British Open 2025: Our hole-by-hole tour of Royal Portrush reveals what makes this Northern Irish links so unique

Portrush is still the only Irish course to host The Open. The Old Tom Morris design, reworked by H.S. Colt in the 1930s, was the Open site back in 1951, and was again in 2019, won by Irishman Shane Lowry. In preparation for that event, architect Martin Ebert added new seventh and eighth holes, fashioned from land on the club’s Valley Course (ranked 82nd), to replace its weak 17th and 18th holes. That means the notorious Calamity Hole, an uphill 210-yard par 3, will now be the 16th instead of the 14th, and the old dogleg-right par-4 16th will now be the closing hole, with a new back tee. Ebert retained Colt’s greens, considered one of the best set of putting surfaces in the world. The Dunluce course will host the Open again in 2025.