Will Royal County Down ever host the Open Championship?
Will Royal County Down ever host the Open Championship?
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Royal County Down Ranks As the Best Course Outside the USA.
Royal County Down is one of my favorite courses of all time. And ranks as the best golf course outside the USA. Being a true links golf course gives the golfer an honest and true test of their golfing abilities. You have to have your A-game to play well here.
Top Irish Professionals like Rory McIlroy, Graham Mc Dowell, Padraig Harrington, and Darren Clark, all Major Champions, make a strong case for bringing top-class golf to true links-style courses. I think it is only a matter of time before such a great course hosts either the Open Championship or, at the very least, a WGC event. I, for one, look forward to that day!
Below, Ewan Murray writing for guardian.com gives us his take on the future of Irish golf on the world stage.
Will Royal County Down ever host the Open Championship?
Two anomalies have long existed in the upper echelons of golf. Firstly, the United States holds four of the “world” golf championships – placed just under majors in apparent significance. It is also curious that links golf, such a fundamental part of the sport and a skill surely necessary for any top player to master, is such a rarity.
The Irish Open.
Both issues seemed pertinent at last week’s Irish Open. The event was kickstarted, rocket-fueled even, by the involvement of Rory McIlroy. This tournament felt like an Open Championship in so many ways. It appealed to some of the best players in the world. With 107,000 people taking the time to come and watch at the wonderful venue of Royal County Down. As a television spectacle, despite the horrible weather that has cursed the Irish Open, the backdrop seemed well-nigh impossible to beat.
Major Players Attract Major Players.
It wasn’t only golfers who bought into the concept: Van Morrison played in front of just 150 people on behalf of McIlroy’s charity with the telecoms and media tycoon Denis O’Brien, reportedly worth £3.85bn, part of the audience. Major players attracted major players.
Now, it has to be pointed out that a terrific Irish Open attendance figure is not novel. The broad support for this event routinely gains envious glances from elsewhere in Europe and the United States. But what do the public receive for that backing? Until McIlroy and Dubai Duty Free stepped forward, this was a tournament minus a sponsor and, essentially, direction. With joined-up thinking and a strong PR campaign, the narrative changed entirely.
If golf were properly alive to vibrant, knowledgeable markets, this scenario would strike a chord.
The PGA Tour hosts three WGC events, the Cadillac Championship, Cadillac Match Play Championship and Bridgestone Invitational. The European Tour co-sanctions the competitions and has staff on site at all three but to all intents and purposes they give the impression of added stops on the PGA Tour. For the US, three majors and three WGC competitions isn’t too bad at all. Or even remotely proportionate.
The final WGC event of the year takes place in China in November, which is fair enough. There is a desire to grow golf there; the tournament itself has progressed massively from the early days when Tiger Woods alone would be recognised by the wider public.
Move the European Flagship Event to Ireland?
But where does Europe come in? Why couldn’t Ireland be afforded the respect it deserves for packed galleries and top-class golf courses, by being granted the hosting of such a tournament? Far from an act of benevolence, this would seem basic common sense.
To read the conclusion of this article, click here.
Source: Ewan Murray http://www.theguardian.com/ Mel Sole Golf School
Pictures: Charles McQuillan/R&A/R&A via Getty Images Patrick Drickey
Thanks for reading - Will Royal County Down ever host the Open Championship? I hope you agree with me on this subject!
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