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Joey Chase

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With the record setting crowds and all of the excitement about the tournament venue, does the R&A really need to look at it coming back to Portrush more seriously?  Are the lower scores, albeit with softer conditions, going to hold it back? 

Adrian_Stiff

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2012, 12:37:32 PM »
2017 its going there, its a cert ;D This week they just ticked ALL the boxes.
A combination of whats good for golf and good for turf.
The Players Club, Cumberwell Park, The Kendleshire, Oake Manor, Dainton Park, Forest Hills, Erlestoke, St Cleres.
www.theplayersgolfclub.com

Niall Hay

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Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2012, 01:07:37 PM »
How were TV ratings? Does that have impact?

Niall Hay

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2012, 01:21:18 PM »
The Open just a short putt away
When this week’s tournament actually gets under way and 27,000 people per day crank-up the atmosphere to fever-pitch by Sunday, the debate about this special place hosting The Open will surely change from ‘If’ to ‘When?’

Observers from the Royal and Ancient will be among the vast attendance at Royal Portrush for an event which has already broken European Tour ticket sales records by selling-out in advance for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Padraig Harrington is just one of many Tour professionals in action this week who believes the 7,143 yards Dunluce Links at Portrush already poses a golfing challenge worthy of the game’s oldest and biggest Major Championship.

Equally, the credentials of Portrush and Northern Ireland as a hotbed of golf and breeding ground for Major-winners — namely Fred Daly, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke — has amplified calls for the Open to return here for the first time since 1951.

Along with the fetid atmosphere generated yesterday by the 4,200 spectators who purchased daily tickets to attend practice with countless thousands of Irish Open season-ticket holder, every nook and cranny reeks of history.

A short walk down the side of the 18th from the Royal Portrush clubhouse, where the Open Gold Medals won by Daly in ’47 and Clarke last year are on display, one finds the homely headquarters of Rathmore Golf Club. In the hallway is a vast display case containing gold and silver booty collected by McDowell at the US Open, two Ryder Cups and the myriad other professional and amateur events this 32-year-old son of Portrush has won.

They produce golfing giants and seem to make history for fun on the Causeway Coast, so a second visit by The Open makes perfect sense.

Whether it happens or not is all down to logistics, politics, corporate considerations and hard cash. As R&A Playing Ambassador Padraig Harrington explained yesterday, the profits generated at The Open fund the R&A’s worldwide efforts to sustain and grow the game.

Though Harrington insisted he’d no inside knowledge of the promotion and staging of The Open, the Dubliner expected the R&A would be well able to absorb any shortfall in receipts incurred by a visit to Portrush.

While the Open at St Andrews can accommodate up to 200,000 spectators, the R&A were delighted with the 123,000 who bought tickets for the Championship’s return to Turnberry on Scotland’s West Coast in 2009. That’s not a lot more than the 108,000 who will pack the fairway ropes on all four tournament days at this year’s Irish Open.

And European Tour officials reveal that with long-term planning and infrastructure changes, the capacity of Royal Portrush could be increased significantly from this year’s figure.

Antonia Beggs, championship director for this year’s Irish Open, says she has never known such anticipation or excitement in the run-up to a regular European event ? and she has worked on around 72 of them in 12 years working for the Tour.

“I’m used to it from a Ryder Cup perspective,” said Mrs Beggs. She has worked on three Ryder Cups, including the 2006 edition at The K Club and, for the record, this is her fourth Irish Open.

“But for a main European Tour event,” she added: “none of us have known anything like this. I think the Irish Open probably was like this more than 20 years ago (in halcyon days at Portmarnock, Royal Dublin and Woodbrook). It’s probably returning to that.”

Mrs Beggs insists the R&A, through their long experience in staging The Open, are the only people who can accurately judge if Portrush is capable of hosting their Championship. But, she added: “If you’re asking me whether (Portrush) can stage a large event that can host 50,000 people a day, I believe it can, with time and The Open gives you a eight or nine years to prepare for it. At a logistic and infrastructure level, |I don’t |see why it can’t be done."

Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2012, 01:50:45 PM »
There's plenty of room for the infrastructure on the lower Valley course, but those rumpled fairways could pose a problem!

Joey Chase

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2012, 01:55:51 PM »
Is there enough accommodations in the area?  Or is it fair to think many will make the trip up from Belfast for it everyday?  Does the R&A see the winning number as being too low?     

Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2012, 02:06:25 PM »
Is there enough accommodations in the area?  Or is it fair to think many will make the trip up from Belfast for it everyday?  Does the R&A see the winning number as being too low?     

When we went to the Walker Cup at Royal County Down accommodations were very tight.  We stayed in Kilkeel, about 20 minutes south.  The R & A ran buses from Belfast for a lot of people.  I'm sure they would have to the same, probably from Belfast Airport on the west side of the city.  Don't know about train service.   The bus ride would be 80 minutes according to Google Maps, so could be tough. 

Martin Toal

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Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2012, 02:57:38 PM »
RCD is worse than RP, though. RP has Portstewart, Coleraine and a few other decent sized places relatively nearby and a better stock of accommodation already, and there is to Derry a train service from Belfast across the north coast, so trains coming in both ways.

