The Open is to return to Northern Ireland for the first time in nearly 70 years, after it was officially announced by the R&A that Royal Portrush will stage the 148th renewal of the championship from July 18-21, 2019.
The Open, which was played at Royal Portrush in 1951, when Englishman Max Faulkner lifted the Claret Jug, is expected to be the biggest sporting event ever held in Northern Ireland.
Peter Unsworth, chairman of The R&A’s Championship Committee, said: “We are very much looking forward to bringing The Open to Royal Portrush in 2019, and believe it will be a tremendous venue for the championship. We know there is great anticipation throughout Ireland at the prospect of welcoming the world’s top golfers and it promises to be a hugely memorable week. We are delighted with the progress being made on the course preparations, and they will undoubtedly enhance the challenge presented by these historic links.”
Darren Clarke, who has backed Portrush’s bid to host the Open from the outset, said: “This is going to be absolutely huge for Northern Ireland and, indeed, Ireland as a whole. To have the world’s biggest and best golf championship played at such a fantastic venue as Royal Portrush, with all the passion that the Irish fans will bring to the event, is going to be amazing.”
Rory McIlroy added, “Royal Portrush is one of my favourite courses in the world. I think it will be a fantastic Open venue. I understand they are going to add a couple of new holes, which will make the course even stronger, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Course preparations and the work to create the two new holes on the Dunluce Links are are already underway. The new 7th and 8th holes will use land from the adjacent Valley Course to develop a new par 5, playing down into the valley and encompassing that course’s 6th hole, and then a par 4, playing back over its 5th hole, into some beautiful duneland. The new holes will replace the current 17th and 18th holes on the Dunluce Links, freeing up that land to be used to accommodate the spectator village and championship infrastructure.
As well as creating two new holes, a series of other changes are being made to the course to enhance the challenge that will face the world’s top golfers, while remaining true to the ethos of Harry Colt’s original design. The overall length of the course will increase by just under 200 yards to 7,337 yards, and the number of bunkers will be increased by three to 62, still leaving Royal Portrush with the fewest bunkers of any of the courses which host The Open.
The work on the Dunluce Links is due to be complete by the middle of 2016, with the two new holes being given time to grow-in ahead of the following season.