Open Championship golf: Darren Clarke's links love affair "If I had a choice what sort of golf I would play for the rest of my days, I would choose links golf every time," Clarke wrote in his 2012 autobiography, An Open Book. It's where the game was invented, after all. The courses can change every day. Clarke v Davidson in a one-hole challenge might not get the television channels excited, but I mean to savour every minute. The contest itself, preceded by the inevitable Guinness, is no cliffhanger. Clarke goes first and, having correctly calculated the strength of the crosswind, puts his tee shot within eight feet of the flag. I miscalculate the wind and end up deep in the sand. Two shots in the bunker - an "Eva Braun," as it is known in golfing circles - and I am surveying a 30ft putt just to make bogey. Darren Clarke at the Irish Open in 2012 "That will move about a foot from the left," says Clarke, helpfully. Are you sure? I say, peering at the green. It looks as if it will move two feet from the right. A big grin splits his ruddy Ulsterman's face. Are you telling me I don't know the greens at my own club? He is right, of course, and although my putt lips out, while he holes for a birdie, I have learnt one of the first lessons of links golf: always trust the locals. Only they understand, from long experience, the myriad subtle curves and borrows that give links golf its unique charm: courses wedded to the ancient landscape, not shaped by bulldozers. For Clarke, who grew up during the Troubles, a passion for golf came early. Dungannon Golf Club, where his father was greenkeeper, had the unwanted distinction of being the most bombed golf club in Northern Ireland, but it did not stop the young Darren spending every waking hour on the course. "It kept me out of trouble," he remembers. Now his sons, to his obvious pride, follow in his footsteps. On the day when Clarke won The Open at Royal St George's in 2011, Tyrone and Conor were on the links at Royal Portrush, honing their skills. Like a torch passed from generation to generation, golf is in the DNA of Northern Ireland, binding communities together, forging lifelong friendships, spawning a million extravagant anecdotes in the 19th hole. Sepia-tinged memories abound at Royal Portrush, where the 1951 Open was staged - the only time the championships have been held in Northern Ireland. One of the caddies, knocking 70, regales us with the story of how he was taken to watch The Open as a boy and had a ringside view of the action - standing on top of a horse. You couldn't make it up. Now, with golf in the province booming - Graeme McDowell completes a triumvirate of recent Major winners, along with Clarke and McIlroy - there is a strong likelihood that Royal Portrush will host another Open before 2020. "It is a fair course," says Clarke. There are none of those quirky links holes with cambered fairways where you get bad results from good shots. If I had my way, The Open would be played here every year. It is every bit as good as any of the Open courses and deserves to be on the roster. If and when The Open does return to the club, golf fans are in for a right royal treat. It is hard to imagine a course which better illustrates the exquisite torture that is links golf: potential birdies turned into double bogeys by lurking bunkers or sudden gusts of wind. The very names of the holes tell their own story: Giant's Grave, White Rocks, Himalayas, Calamity Corner, Purgatory. Links golfers are masochists at heart, dicing with delicious danger, and in Northern Ireland, they are in their element. After taking my leave of Darren, I repair to the nearby Bushmills Inn and, over a post-prandial whiskey, hear the X-rated horror stories of golfers who have just played at Portstewart, not far from Portrush, in 40mph winds, which ruined their scorecards. That is another of the glories of links course: the role played by the elements. Stories of brutal playing conditions are as much part of the folklore of Northern Ireland as shipwrecks are part of the folklore of Cornwall. Royal County Down The next day, I am scheduled to play at Royal County Down, a course with almost as exalted a reputation as Royal Portrush, so it is relief to open the curtains of my hotel room and see clear skies and not a breath of wind. The benign conditions feel like a stay of execution, although it does not take long for the course to bare its teeth. The front nine is easily the toughest stretch of golf I have ever played and, by the turn, I am six down. That is six lost balls down, not six holes down, as the thick rough, speckled with gorse bushes, gobbles up my wayward tee shots. As I stagger around the course, the old saying about golf being a good walk spoiled floats into my head. But I am having far too much fun to let a few lost balls dishearten me. Scenically, Royal County Down is even more beautiful than Royal Portrush, with the grey-green Mountains of Mourne looming over the course. Swallows swoop between the dunes. Waves roll up the beach towards the dog-walkers. The spire of a distant church peeps through the trees. A rabbit scuttles into a gorse bush, graveyard of tee shots past. A shout of "Fore" from the neighbouring fairway, is followed by hoots of laughter. Getting there Aer Lingus (0871 718 5000; aerlingus.com) offers daily flights to Belfast City airport from Heathrow and Gatwick from £80 return. Europcar (0871 384 3426; europcar.co.uk) offers seven days" hire from Belfast City airport from £110. Northern Ireland's best links courses Royal Portrush Golf Club, Co Antrim (royalportrushgolfclub.com) This classic links on the Causeway Coast hosted the 1951 Open. As daunting as it is beautiful. There are two courses, the Portluce and the easier Valley Links. Signature holes at the Portluce include the short 14th, Calamity Corner, played over a ravine, and the 17th, dominated by a bunker the height of a house. Summer green fees on Portluce are £145 on weekdays and £165 at weekends. Portstewart Golf Club, Co Antrim (portstewartgc.co.uk) Overhauled in 1992, Portstewart, also on the Causeway Coast, is for links golfers of all standards. The championship Strand course can be a beast when the wind is up - you don't want to play the famous par-four first, off an elevated tee, if you've been overdoing things the night before. But the gentler Old and Riverside courses will enable you to admire the spectacular scenery. Summer green fees at the Strand are £90 on weekdays and £110 at weekends. Portstewart Golf Club Castlerock Golf Club, Co Londonderry (castlerockgc.co.uk) Five miles west of Coleraine, with great views of Donegal and, on a clear day, Scotland. On the Mussenden course, the signature hole is the par-three 4th, the Leg o" Mutton, where hazards include a burn and a railway line. There is also a nine-hole course. Summer fees on the Mussenden are £75 weekdays, £90 weekends. Royal County Down Golf Club, Co Down (royalcountydown.org) Don't be fooled by the setting, with the long sandy beach and the Mountains of Mourne in the distance. The Championship Links is one of the toughest, particularly when the wind blows. High-handicappers may prefer the shorter Annesley Links. Summer green fees at the Championship Links are £180. The Bushmills Inn, Co Antrim (028 2073 3000; bushmillsinn.com) Friendly four-star boutique hotel on the North Antrim coast, just a short drive from Portrush, Portstewart and Castlerock. Whiskey-tasting, great food, live music. Doubles from £150 b & b. Slieve Donard Resort and Spa, Newcastle, Co Down (028 4372 4830; hastingshotels.com). Four-star spa hotel, next to Royal County Down Golf Club. Comfortable rooms, many with sea views. Doubles from £90 b & b. How to fix it Your Golf Travel (0808 163 3569; yourgolftravel.com) offers a wide range of golfing packages in Northern Ireland. They include Causeway, incorporating rounds of golf at Royal Portrush, Portstewart and Castle Rock (from £449pp in Aug and Sept); Best of Links Golf, incorporating rounds at Royal Portrush, Portstewart and Royal County Down (from £579pp in Aug/Sept); and County Down Golf Tour, incorporating rounds at Royal County Down (Championship and Annesley) and Ardglass (from £389pp from Aug to Oct). All include two nights" b & b but exclude travel. Royal Dornoch, Scotland: 'the most fun I ever had playing golf' Quinta do Lago, Algarve: Portugal's premier golf resort Golf in Bermuda: enviable greens