venues for the british open

[cullyhanna]

why on earth is royal county down not a venue for the open? same goes for royal portrush. they are 2 of the best courses in britain, and indeed the world. the main excuse i hear is that those 2 venues can't cope with the large crowds. royal lytham and st anne's is a very tight venue, and yet is on the open rota.

hotel facilities for competitors and spectators isn't an issue anymore, with the large amount of new hotels around belfast solving that problem. also, i'm sure the traffic problems mentioned would be no different to those around st. andrews, or any other open venue for that matter.

the 2 best courses in britain can't be ignored for the open much longer.

 

[Dodger]

You have answered your own question.

Great courses aye but no way could they handle The Open...have you tried driving Belfast to Newcastle on a good day even?Nightmare.

 

[cullyhanna]

You have answered your own question.

Great courses aye but no way could they handle The Open...have you tried driving Belfast to Newcastle on a good day even?Nightmare.

name me a big sporting event that doesn't experience traffic problems? i doubt there are any with quick getaways. look at silverstone for the f1 grand prix. it's like mexico city on a bad day, yet traffic issues don't get in the way of it hosting a big event.

i have never attended an open, but can you tell me why these 2 irish venues are so different to other small town venues that host the open. surely the current open venues all have their own problems when it comes to hosting an open. it seems to be more of a political issue rather than anything else which is preventing these 2 venues being considered for the open rota.

 

[brendy]

As far as Newcastle is concerned, it is purely accomodation I would say, plenty of B&Bs but not many 3,4&5 star hotels nearby. The guts of 40 miles is too far to travel for an endless supply of hotels.
Royal Lythem & St Annes is a tight course but the facilities around it are plenty, Blackpool down to Liverpool.

 

[19th]

I remember having to compile a video presentation many years ago so that my ability/inabilty could be discussed and my presentation was....The tail wagging the dog!

At that time ST ANDREWS was being considered as no longer suitable for the Open due to the commercial need for car parking/tented village space and available accommodation!!!

This presentation was easy for me and I can say that at no time did I feel under any pressure, such was my feeling for the subject matter.

It is indeed sad that the 'tail does indeed wag the dog' to favour some venues over other, possibly, better ones.

 

[Pro_V_wan_kenobi]

I have played both courses and loved them both. Your argument is a good one if you mean, why dont they play the open in N Ireland certainly the courses are good enough and there is stacks of accomodation along the Antrim coast. if you mean that the courses should be the venue because of their merit I would have to answer. Cruden Bay, Royal Aberdeen,Royal Dornoch, Western Gailes, Ganton, Formby, La Moye (Jersey), Machrihanish, Murcar, Pennard, Nefyn & District. They all deserve it.

 

[Dodger]

Murcar??!! Do me a favour!

 

[thecraw]

I believe that the R&A are actively looking to expand their Open rota. I still believe Donald Trump will build a course with the ability of staging the Open Championship.

 

[JT77]

Maybe they are not looking at Northern Ireland as it is not on the British mainland. Also..
I agree the courses are good enough to host it, but things like public transport in NI is nowhere near as available as it is in mainland Britain, the hotels around Portrush are ok, but I am not sure they would cope with the open, and I am not sure that caravans are everyones cup of tea.
Prehaps if the R&A were to expand the open selection and give Portrush, RCD a chance it would work. But personnally I think that it would need an overhall of the public transport system, and some major redevelopment of the said areas but I dont think the local community or councils would be happy to pay for the redevelopment to host a major every say 10 years or even once!

 

[Snelly]

Saunton is a course that often crops up when this question is asked and I agree with this suggestion. Wonderful course..

Tricky to get to though.

RCD should be on the Open rota too.

Edited to add - Hillside. Best back 9 in the UK in my view. It would be a really good Open venue but it gets overshadowed by it's neighbours. I have played most of them and rate Hillside on a par with Royal Birkdale and marginally better than Formby, S&A, Lytham and Royal Liverpool.

Just my opinion of course although that said, Greg Norman opined that the back 9 at Hillside was the best collection of 9 links holes together anywhere in the world....

 

[HRC99]

I have played both courses and loved them both. Your argument is a good one if you mean, why dont they play the open in N Ireland certainly the courses are good enough and there is stacks of accomodation along the Antrim coast. if you mean that the courses should be the venue because of their merit I would have to answer. Cruden Bay, Royal Aberdeen,Royal Dornoch, Western Gailes, Ganton, Formby, La Moye (Jersey), Machrihanish, Murcar, Pennard, Nefyn & District. They all deserve it.

Nefyn? Nice course. Open venue? Do me a favour.

Ganton. Great course. Slight problem. It's not a links course.

 

[cullyhanna]

howcome the north west of n.ireland can host a huge event like the northwest 200 (a motorbike racing festival), and accomodate competitors and a huge volume of spectators, yet royal portrush (which is in the same area) isn't deemed to have the adequate facilities? the north west 200 is a huge event that can be compared favourably with an open. it attracts a vast amount of overseas spectators. surely there can be no doubt that n.ireland can host the open if we can host an event like the nw200.