How to Play Royal Portrush: Tee Times, Ballots and Booking

The short answer

You can play Royal Portrush as a visitor by booking a Dunluce Links tee time within the windows the club opens to guests. There is no ballot and no member introduction required, but there is a calendar to respect: visitor times are generally offered from late morning on Monday and through the morning on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Wednesday closed to visitors and Saturday kept for members. The single constraint is supply, because since the 2025 Open the prime summer slots disappear fast. Indicative 2026 green fees are around 420 pounds for a round between 1 April and 31 October, with cheaper winter rates and the Valley Links a fine and far more affordable companion round. Always confirm current fees directly before booking.

Treat the tee time as the fixed point of the trip. Reserve the Dunluce time first, online or through the club, then build flights, the short hop from Belfast or Dublin and the rest of the golf around it. Note that green fees are taken in full at the time of booking and are generally non refundable, so be sure of your dates before you commit.

How to book, step by step

Start as early as your dates allow. Royal Portrush takes visitor bookings through an online tee sheet and directly with the club, and since the course returned to the Open rota the prized summer mornings can be gone months in advance, so the earlier you make contact the better. A confirmed booking takes the green fee in full and is generally non refundable, which makes it all the more important to fix the date before flights. Choose one of the visitor windows on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, avoiding Wednesday and Saturday, and add a caddie, which on a links of blind tee shots and that ferocious closing run is genuinely valuable on a first visit.

If the Dunluce Links is full for your dates, do not abandon the trip. The Valley Links, the club's second course and the land from which the new championship seventh and eighth were carved, is a fine and far more available round in its own right and lets you experience the place while you watch for a Dunluce cancellation. Many strong trips pair a confirmed Dunluce time with a Valley round and a day along the Causeway Coast.

When to go, and what to expect

The Antrim season runs roughly May to September, with the firmest turf and longest light at the heart of summer, which is also the busiest and dearest window. Spring and early autumn trade a little weather risk for easier tee times and lower rates, and a calm day on the north coast, with the dunes tumbling down toward the Skerries and the Giant's Causeway a short drive away, is hard to beat. Whenever you come, expect a thrilling and exacting test: a championship links of around 7,300 yards with the par 3 Calamity Corner, its drop of nothing but air to the right, and a finish that has decided Opens. It sits about an hour from Belfast and around two and a half hours from Dublin, so most golfers fold it into a wider Irish links run rather than a single round. Bring your best game and a sense of occasion.