The Critics Have Spoken: Royal Portrush Deserves An Open Championship ASAP
/James Donaldson broke through to win his first European Tour event but was overshadowed by the stunning success of Royal Portrush and the supportive galleries.
James Corrigan in the Telegraph:
The Royal & Ancient observers can’t have failed to have been impressed by the numbers, commitment and course. Let us pray this wonderful venue soon appears on the Open roster. It deserves it; Portrush deserves it.
BBC's Mark Simpson was a bit more skeptical, though he noted the biggest questions had been answered:
But transport links coped remarkably well with the golf fan invasion, despite frequent cloud bursts.
So has Royal Portrush done enough to clinch the British Open? Too early to say.
More questions need to be answered about the course's ability to cope with the biggest tournament in European golf.
Alistair Tait was more definitive in his assessment:
This felt like an Open Championship. The event ran without a hitch, and was a fantastic test run for a future Open.
The first available slot for the game’s oldest tournament is 2017. The R&A should seriously consider Royal Portrush again. The course deserves it, the fans will support it and it would be a fantastic Open venue.
Brandon Tucker also declared it a victory for those hoping to see the Open Championship return to Northern Ireland for the first time since 1951, but he leaves the last word to winner Donaldson.
"I don't think we've ever played a better golf course on the European Tour," said Donaldson. "It's that good. The course is incredible. The crowds are unbelievable."
The European Tour website has a nice Getty image gallery from the week, including a few nice scene shots capturing the huge crowds like the one embedded above.
**Dermot Gilleese with all sorts of interesting behind the scenes info on what plays into Portrush hosting an event and getting an Open.
While the tournament was still taking competitive shape, that objective had already been richly realised. It was achieved through the extraordinary enthusiasm of spectators who clearly adopted Kenny McDowell's philosophical attitude towards often cruel conditions. Having come to honour their golfing heroes in an event they had waited years to stage, they weren't about to let wind and rain deflect them from relishing every moment.
And their enthusiasm spilled over the fairway ropes. "I've been very pleasantly surprised at the warmth of the crowd, given that I'm in Graeme's back yard," said Pádraig Harrington. "By turning out in such numbers, they have ensured that the Irish Open will be classified in future by the players and public as very definitely an 'A' event."
All of which came at a considerable cost to the host club. "We've been closed totally for three weeks," said secretary/manager Wilma Erskine. "And we didn't take any new visitor bookings since last January. Then there are lost sales in the pro shop and a drop in the bar and catering, all of which would come to around £200,000.
"But I believe it's money well spent. In fact, it's fantastic value when you consider the television exposure, especially in America, which is why we wanted the tournament in the first place. In the meantime, the guaranteed success of the event through advance ticket sales has already brought increased business for the next six months, which are fully booked.
"And we should continue to benefit from the Irish Open factor over the next few years when we would expect our world ranking to go up as a much sought-after venue."
Against the background of Irish Open costs, one imagined possible concern at the sort of outlay involved in bringing the Open Championship back to Portrush. "In that event, the Royal and Ancient would carry the financial can for everything," she replied.
**In Golf World Monday, John Huggan suspects the low scoring may give the R&A reason to pause.
