Longing to play Royal Portrush from 17,000 kilometres away? Here are Australia’s best answers to the Northern Irish masterpiece, and our tributes to other iconic links on the Open Championship rota.
Since 1933, the Open Championship has been staged across just 10 courses. While there is no formal list as such, the collective term for this group is the “Open Championship rota”. The group includes some of the finest and most historic links courses in the world and all of them, including Royal Portrush, are within the United Kingdom (given that Northern Ireland is part of the UK).
Among the 10, there is both an objective and subjective hierarchy, depending on who you ask. The Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland is undeniably No.1, while Royal Portrush is a significant generator of hype, mainly for its rugged hills and wild dunes, which are both spectacular and unlike any of the other nine hosts. Because of political turmoil, The Open was not held at Royal Portrush for 68 years after its debut hosting the links major in 1951. The 2019 edition, won emphatically by Shane Lowry, provided such an emotional and captivating stage that the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews decided to bring The Open back to Royal Portrush this year.
If you’ve been lucky enough to play Portrush, it is a very special piece of land. The Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush, designed by Harry Colt, is steeped in history; it held the first organised golf tournament in Ireland. Modern stars have honed their games on its links; Rory McIlroy set the course record of 61 in 2005, while Portrush members Graeme McDowell (2010 US Open) and Darren Clarke (2011 Open Championship) grew up on its fairways.
If you haven’t, we really hope and encourage you to one day make the journey to Portrush, a town of 8,000 people about an 80-minute drive north-west of Belfast. Until then, we have compiled an Australian list of courses similar to Royal Portrush, as well as golf courses that are reminiscent of the remaining rota regulars. By no means are we claiming any of these are direct comparisons or identical twins, but they’ll give you a taste of what’s to come when you are lucky enough to play, or return to, Portrush.
Royal Portrush → Barnbougle Dunes
Mike Clayton and Tom Doak’s internationally acclaimed links in Bridport, Tasmania, has as many wild and dramatic dunes as its lookalike in Portrush. The changes in elevation and sheer scale of the dunes at Barnbougle easily produce what many visiting golfers describe as one of the most thrilling rounds in the world. There is a similar golf experience at Royal Portrush, particularly since course architect Martin Ebert and his associates reworked the Dunluce Links. What sets Barnbougle apart from the rest of Australia’s best golf courses – many of which are on the Melbourne Sandbelt – is similar to the way Portrush is distinguished from the flatter, more classic links of the Open rota. They’re both rollercoasters. Buckle up.
Muirfield → New South Wales Golf Club
The strongest correlation between the East Lothian links in Scotland and Alister MacKenzie’s masterpiece on rugged cliffs of La Perouse in Sydney’s eastern suburbs is that both courses change direction frequently. Dr MacKenzie’s 1926 design, enhanced by Eric Apperly, famously has its par 3 and 5s running in four different directions. Enhancing the similarities is that New South Wales now has a stone wall along the left side of the 18th hole, reminiscent of the ninth at Muirfield. Both are revered, pilgrimage golf courses.
NSW, which hosted the 2009 Australian Open won by Adam Scott, derives its fame from two holes along the most dramatic portion of a breathtaking series of seaside cliffs, sand dunes and rugged terrain. Most golfers have seen photos of the par-5 fifth, with its striking downhill fairway, and the par-3 sixth, whose tee shot across the rocky shoreline is among the most anticipated shots in Australian golf. But talking about the fifth and sixth is almost reductive to NSW, given there is so much more charm and intrigue, such as the incredible, short par-4 first, challenging par-3 second, dogleg par-4 third, as well as the otherworldly stretch of holes from the 13th to the 17th.
Turnberry → Cape Wickham Links
Obviously, the comparisons between Turnberry and Cape Wickham begin with a shared motif: an iconic lighthouse. Both are also at the top of their class: Turnberry is often described as the very best course in the UK, particularly after Ebert and his firm renovated the course in 2015 and again in 2024 to great reviews. Cape Wickham is currently the No.1 course on Australian Golf Digest’s Top 100 Golf Courses ranking. At Cape Wickham, the towering white lighthouse provides a landmark throughout the round, while Turnberry’s Ailsa Lighthouse is one of world golf’s most iconic structures. Like Turnberry, Cape Wickham is carved into undulating clifftops and natural dunes, with holes like the 18th finishing dramatically around a beach. Turnberry also incorporates elevated tees, rolling dunes and cliffside holes, particularly with the dramatic stretch around the turn. Both offer sweeping ocean vistas and thrilling, downhill or cross-slope shots that test balance and club choice.
