"A gentler, lower-lying line through the same duneland as the Dunluce — the sensible warm-up (or consolation) round on an Open-venue trip."

The quieter sibling at Royal Portrush, laid out by Harry Colt in 1932 alongside his Dunluce masterpiece, tucked in the low ground between the East Strand dunes and the championship links. It's a 6,304-yard par 70 with all the humps and hollows of proper links golf, and it has real pedigree of its own: this is where Graeme McDowell learned the game as a Rathmore Golf Club junior before winning the 2010 US Open — the 16th is named 'McDowell's' in his honor. Martin Ebert reworked several holes when land was borrowed for Dunluce's new 7th and 8th ahead of the 2019 Open.

Anyone making the Portrush pilgrimage who wants 36 holes, links purists on a budget, and McDowell fans who want to walk the ground that built a US Open champion.

The 16th, 'McDowell's', named for the club's US Open champion, and the stretch pressed against the East Strand dunes, where the valley setting gives sheltered, tumbling links golf with the sea just out of sight.

The friendlier of the two Portrush courses — gentler fairways, shorter yardage, fewer terrors than Dunluce. Still a true links: wind, firm turf, and awkward stances will test a new player, but it won't bury them.

We couldn't confirm a GSPro recreation of the Valley Links specifically — the Dunluce Links, though, is in GSPro and is the Portrush experience most members want anyway. Queue up Dunluce for the 2019/2025 Open venue; think of the Valley as the reason to actually go to Portrush for 36.

Public access alongside Dunluce — book through Royal Portrush's visitor system well ahead. Around £200 in high season as of 2026 (post-Open prices have climbed), still far less than Dunluce.