Northern Ireland has been given a massive opportunity. And it is embracing it
US golfing megastar Tom Watson is a legend of the links, with a higher early career success rate at the Open – five wins in nine years – than any player in history. And yet, he told Roger Anderson, author of a forthcoming history of Royal Portrush Golf Club, it took him “years to accept that with links golf there’s good and bad”: a game where your perfectly struck tee shot might mean a nightmare battle out of the rough.
The 148th Open at Portrush, which concludes today with amiable Irishman Shane Lowry in the lead after three rounds, has seen this unsparing spirit in action. Out of three favoured Northern Irish players in the field, local man Graeme McDowell was soaring after 14 holes on Day 1, then laid low by mishaps, kicking his golf bag in frustration after finding a lost ball 12 seconds after the permitted cut-off. Former Open victor and course record holder Rory McIlory went awry on his very first hole; not even an electric round the following day was enough for him to make the cut.
As consolation, McIlroy and McDowell might look at how the course and the adjoining town have endured their own reversals of fortunes.
Royal Portrush was a pioneering 19th century tournament venue, the only club outside Britain to host the Open (1950s). Portrush is a North Coast town cherished by generations of Northern Irish holidaymakers, with a permanent funfair, Barry’s, and nightclub complex, Kelly’s, which arguably played a part in ending sectarianism in its 1980s-90s heyday. But as the trend for European package holidays took over, the resort became tatty – “Blackpool with caravan parks” in the mind of former Lord Mayor of Belfast Mairtin O’Muilleoir .
Today, admiration for Royal Portrush’s new 7th and 8th holes by course designer Martin Ebert vies with delight at the sumptuous 19th hole hospitality. Kelly’s owner Peter Wilson has brought the famous Dunvegan Bar from St Andrews to Portrush. At the harbour, the Ramore family of restaurants upholds a philosophy of good food in an unpretentious setting – only one of the six venues takes bookings, so all-comers could bump into golfers Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Darren Clarke last Monday (“Everyone was accommodated – it’s been absolutely special” says co-founder Jayne McAlpin). While the golf club demonstrated its readiness for a Major by hosting progressively bigger tournaments, a series of ambitious food and leisure businesses, such as tapas bistro Ocho, have nudged Portrush in an upmarket direction; a process capped by a £17 million pre-Open makeover for the town’s urban environment.
The town is a good jumping off point for tourist sites from the Giant’s Causeway to Game of Thrones locations, and in Portrush and neighbouring Portstewart, there’s a wealth of niche cultural heritage that’s ripe for marketing – from the birthplace of 1947 Open winner Fred Daly to the home of Teddy Bears’ Picnic lyricist Jimmy Kennedy.
Tourism NI has estimated the Open will bring in £80 million, while a study by Sheffield Hallam University on Carnoustie after the 2018 Open suggests a figure of £120 million for direct impact plus advertising value equivalent (AVE). The benefits for Portrush might be higher since the tournament was a sell-out (the fastest ever). Traders are highly attuned to the increasing presence of American golf tourists drawn to play Royal Portrush and other North Coast courses, and some have displayed new product ranges and started accepting American Express. It’s been a bonanza for Airbnb and rentals; Kevin Wall of Portrush’s largest lettings agency Causeway Coast Rentals says he’s been renting homes at a rate of around £1000 per bedroom for a week or 9 days and one house for £20,000 for two weeks, based on prices charged during a St Andrews Open. Traders speak almost as one about the need for more luxury hotels, and several are planned or underway.
Not everyone is happy. Small retailers worry about their takings as clogged roads and parking restrictions stop day-trippers coming in. One recalls waiting until the Wednesday afternoon, in the week of the 2012 Irish Open at Portrush, to make his first sale, and raises concerns that the council isn’t spending on deserving causes on the grounds that the money has all gone on Open preparations. Some feel golf isn’t in sympathy with other activities in the area – and green fees for Portrush now top £200, although there is a range of local courses working to different price points.
Then there are questions around the touted economic benefits – when Sheffield Hallam found 62% of Carnoustie visitors intended to return within a year, did anyone follow up? There’s a desire to spread the tourist dollars around. Derry/Londonderry might have had its hotels almost full this week, but it struggles with limited infrastructure to get the number of overnight visitors it might the rest of the time. SDLP politician Justin McNulty has lamented such energy being put into winning events like the Open without a joined up tourism strategy. Mairaid McMahon of the Northern Ireland Federation of Small Businesses calls for government policy to help sustain the visitor boom, by reforming licensing laws, enhancing rates relief and improving access to broadband.
The Open’s return to Portrush is seen as a fairy tale for Northern Ireland, and a moment beyond politics. Roger Anderson calls it “an unbelievable statement of how far we’ve come”. Ex-Belfast Telegraph Sports Editor Steven Beacom says that “[before] I don’t believe we were ready for it and I imagine most people would agree…. Now people here are revelling in the opportunity to show what we are all about”. Locals and journalists alike testify to visitors’ good feelings and far-surpassed expectations.
But in the unsparing spirit of links golf, we should consider another perspective – the boring, frustrating reality of events planning that, despite the talent of Northern Ireland’s golfers, it has taken so long since the end of the Troubles for this tournament to come about – and the irony that it has taken place when huge challenges and unknowns once again hang over Northern Ireland.
The cultural gulf between Northern Ireland and Southern England is wide, as seen in the controversy around Stella Creasy and Conor McGinn MPs’ intervention to change Northern Ireland’s abortion law, or in the louder outrage at Alabama’s abortion ban in May than the comparable ban closer to home. “Normalisation” of Northern Irish politics remains distant, despite the relaunch of Northern Ireland Conservatives and organising by Labour in Northern Ireland. Leave aside the £80 or £120 million benefits of the Open – the absence of a power-sharing Executive will, the CBI calculates, have cost the Province almost £1 billion if it’s not restored by the end of the year. Day-to-day governance has particularly suffered in the 30 months without a Stormont administration because Northern Irish local authorities have fewer powers than their British equivalents. Issues such as the relative weakness of environmental protections in Northern Ireland get fleeting UK media and political attention. Meanwhile the Irish backstop and the status of the Border have dominated Brexit discussion at Westminster in ways revealing of a lack of sensitivity towards both Remainer and Leaver Northern Irish opinion, which fears the return of a hard border.
As we thrill to the Open, those seeking to govern the UK need to decide whether they are serious and passionate about Northern Ireland or not, and where that position takes them. For the rest of us in Britain, perhaps the most helpful thing we can do after the tournament is – noting that external visitors going for a holiday lag slightly the numbers visiting friends and family – to take an interest in Northern Ireland and go and spend our money there, alongside the international high-rollers. Whether our bag is 18 holes, or watering holes, we can help make places like Portrush less exposed to the twists of fortune next time around.