Royal Troon → Warrnambool Golf Club
Warrnambool – famous as the childhood course of PGA Tour and LIV Golf winner Marc Leishman, who was T-2 after a playoff loss at the 2015 Open at St Andrews – has a rumpled, windswept landscape with gentle elevation changes, humps and hollows. Royal Troon is flatter by links standards but still features deceptive undulations and nuanced terrain, especially on approach and around greens. Demanding par 4s and strong par 3s, such as Royal Troon’s eighth hole, known around the world as “Postage Stamp”, demand precision. Warrnambool also features several challenging par 3s, such as the 181-metre 15th, which is comparable to Troon’s long 17th, while the 117-metre 13th at Warrnambool is its answer to Postage Stamp. Its sub-120-metre distance has fooled many a golfer visiting the Victorian links.
Royal Liverpool → St Andrews Beach Golf Course
Although the Wirral Peninsula of Liverpool and St Andrews Beach on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula are wildly different destinations, their courses have more in common than one might assume. St Andrews Beach, designed by Doak, follows a “least disturbance” approach, using the natural landforms with minimal earthmoving. Royal Liverpool nicknamed “Hoylake”, is more than 150 years old but retains a traditional, understated style, relying on natural features and subtlety rather than artificial drama. Their similarities also lie in their wider-than-normal fairways, with St Andrews Beach boasting generous landing areas, but optimal positioning is crucial for angles into the greens. Hoylake also uses width with purpose – offering safer routes alongside more aggressive lines that provide better access to certain pins.
Carnoustie → Magenta Shores
Magenta Shores, on the NSW Central Coast, has relatively subtle, rolling dunes, not as dramatic as other links like Portrush, but enough to create uneven lies and directional challenges. Magenta Shores is routed through natural coastal dunes, giving a rugged texture and variety to the lies, stances and visuals. Carnoustie sits on the North Sea in eastern Scotland, while Magenta Shores borders the Pacific Ocean. Perhaps the closest comparison between the two lies in their innate difficulty – especially in a strong breeze.
Royal St George’s → The Dunes Golf Links
Tony Cashmore’s timeless and breathtaking design on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula shares a striking resemblance to the historic links of Royal St George’s in Sandwich on the south-eastern shores of England. For starters, The Dunes features bunkers that are among Australia’s most authentic tributes to the sand traps of the British Isles. Both The Dunes and Royal St George’s are rugged, true links shaped by heavily undulating terrain and sandy soil. Both demand creative shot-making and course management and feature plenty of blind shots. The Dunes’ signature stretch on the back nine also mirrors the beastly last five holes at Royal St George’s where, from the 13th, there is only one par 4 measuring less than 410 metres and even that (the 17th) is 390.
Two fun facts about Royal St George’s: author Ian Fleming chose the course, under the name “Royal St Marks”, as the setting for the famous match in his 1959 novel Goldfinger. When he died, Fleming was the captain-elect of Royal St George’s. One fun fact about The Dunes: when he was a 16-year-old amateur, Rory McIlroy finished seventh in the Dunes Medal in 2005 in a field that included future men’s world No.1 Jason Day and England’s Oliver Wilson, an eventual Ryder Cup player and two-time European Tour winner. That 2005 visit was McIlroy’s first trip to Australia.
Royal Birkdale → Port Fairy Golf Links
Port Fairy, on Victoria’s rugged south-west coast, is somewhat of a long-lost cousin of Royal Birkdale Golf Club in England, one of the Open Championship’s most revered venues. Both courses are defined by their exposed coastal settings, where wind is a constant and influential element in shot-making. Their fairways thread through natural sand dunes, though Port Fairy’s are more subtle. Like Royal Birkdale, Port Fairy’s design places a premium on accuracy over power, with narrow driving corridors and elevated green complexes demanding precision into the wind. The visual aesthetics also align – low, windswept vegetation and expansive coastal vistas create a raw, unmanicured feel.
