrush, ten minutes east, has the larger choice of hotels and is busier in the evening. Coleraine has chain hotels and is a practical base if you are mixing golf with sightseeing along the Causeway Coast or flying out of Derry.

Make a trip of it.

Royal Portrush is about ten minutes east, and Castlerock, across the River Bann, is about 20 minutes by road. Together they make the classic three-course north coast trip. On a day off, walk Portstewart Strand itself, a National Trust beach about two miles long, where cars can park on parts of the sand, or drive east to the Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle. Downhill Demesne and Mussenden Temple are just beyond Castlerock.

Find your season.

Peak pricing runs from May to September. April and October are cheaper and less crowded, though rain and wind are more likely. From 1 November the Strand drops to 16 holes on winter rules and from 1 December to 14, so a winter visit is a different, shorter round at £70.