Royal Portrush to host Irish Open

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/16423344.stm

Its official - Royal Portrush will host the Irish Open in 2012. Great news for the venue, will be interesting to see how the infrastructure copes, since that is the biggest argument against playing The Open there at some point. Obviously crowds, media coverage etc. won't be on that kind of level, but it'll give an idea as to what the area can cope with.

Great news!
Wouldn't it be nice if the North and South could each have their own tournaments . . . . ?

Nice to see such a good, established track hosting the event.

Really look forward to seeing this one on TV. Never met a person who played there that wasn't extremely impressed with the course.

kwinigolfer wrote:Great news!
Wouldn't it be nice if the North and South could each have their own tournaments . . . . ?

Wish you were right but im afraid it probably wont happen........

Great news for NI

Anything that can add some interest to the European tour is a good thing given the drudgery of most events. Seeing links once a year at the open is never enough but now we will have; the open, irish open, scottish open and the dunhill. If only they could get the dutch open back on a links.

As people may have guessed I find seeing a course just as exciting as seeing the players so I will be looking forward to this.

High time they had The Open on parkland, say Wentworth or The Belfry.

It would certainly suite McIlroy.

Why not? Six links courses, six parkland or heathland courses.
Spread it over the country a bit, include Wales, NI, get the unsuitable TOC out of it, its had its day.
Make The Open a great tournament every year not just good once every three or four. Take the worthless history and stuffy tradition element out of it and pick courses that really do a major and stellar field justice.

Super, I almost agree but not for the same reasons as you. Until the modern pro's start playing golf they should be kept away from the nations best golf courses. Not sure what game they are playing but it aint golf.

super_realist wrote:High time they had The Open on parkland, say Wentworth or The Belfry.

Come on. Most of the top golfers from all around the world only play one tournament on a true links course each year. You want the Open Championship become just like any PGA tour event? I am sure Bubba, Boo and Co would love that idea.

It was actually a bit of a wind up, but it got me thinking so why not Lorus?, there are too many dreary and forgettable Open's staged in the UK, and for what? Tradition and history, a pretty crummy reason to keep holding it on the same old tired courses. Simply because its always been played on links the purists believe that it must always be played on Links. Hardly anyone plays a links like game anyway so what does it matter what type of course it is held on? No wonder golf is seen as an old farts game where people live in the past.
I've no problem with links if they play them on worthy links, but more often than not they don't. Perhaps include other countries such as Sweden or Holland to add a bit of variety as they have some great links courses, after all they do baulk at it being called the British Open.
Who cares if the pro's only play links now and then, I'm sure they could alternate between a top quality heathland and a top quality links and actually improve it, After all football used to be played across entire towns, often miles in length, tennis was played on courts completely different from todays standardised courts, snooker balls were made of ivory and F1 had no safety gear and drove round tracks tens of miles in length, do we hark back to days of yore or do we accept progress?

Professional sport has a duty to entertain, and very often, The Open is pretty much a dirge of a tournament, which bathes in the glory of tradition and history but which frequently delivers a poor tournament when you strip that back.

So Super, would you want Wimbledon change to Rebound Ace surface or stay with using grass courts? It's the difference that makes it that little bit extra special. All the true greats of the game really appreciate the challenges faced when playing links golf under the pressure of it being a Major Championship. I don't care about tradition at all. I play golf for the game, not for the social nor the status element. I am quite happy playing on my own-some at 7am with the golf course to myself.
I agree that it could be moved around the world and not only played in the UK (Royal Melbourne, anyone?). I think that with the PGA Championship too. 3 out of the 4 majors should not be in the US. Not now that it's a truly world game. Asia for sure should have one of them.

I don't have a problem with Wimbledon because it still provides some truly epic tournaments and finals, there are too many boring Opens. This is not necessarily the fault of being held on links, but rather the particular links they hold it on ad nauseum.
Carnoustie is unique for the drama and challenge, and Birkdale and Turnberry have produced great moments, but few others have recently.
So solution: change the courses on the rota, move it abroad from time to time or introduce different types of course to freshen it up.
Alternatively, next time it is at st.andrews and to justify it being held there so often, play the course backwards, the way it was intended and designed to be played. I was looking at the course from that perspective when I played it the other week and it looks much better.

Sounds interesting.. Teeing the ball up on the greens and putting on the tees. I'd watch it........

