The 42 reports from Royal Portrush

THE PROSPECT OF the Open Championship coming to the Republic of Ireland remains a live possibility, with organisers the R&A saying they are “optimistic” that a future tournament will be held at Portmarnock in Dublin. 

Speaking to the media at Royal Portrush today, R&A CEO Mark Darbon said they are “knee deep” in a feasibility study with a view to holding the event at Portmarnock, and expects further clarity later this year. 

“We are thinking about Portmarnock,” said Darbon.

“We think it’s a wonderful links golf course and we’ve been really encouraged by the support that we’ve had in principle from the Irish government to work with us to understand whether we could stage an Open Championship there in the future.

We’re knee-deep in feasibility work to help us answer that question fully. We expect to have a clearer picture by the back end of this year.

An Open in Portmarnock would mark the first time the historic championship would be held outside of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in its 153-year history. 

Elsewhere, Darbon dodged questions seeking to confirm that the R&A are refusing to hold the Open at Donald Trump-owned Turnberry while the US president remains in office.

Turnberry last hosted the Open in 2009, and Darbon’s predecessor, Martin Slumbers, said in the wake of the 6 January insurrection the R&A had no intention of adding Turnberry to the Open rota anytime soon.

This announcement followed shortly after the PGA of America stripped Trump Bedminster of hosting rights to the 2022 PGA Championship. 

Darbon stressed that Turnberry does not meet certain logistical and infrastructure criteria, though he has met with Eric Trump to address them. 

“I think we’ve been extremely clear on our position in respect of Turnberry”, said Darbon. “We love the golf course but we’ve got some big logistical challenges there. You see the scale of their setup here and we’ve got some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure around Turnberry.

“We’ve explicitly not taken it out of our pool of venues but we’d need to address those logistical challenges should we return.” 

Later asked whether Trump’s ownership of Turnberry was an issue for the R&A, Darbon replied, “It’s a somewhat hypothetical question in that unless we address the logistical challenges, it’s difficult for us to go back.

“I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation and from Turnberry. We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we’re coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have so we’ve got a good dialogue with them.”

Meanwhile, Darbon confirmed that tee times on Saturday will be moved approximately 15 minutes earlier to allow for a planned march by the Portrush Sons of Ulster. The parade is due to start at 8.30pm on Saturday night, with more than 70 bands and about 2,000 people set to be involved in the march.

“We’re making a slight tweak to tee times to try and finish – it’s not dramatic”, said Darbon. “It’ll be 15 minutes or so earlier. At the same time, this is an outdoor sport. The weather can play a big role. It’s very difficult to be precise on finishing times. But we’re looking at some marginal adjustments.” 

The R&A reportedly offered the organisers £20,000 to change the date of their march to avoid a clash with the Open, but the offer was rejected. Darbon did not comment on this offer but did confirm the R&A are contributing “some incremental costs” to the march, to ensure “the seamless operation of both events.”

“We try and be good citizens in the communities in which we operate when we come to town”, said Darbon. 

Written by Gavin Cooney and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.