Royal Lytham & St Annes → Links Kennedy Bay
While currently in the final phase of a major redesign, Links Kennedy Bay still enjoys a series of features not too dissimilar to Royal Lytham & St Annes, one of England’s most storied Open Championship venues. Both courses defy traditional seaside expectations – set slightly inland from the coastline, yet shaped by sandy, wind-swept terrain and firm, fast conditions typical of classic links golf. Each layout features strategic bunkering in abundance; Kennedy Bay’s series of pot bunkers echo Lytham’s famed 200-plus traps, demanding precision and shrewd course management. Narrow fairways and penal rough further align the two in their emphasis on accuracy over brute strength. Both courses also possess a rugged, unpolished charm, with minimal tree coverage and natural grasses framing the holes. While Lytham is enveloped by suburban surrounds, and Kennedy Bay remains largely isolated in coastal dunes, both have a commitment to traditional shot values and ground-game creativity.
The Old Course at St Andrews?
That’s a tough one. The short answer is: there aren’t any links courses anywhere in the world quite like the Old Course at St Andrews. How could you replicate a storied layout that begins in the centre of town, travels alongside the sea, circles back on its own routing several times before returning to town for a finish unmatched by other major-championship venues?
Many Australian links courses are set out in more remote pockets of coastline, away from towns and cities. One quirky comparison – and by no means are we suggesting it is Australia’s answer to St Andrews – is the delightful course at Robe Golf Club in South Australia’s south-east. At Robe, the course wraps around an historic cemetery, football ground and basketball court with simultaneous views of Robe township and the ocean. Holes one to six, the “Ocean 6” were built in the 1980s and ’90s on land heading towards the ocean and lighthouse, before turning back to the clubhouse for the “Dunes 6”. This loop was designed in recent years by Neil Crafter on the property’s natural sand-dune terrain. The “Town 6” is the original part of the course dating to 1924. The charming, 318-metre, par-4 18th is what Robe Golf Club affectionately calls its “Road Hole” – somewhat of a tribute to the famous par-4 17th at St Andrews, featuring out-of-bounds along the entire right side. Should we call it the “Robe Hole”?
Not on the Open rota anymore, but… Prestwick → Gerringong Golf Club
Prestwick, at 6,300 metres, is far too short to feature on the modern Open rota but it is famous as “The Birthplace of the Open”, having staged the inaugural championship in 1860 (among 24 in total). The sheer quirkiness of its holes can be found, in parts, at Gerringong Golf Club on the NSW South Coast. Prestwick is iconic for several lay-ups, including the first tee shot where golfers shouldn’t hit more than a 150-metre shot, lest they run into a cavernous valley of deep rough, or the delightfully weird par-5 third, named “Cardinal”, where drives must lay up short of the Cardinal bunker at 210 metres from the tee. Gerringong is also short, at 5,600 metres, but there is plenty of strategic charm, and with the severe hills it plays far longer than its distance. Gerringong’s signature par-5 fourth hole asks for a 190-metre tee shot aimed away from the surf beach and shaped from right to left to finish short of a water hazard. Similarly, the right-angled dogleg at the par-4 10th demands a 190-metre tee shot past the trees followed by a wedge to a narrow green.
Is Belmont on its way back to the Top 100?
Since its most recent appearance at No.98 in the 2004 edition of our Top 100 Golf Courses ranking, Belmont Golf & Bowls, south of Newcastle in coastal NSW, has sat just on the outside looking in. Although not by much, it’s typically in the first 25 after the cut-off. It is an outstanding golf course with plenty of coastal views and links charm, particularly at the gorgeous, par-5 15th along the ocean. The rugged beauty comes from a layout carved between the sea and Lake Macquarie with sandy soils and sweeping ocean views, offering one of the most striking coastal golf experiences in the state. First opened in 1952, Belmont is laid out across a narrow strip of land, where fairways overlook a pristine, two-kilometre stretch of beach and the crashing surf beyond. The front nine flirts with the ocean at the picturesque seventh and eighth, while the back nine begins with a bold coastal opener before turning briefly inland. From the 13th to 15th, the course delivers its most spectacular stretch – a glorious trio of holes that hug the shoreline, demanding imagination and shot control. Belmont Golf & Bowls is a must-play for golfers seeking an unfiltered Australian links experience.
