Schupak: I took the 'Rory McIlroy Tour' and played his childhood course. Here's what I learned

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4 days ago

HOLYWOOD, Northern Ireland — I always wanted to get my picture with the famous Holywood sign.
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 Island'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.
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. The crew erected the broken mast to show their appreciation of the assistance offered to them by the townsfolk.
It was a good landmark to find the aptly named Maypole Bar, which the locals call Ned, and McIlroy biographer Tim Gay claims in his book 'Rory Land,' pours the finest Guinness in all the Emerald Isle.
When I arrived for the tour, Paula Denvir, a member since 2010 and last year's ladies club captain, met me in the parking lot. The course overlooks Belfast Harbor, where McIlroy's grandfather worked the docks which would later launch the ill-fated Titanic.
'It was fine when it left here,' Denvir joked.
She started the tour at the club's fitness center, which overlooks the 18th green, and an indoor training center equipped with Trackman and several simulator hitting bays that have become popular during the winter. McIlroy personally funded this wing of the clubhouse, which opened in 2019, and Denvir said it has created a new revenue stream of members who only want to use the world-class gym.
From there, she led me on a private tour of the Holywood clubhouse, where McIlroy's father, Gerry, was the bar manager. At age seven, a full five years before junior memberships typically began, a young and precocious Rory believed he was ready for the course. 'He said, 'I won't hold anybody up. I'm one of the fastest players and I know all the rules of golf,' ' Denvir recounted in one of the many stories that she shared.
The walls of the 'Rory Room' filled in the rest.
There's a collage of photos of McIlroy through the years and the ones of him from a tender, young age are the best, including with the likes of Darren Clarke and Nick Faldo. There's a framed photo of McIlroy in jacket and tie holding the trophy as champion of the 2003 Ulster Boys Under 18. Next to it resides a photo of McIlroy's caddie, Harry Diamond, who won the same title in 2002. Scorecards of the course record are framed, too.
Surprisingly, a McIlroy once owned the course record, but not Rory – his uncle, Colm, held that honor. The trophy cabinet is chock full of McIlroy baubles, including all the big ones. McIlroy has donated clubs and bags he's used to win Ryder Cups and majors. Denvir unlocked the cases and took out the replica trophies.
'Lift away,' she said.
Then she led me through the bar where more than 100 members gathered to watch the final round of the Masters in April.
'It was unbearable at times,' Devnir said. 'You should have heard all the expletives. We all just sat in there going, 'Seriously, this is what you're putting us through.''
But Devnir kept the faith and the celebration that ensued was worth all the heartache. Her husband, the current club president, did 12 hours of media the next day. They stamped McIlroy's signature on a scorecard for me and I bought a ballmark and a club logo hoodie from the well-stocked pro shop with merchandise that reflected that this was the home of the Grand Slam champ.
Devnir said that when the Irish Open was played at Royal Portrush, McIlroy had stayed in Holywood and used the gym before making the 60-mile drive north, and predicted he might do the same this week.
After the Rory Tour, I took on the 6,015-yard hillside course.
The terraced fairways slope towards Belfast and rarely provide a flat lie. I can see how his trademark draw was shaped at holes such as the first, where everything kicks right and the dogleg fifth. It's a quirky course with some killer views from up high by the 10th green.
McIlroy noted in his Tuesday press conference that it had probably been 15 years since he last played the course. But should he stop by this week to use the gym or enjoy a pint at the bar where his father once poured the drinks, his primo parking spot will be waiting for him.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Schupak: I took the Rory McIlroy Tour in Holywood, Northern Ireland