The stand behind the 1st tee was billowing in the wind. The large piece of netting – some 60 feet wide and 25 feet high – was being attached to the network of poles at the back and it moved, almost in slow motion, as four workers tried to bring it under control.
The scale of the work going on at Royal Portrush, ahead of The Open Championship, is vast. It has to be seen to be believed. And, on a sunny day in May, I got to see it and believe it.
For many of us who watch golf tournaments on TV, we take the infrastructure as a given. You see the stands and the roped off pathways and don’t give them a second thought. You don’t even think about the logistics of organising parking or transport to and from the venue, or the impact of tens of thousands of fans attending the tournament.
What about the food vendors, the merchandise, the corporate hospitality, the accommodation? And have you seen the scale of the stands around the 18th green!
The 2025 Open Championship will welcome 278,000 fans. The population of Portrush is a touch north of 6,000. It will be the second largest crowd ever to attend an Open… and that means a ton of effort is required behind the scenes to ensure everything flows seamlessly.
All I can say is best of luck to the local council, the tourist board and the government of Northern Ireland, as well as everybody else, from volunteers to greenkeepers.
And speaking of greenkeepers, the purpose of my May visit was to play one of the world’s greatest courses. The invitation from Tourism Northern Ireland felt like opening the letter inviting a golfer to contest The Masters. Or, to put it another way, like winning the lottery.
Royal Portrush’s Dunluce is a magnificent links of immaculate pedigree, superb routing, and several of the best holes you will ever play (4, 5, 8, 15, 16 for starters). What’s more, we were playing it in the most perfect conditions imaginable: a slight wind, endless sunshine, and excellent company. The course conditioning was superb. The golf on the other hand was atrocious.
Our fourball had handicaps of scratch, three*, seven and 14, and we were humbled, especially by the speed and slopes of the greens.
This Harry Colt links is often referenced as the best ‘second-shot’ course in Ireland. Greens have plenty of swing to their putting surfaces and plenty of slopes racing off the sides. They are generous in size but you have to find the right part of the green to take advantage. Miss by even a little and balls will swing away across the slopes… and even off the green entirely.
That’s where The Open will be won and lost.
Huge drivers of the ball – such as Rory and Bryson – can show off their prowess from the tee but, ultimately, it is approach shots that will sort the men from the boys. No one will be surprised to see Lowry threatening for a second time.
Yes, the weather will play its part but even on the most perfect of days we got to see how the Dunluce can so easily flash its teeth and devour a poor shot. The pros are not going to have it easy.
It was an honour and a privilege to spend time on the north coast enjoying this famous links, and if the tourist board’s objective was to show off the best that Northern Ireland had to offer, they did a stellar job.
Perhaps it was only fitting that I topped and tailed the visit with trips to the lesser-known 9-hole beauty that is Bushfoot, five miles to the east, and the might of Portstewart, five miles to the west.
Little wonder that the tourist board claims Northern Ireland is ‘Made for Golf’. Roll on, July.
* Nick would no doubt have played better had he had his own shoes and clubs. British Airways, however, had other plans.
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