As a staunch traditionalist brought up in the game where integrity, sportsmanship, and good manners were the norm, it is disheartening to watch the slow erosion of these values in the professional game today. There is so much noise out there now about LIV, money, temper tantrums, press interviews, personal lives, etc. One wonders how this decline happened in such a short time. Nowadays money and greed have certainly played a part in the dominance of professional golf over amateur golf, which was more popular in my father’s era.
It will be refreshing to get back to golf, as it should be, on a magnificent high dunes canvas created by Mother Nature for the staging of what is truly the people’s Open at Portrush. Of all the Open venues, it is arguably the most beautiful. The holes are beautifully framed. Either by the natural dunes or the bordering of the fairways and greens by the thick gorse bushes with their yellow wildflowers in early summer. Unlike many of the other classic Open venues, there are more elevated tees that grant players panoramic views over this extraordinary work of art, created in 1888 by the legendary Harry Colt.
I will never forget my first visit to Portrush as a 10-year-old, to watch my father win his third and last Amateur title in 1960. It was my father’s favourite course along with Portmarnock. I finished runner-up to local man Johnny Faith in the North of Ireland Championship in 1970 and fell in love with the course. It has that effect on players. Rory shooting 61 as a 16-year-old, Max Faulkner winning the Open in 1951, G-MAC and Darren growing up there and the Portrush native Fred Daly, Ireland’s first ever Open winner. They all loved playing at Portrush.
The Dunluce Links is probably the fairest of all the Open venues. It challenges you on every hole, dares you to be aggressive with classic high-risk, high-reward options. There is no forgiveness in those prickly gorse bushes or native links rough and mother nature awaits in the wings to deal with any arrogant first timers that play her on a benign calm day and wonder what all the fuss is about.
The atmosphere at Portrush is also unique. Like the Scottish venue St. Andrews and in England Lytham and Hoylake, they have their own personalities. Mainly driven by the people and surrounding communities. The warmth and welcome extended by the locals for the Open in 2019 was both memorable and extraordinary. It contributed to the speedy return of this great Championship to the Giants Causeway.
The Open is the ‘people’s’ Open and all credit to the R&A for keeping it that way. Unlike the Ryder Cup in the US this year at US$750 a ticket, the Open is affordable, accessible and has that beautiful spirit of the game of golf at its heart. The village at the open has the best of ‘fish & chips’, classic pubs, and its own ‘Bollinger’ tent. The level of applause at the Open is for the quality of the shots played from an educated audience that is there to see golf at its finest, not to hang out in an exclusive tent, get drunk and shout ‘get in the hole’ after every shot.
It is also a celebration of the North and South of Ireland getting together, as we saw when Shane Lowry won the last time here. It was a joyful sight to behold on that weekend when sport dominated politics, as it did in South Africa with the Rugby World Cup for Nelson Mandela.
It would be nice to see Mother Nature, slap them around, for at least one day to sort the men out from the boys. She certainly contributed to Shane’s win last time on the Sunday when he was truly his natural self, playing a magical array of shots under the wind and having only the elements to think about for the greatest occasion in his career to date.
My gut tells me it will be a ‘shot maker’ that will win at Portrush. In that class, Rory is number one. Shane has also been playing well but has run out of juice in the final rounds. If he comes here rested and can lie low for the week, he should do well. Fleetwood and McIntyre also tick lots of boxes for Portrush. McIntyre now realising he almost won a US Open has all the grit, links game and determination to win.
If it’s calm as it might be with the current weather forecast, Scottie will be the man to beat for sure. The way they play, I expect Aberg and Hovland to win a major soon. Maybe it’s a bit early for Portrush but with their level of talent, you never know.
On a final ‘out of the box’ note, Padraig Harrington still believes he can win a Major. Having seen Tom Watson almost win the Open in Turnberry at 60 and watching Padraig win the Seniors US Open recently, so do I. What a fairy tale Irish story that would be!
One way or another it will be a week to remember and the continuation of an outrageously successful Open on the Island of Ireland, which hopefully will lead to the historical step of getting the Open to Portmarnock sometime soon.
Roddy Carr
July 2025
Further Reading
