Royal Portrush Golf Club is targeting hosting more major international golf events between now and the next time the Open Championship comes to the Dunluce Links.
It’s just over a month before a record attendance of 278,000 spectators will flood the fairways for the 153rd Open Championship, six years after Shane Lowry won the Claret Jug here in 2019 and the Open will return for a third stint in due course.
The club is fast becoming the ‘Home of Golf’ outside of St Andrews and there are ambitions to host a Walker Cup, Curtis Cup or a Women’s Open Championship. But a Ryder Cup appears to be out of the question, for now at least.
“Portrush as a club would very much welcome a Walker Cup or Curtis Cup or indeed a Women’s Open Championship,” said club captain Nigel Pollock.
“I personally wouldn’t want a Ryder Cup here. I think golf coming to Ireland, a professional golf event you get a very knowledgeable and respectful crowd. You don’t get that at a Ryder Cup. It’s more of a sporting occasion and people who have no interest in golf are just there for the jolly.
“Certainly a Walker Cup, Curtis Cup and a Women’s Open Championship, any one of those things between now and our next Open Championship would be very much welcomed.”
Portmarnock hosted the R&A Women’s Amateur Championship last summer and it was a roaring success while there has been provisional support from both the Irish government and the R&A for the club to host both the Open and Women’s Open going forward.
Pollock would also like to see Royal Portrush to take a swing at the Women’s Open over the next few years believing the Dunluce Links is a tailor-made set up.
“I’ve said all along, the length of the courses the women play in their Open Championships are well in excess of 6,700 yards. Our white medal tees would be very close to that so Portrush would be the ideal course for a Women’s Open Championship.”
The work never stops at Royal Portrush, which also hosted the 2012 Irish Open, as the club looks to bring the Valley course out of the shadows of the Dunluce and put it on the world stage.
A newly designed front nine, including a new par-4 7th named after local hero Graeme McDowell, has already elevated this course from a hidden gem to a links worthy of hosting big events.
The Valley would appear to be the ideal set up for a DP World Tour or HotelPlanner Tour event while Chairman of the Open Championship Committee, Dr. Ian Kerr, would love to see a Women’s or Men’s Amateur Championship come to Portrush so 36-hole qualifying could be held on both courses.
“Absolutely. Part of the whole thinking of trying to get two great 36-holes was if a Women’s or Men’s Amateur came here they could have the qualifying here whereas in the past one round has always had to go to Portstewart because the Valley has been too weak so absolutely it can now do both rounds,” said Kerr.”
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