Super, you are not a fan of St. Andrews? I noticed in another thread on 606v2, people were asked which UK golf course that they had the most desire to play (that they had not played already) and the Old Course was on most lists. Including mine, and I play a very poor standard of golf.

Lorus,
I'm a member at St.Andrews and I don't dislike the Old Course, I like playing it in the way I like play many courses, but it doesn't make it a great course, I just don't think its anywhere near as good a course as it's purported to be by the fawning media and amateur historians. Certainly nowhere near good enough to hold an Open every five years.
It's not even in the top 3 Courses at St.Andrews in my opinion.

I have the benefit of not being swayed by the history and traditions and see it for what it is.
I play with a lot of visiting yanks who are usually playing TOC, Carnoustie, Muirfield, Troon, Turnberry, Kingsbarns etc, and almost to a man they say it is the worst/most underwhelming of all the courses they play.

Very exciting times to be a northern irishman. Both Portrush and Royal County Down are spectacular courses and their notoriety should have had them hosting major events long before now. I can't wait.

Super, that is very interesting. Maybe I am swayed by the history and the notoriety of the place. It is curious that Tiger Woods claims it as his favourite course of all. I hope more posters who have played it tell us their opinions.

Lorus, If you look at it from another point of view, it would almost be blasphemy to the establishment for pro's not to claim St.Andrews as their favourite course plus it engraciated them amongst the fans who see St.Andrews as some sort of mecca.

I can understand how people like the history and tradition, but the course has been changed so much over time that it's really irrelevant to the current layout and the only similarity it bears to the original is where it is located.

Strip that back and you have a lot of very very ordinary holes. There are perhaps 3 holes on the course that are worthy of the hype.

Fantastic news for NI and Portrush, considering next year is Royal Portrush's 125th anniversary this has come a year early for me! Hopefully there will be more investment over the next 5-10 years geared towards hosting the Open. Also agree that it would be great to see European Tour events in both Northern and R.Ireland, or even bi-annual hosting would suffice.

Super 1-8 and 11-18 are two of the best stretches of holes anywhere in the world. It is not like 9 and 10 are bad but do act as a welcome breather. You can play each hole a different way almost every time you play the course, and that is the key to its greatness. We have had this discussion so often and you still fail to understand how and why TOC is so highly rated by those interested in course design and those not.

I do not rate your ability to critique a course as you do not strike me as someone who is opened minded enough to give something a fair assessment.

super_realist wrote:....Alternatively, next time it is at st.andrews and to justify it being held there so often, play the course backwards, the way it was intended and designed to be played....

S_R

Far be it for me to suggest that a member and resident of St Andrews might be mistaken, but TOC wasn't actually designed to be played the other way round at all. My understanding is that the direction of play was reversed on a weekly basis to allow the turf from recover better. I further understand that one weekend a year (Friday, Saturday, Monday), the direction is actually reversed. Have you ever managed to play it on that weekend?

Mac, you can play virtually every hole on every course differently if you want, it's no defence for TOC to say that.

Why don't I give it a fair assessment, for a start I can look past the history and play it more than anyone on here.
Don't get me wrong, I do like it, but by no means is it a great course worthy of holding a major every five years. As for it being a master of design, it's been changed more times than virtually any course, the latest of which is the erradication of most of the gorse, meaning the course is going to be even easier.

How can you say 8 is a great hole, it's the easiest and least inspring hole I've ever played.
11, 12 and 17 are three very good holes, in a sea of mediocrity. If you want to see a far better test of golf then pop next door to the New.


Martin, they no longer have the "reverse" weekend, but it certainly looks better and more challenging to play it that way.

I'm happy for you to say you like it from a design point of view, but most people are concerned with how it plays.

I agree with SR re TOC. By far the weakest on the Open rota..............

I used to be of the opinion that a course couldn't hold The Open without having sufficient infrastructure in place, now I think that having a course which is capable of creating a better tournament is far more important.

Therefore, if Portrush is as good as people say it is then why not give it to them. The R&A makes plenty money to take a bit of a hit for smaller more intimate venues for the benefit of The Open as an event.

Just popped in from the Rugby Forum guys, but I am a golfer (of sorts) and live just 10 miles from Portrush. I'm Past Captain at an inland course about 15 miles from Portrush. Fantastic news for the province, local area and Northern Ireland golf.
Royal Portrush has hosted the Senior Open a few times and will put on a fabulous show. Great that it is happening so soon and hopefully will allow the R&A to make up its mind to host the Open there as soon as the fixture list allows.
Anyone wanting to get to Portrush next July and who wants to grab a game locally then let me know. I will sort things out for you.