Belfast International (Aldergrove) is also closer than Belfast City.

RCD has a lot less in the surrounding areas.

David_Tepper

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Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2012, 11:23:30 PM »

Carl Nichols

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Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2012, 11:04:31 AM »
James Donaldson said that RP was the best course they have ever played on the European Tour. 

Jim Eder

Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2012, 12:13:40 PM »
Yes.  The course is terrific. 9 and 10 could be 4s if the R&A is worried about under par (though they could be brutal as 4s if the wind is up).  If the course could get firm watch out for scores. It would be a great venue. I am sure there is a hotel/private home issue for the players egos but this would be fanatastic and I hope they come back. Maybe the R&A could charge more for the TV rights to offset any lost revenue from tix and merchandise. The Irish Open was awesome this year!! It needs The Open and I think The Open needs Portrush. 

Phil Benedict

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2012, 01:34:05 PM »
Does the R&A (as the USGA would) care that the scores were so low this weekend?  I thought Royal Portrush was supposed to be hard.

David_Tepper

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2012, 01:41:39 PM »
"Does the R&A (as the USGA would) care that the scores were so low this weekend?  I thought Royal Portrush was supposed to be hard."

Phil B. -

It rained quite a bit. The course was very green and soft. Almost any links course will play easier under those conditions.

DT

Jim Eder

Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #13 on: July 02, 2012, 02:11:46 PM »
Phil,

My sense is that the R&A and the USGA do care about scoring. 9 and 10 played as 5s so if you remove 8 strokes from Donaldson's score it doesn't look THAT under par.  Now making 9 and 10 4s could be considered unfair as Portrush is difficult. If the wind blows and it is firm, balls would run into trouble and depnding on how high the rough would be it could be very difficult.  It looked unbelievably soft this past week. Par is just a number, it is what the players score but my guess is the R&A would not like to see the first Open back at Portrush to be too under par. St. Andrews is a bit different I think. Portrush would be a terrific venue for drama and shotmaking imo and the scores would not be that low if the course was set up the right way and weather cooperated. Donaldson played very well. And look at the big numbers people posted.  The course is not easy. 

Tony_Muldoon

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #14 on: July 02, 2012, 06:18:13 PM »
What will be, will be.  I can’t see much use in speculating.

Having said that I’ve wondered why they need another Open venue.

Perhaps George O’Grady of the European Tour let slip something here

http://www.irishgolfdesk.com/news-files/2012/7/2/portrush-draws-a-royal-flush.html

“O’Grady ruled out future links stagings at Portmarnock or Royal Dublin, insisting: “Playing the Irish Open at single-sex clubs would not be appropriate in such circumstances.””

Editing that
“Playing the Irish Open at single-sex clubs would not be appropriate in such circumstances.”

Thus Dawson etc might be wondering about the future suitability of (by my count) 4 of the current Rota Clubs. Maybe they do need to look at what else is out there. Having the Amateur at Deal in 2013 and Portrush 2014 might also tell them something.  (Hard not to play this game).
Let's make GCA grate again!

Ally Mcintosh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #15 on: July 03, 2012, 03:39:04 AM »
I'm not sure the R&A have such a forward thinking / backward thinking (delete as appropriate) view of things as George O'Grady.

Shame he said that... for the sake of The Irish Open if nothing else.

Dónal Ó Ceallaigh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #16 on: July 03, 2012, 06:27:40 AM »
As long as the Irish Open is partly funded by the North/South administrations, staging the Irish Open at a single-sex club is not an option. O'Grady was just stating what is the reality.

Regarding crowd numbers, we see 200,000 quoted for St Andrews, but I would imagine that being a spectator at TOC isn't that great an experience. Only one side of the fairway is walkable, and the terrain is quite flat. With the others courses close by, accommodating (parking, tented village, etc. ) the 200,000 may not be a problem, but how many of those actually have a good spectating experience? I'm curious to know; anybody been to the Open at TOC?

Was the course itself the reason for the crowd limit at Portrush, or could the infrastructure not handle more?

JMEvensky

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #17 on: July 03, 2012, 09:46:19 AM »

As long as the Irish Open is partly funded by the North/South administrations, staging the Irish Open at a single-sex club is not an option. O'Grady was just stating what is the reality.



Which of the iconic clubs are single sex and are they more common in the North or South?

Jim Eder

Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #18 on: July 03, 2012, 09:54:08 AM »
Does the R&A accept women as members? 

Dónal Ó Ceallaigh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #19 on: July 03, 2012, 10:53:34 AM »

As long as the Irish Open is partly funded by the North/South administrations, staging the Irish Open at a single-sex club is not an option. O'Grady was just stating what is the reality.



Which of the iconic clubs are single sex and are they more common in the North or South?

I'm only aware of two (both in Dublin: Portmarnock, Royal Dublin) in the whole of Ireland, but I was under the impression that things had changed within these clubs, as they was a threat that they would be denied alcohol licences on account of the male only policy.

JMEvensky

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Does the R&A need to give Portrush serious consideration?
« Reply #20 on: July 03, 2012, 11:03:02 AM »
Thanks Donal.

I'd guess the threat of losing one's alcohol license in Ireland would be the ultimate threat. ;D

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