Rory McIlroy's home course offers a unique tour

HOLYWOOD, Northern Ireland — Getting a picture with the famous Holywood sign has always been on my bucket list. Not the one with two “l’s” high in the mountains in Los Angeles, an American landmark and cultural icon, but the one pronouncing this town of approximately 10,000 lying on the shores of Belfast Lough, between Belfast, Northern Ireland’s capital, and Bangor. This one proudly proclaims upon entrance: “Welcome to Holywood, historical gem of the Lough and home of Rory McIlroy.

” Just a quarter-mile away, perched high in the Holywood Hills of County Down, is Holywood Golf Club, a picturesque 18-hole parkland course where the Grand Slam champion cut his teeth. In April, after McIlroy won the Masters to become the sixth golfer ever to complete the career Grand Slam, the club launched the Rory McIlroy Tour to formalize a way for his golf fans from all over the globe who had been showing up unannounced for years to celebrate his journey to golfing greatness. The tour costs 22 pounds for adults and 17 per child (age 16 and under).

It includes fresh Irish scones with jam and cream. The advertisement also offers a coffee or tea but I was given the choice of a Guinness and had the barkeep pour me one of those instead. There are photo opportunities with replicas of his trophies and memorabilia – no Green Jacket just yet!

– and a chance to purchase ‘the Home of Rory McIlroy’ memorabilia in the pro shop. More: Inside the final round of Rory McIlroy's 2025 Masters victory (part 1) I had some time to kill before my ‘tee time,’ so I drove through the town, past Sullivan Upper School, where he attended grammar school, and parked nearby the famed maypole at the crossroads in the town’s center. Its origin is uncertain but according to folklore, it dates from 1700 when a Dutch ship is said to have run aground on the shore nearby.