Super – I would have to disagree with you on this one. Part of any major sporting event, whether that be in golf or any other sport, is the history and tradition of the event. It adds to the magic and prestige of the tournament. The Open has always been played on links courses and I see no reason to alter this and make it like any other tour event. While we’re at it why don’t we change the grass courts at Wimbledon to make it a hard court championship?

I would tend to agree with you however on your opinion of TOC. Also add that it is a very poor course for spectators.

Jeff, I'd already answered that, there is nothing wrong with Wimbledon or the surface, however The Open produces some truly turgid tournaments because of where it's held.

I seem to recall many Wimbledon finals ending 3 sets to 0. Not every tournament can be brim filled with excitement. No matter where any tournament is played there are going to be some fairly drab affairs due to factors such as a spread out leaderboard, one person running away with the tournament, difficult set up of course thereby lack of birdies / struggle against par (which I actually find fascinating to watch the players battle and work heir way around the course strategically) I also recall a number of drab masters in the mid noughties on what is traditionally a course set up to provide excitement.

Jeff, When TOC routinely fails to produce any excitement, has a very drab finishing hole, is bad for spectators and is clearly on the rota for income and history only it's probably time to change.

As for the tennis analogy, well there is whitewashes on all types of surface.

What I can't understand about The Open is why a course like Carnoustie which always produces the goods, is overlooked in favour of a boring, outdated relic getting it every five years. Don't they want quality tournaments, or is it all about money?

agreed super with regard to TOC every 5 years, it is stupid and ther are many other fine links that deserve it on a more regular basis, as well as others not on the rota which deserve to be, however I do think it should remain as a links style tournament and not move to parkland courses, thereby rendering it no different from most other tournaments

Fair enough, I originally said it as a wind up anyway.

Would you object to it being held abroad on a links course?

jeffkenna wrote:...While we’re at it why don’t we change the grass courts at Wimbledon to make it a hard court championship?

They've pretty much done that already even though it's still technically grass.

What are these turgid boring Opens? The only recent boring ones I remember are two that Woods ran away with at St Andrews and Hoylake, and Oosthuizen's (agree that every 5 years is too frequent at St Andrews). 2002, 2003, 2004 were all fantastic exciting tournaments, likewise 2007, 2008, 2009, and last year was a good tournament too.

Ned, i'm talking about the turgid ones which have happened at St.Andrews (i.e all the ones you have mentioned)

eg. 2000, 2005, and 2010 (no doubt 2015 will be rubbish too.)

super_realist wrote:Ned, i'm talking about the turgid ones which have happened at St.Andrews (i.e all the ones you have mentioned)

eg. 2000, 2005, and 2010 (no doubt 2015 will be rubbish too.)

don't forget 2020 and 2025

I don't know anything about Portrush. I see it has two courses - is the Irish Open being played on a composite, or is it just one of the two courses?

Also, isn't it County Down that's supposed to be the top course in Ulster?

George1507 wrote:I don't know anything about Portrush. I see it has two courses - is the Irish Open being played on a composite, or is it just one of the two courses?

Also, isn't it County Down that's supposed to be the top course in Ulster?

George, there are two courses The Dunluce and The Valley. The competition would be played only on the Dunluce links. The Valley is where McDowell learned to play and is where his father and brother still play. Rathmore Golf Club is a separate club that use the Valley links by arrangement with the Royal Portrush Club.
Royal Co. Down is also a fabulous course and it will depend on where you come from as to whether you rate it above the other. I have played both and I rate them both very highly. Actually probably too difficult for me if truth be known.

super_realist wrote:Ned, i'm talking about the turgid ones which have happened at St.Andrews (i.e all the ones you have mentioned)

eg. 2000, 2005, and 2010 (no doubt 2015 will be rubbish too.)

So really, you just have a problem with St Andrews (and possibly Hoylake), all the other links courses are fine. I actually agree, I'd slot St Andrews into about an 8-year rotation like the others. Don't see that as reason to lose the links criterion though.

Agreed Ned, an 8 or 9 year rotation would be fine and I think that would please everyone except Mac who'd probably like to see it there every year., would love to see a couple of new courses on the rota too.