I lived near the Giant's Causeway (at Portrush) for three years in the 1980's. I used to love the get the bus out to the GC. The steep path down to the site was a real toil back then (no nice smooth footpath as now!) but once you were down there, you were effectively cut off from everything above. The coastal path which goes along by the GC and round the dizzying headlands and tightly enclosed bays is strangely claustrophobic at points. You cannot see anything above.
As for golf courses the area is very well catered for in that respect. There is the Ballyreagh Course, Royal Portrush and another one between Bushmills and Portballantrae (close to the GC). The Pringle wearers aren't exactly suffering from a lack of available links. Not a "sport" I enjoy but I really cant see any clifftop golf club development having any impact on the Causeway or the coastal path.
The GC itself is a truly magical and strange place to visit. The formations and columns are bewildering. On the walk down from the clifftop to the sea, you can see Islay and the Paps of Jura in the distance. The cliffs themselves have massive sections where you can make out the huge columnar basalt like the pipes of a huge church organ. The actual causeway section at the sea is a baffling jigsaw of beautifully formed geometric shapes.
Many of the gardens in Portballantrae and Portrush sport rockeries with parts of the GC.