Kirkistown Castle - Down - Northern Ireland

Kirkistown Castle is a true links golf course near Cloughy on the Eastern shore of the Ards Peninsula in Northern Ireland.

The present day layout of this no-nonsense, old-school, authentic links is attributed to James Braid and dates back to 1934 although The Club is much older having been formed in 1902.

On my visit in late-June of 2018, after a spell of extremely hot and dry weather, the sandy course played particularly firm and fast with a beautiful burnt appearance where the fairways were baked and almost crusty. This placed a real premium on accuracy because a tight lie was required in order to impart spin on the ball to stop it on the green, or at least have some semblance of control over your running approach. A shot from the semi-rough was left to lady luck to some extent – the beauty of links golf!

I would like to say early on in the review just how impressed I was with the greens. They had that lovely bronzed, glazed sheen and they ran as true as any I’ve ever putted on. On an 11-course whirlwind tour of Northern Ireland, which included the greats of County Down, Portrush and Portstewart, the greens at Kirkistown were hands down the finest.

There are several changes in elevation during the round thanks to two extremely large hillocks which the routing is primarily centered around. This makes for some invigorating drives from high ground and several uphill approaches. In all honesty some of the inclines are little too steep for my liking but they still present an unusual challenge. There are also a number of pot bunkers to avoid on a routing that returns us to the clubhouse after each nine.

Approach shots at the 2nd, 8th, 10th, 12th and 16th all play to greens in the gods whilst the inevitable downhill drives come at the 3rd, 9th, 12th and 13th.

Northern Ireland is blessed with some of the best links golf courses in the world and whilst Kirkistown, located in County Down, doesn’t fall into this bracket it would be more than a fine accompaniment to any of the bigger names on a multi-course trip. Indeed should your onward journey take you to Ardglass or Royal County Down it is worth pointing out that you can hop on the regular Portaferry to Strangford ferry to cross the entrance of Strangford Lough.

Ed is the founder of Golf Empire – click the link to read his full review.

Our society played the course at end of March, for the time of year the course was in fantastic condition.. It was an extremely challenging, but very enjoyable.We had a great meal afterwards, and hospitality was brilliant.Hope to return soon.

Our group had great fun playing here and it’s also a brilliant value venue when scheduling a trip to play the mighty Royal County Down and the underrated Ardglass. The holes at Kirkistown are varied and entertaining. Two large mounds dissect the course and presumably these are the old castle fortifications which make the layout quite unusual and unique. The 2nd is a par four of complete uniqueness where it’s flat for the tee shot and then the ground rises alarmingly for the approach to a virtually blind green with the castle nonchalantly to the right of the putting surface. The 10th is in a similar vein but doglegged and nigh on impossible to make par if playing into any kind of wind. The course plays on sandy ground and to a certain extent has a links like feel. Well worth a visit.