Portmarnock Golf Club members to vote on proposed course changes for The Open

Portmarnock Golf Club will take another step to potentially hosting The Open Championship when its 600 ordinary members vote on proposed changes to the club’s Championship links today.

The club confirmed in a statement that a special general meeting will be held (online and in person) to vote on approving proposed modifications to the course by architects Mackenzie & Ebert.

“A meeting of Portmarnock Golf Club members is set for Wednesday, April 30th, to review and vote on proposed changes to the Championship course in the event that major R&A championships are to be held at the venue in the future,” the club said.

The architects are understood to have proposed several modifications to the links rather than wholesale changes.

These include changing the current 411-yard, par-four second hole to a par-three for an Open Championship or AIG Women’s Open.

This would improve the flow of play from the first green to a new second tee.

There are also modifications proposed for the fifth hole, where the green can come into play for players taking a direct line at the green when playing the right to left curving, 398-yard third hole.

The 472-yard 17th would likely be the 18th hole for an Open Championship, given the space available for grandstands.

The demanding, 452-yard 18th would then become the first hole if the R&A decided to stage the game’s oldest major outside the United Kingdom for the first time.

It’s understood that a simple majority in favour of the course changes would be all that would be required to take a significant step towards bringing major championship golf to the capital.

The R&A insists that no dates have yet been proposed for either the men’s or women’s Opens as they work with the club on a feasibility study regarding the significant infrastructure required to bring events of this magnitude to a club situated on a peninsula.

Last October, Portmarnock Golf Club and the R&A welcomed an announcement by the Irish government, which said it would support the hosting of The Open and the AIG Women’s Open at the north Dublin links to the tune of up to €40 million.

“Portmarnock welcomes the government's announcement of its decision to agree to support the hosting of The Open and the AIG Women's Open at Portmarnock Golf Club, subject to certain conditions being met,” the club said last year.

“This is a significant step on the journey to hosting these events at Portmarnock and while there remain further infrastructural issues to be overcome, this is a major boost to the potential success of the project.”

Government support is essential to the project, as the R&A’s new Chief executive, Mark Darbon, explained last week at Royal Portrush, which hosts the 153rd Open this July.

“We’re in the midst of a planning process right now and that is focused on a detailed feasibility study to get under the skin of whether when and how we can stage an Open Championship here (Portmarnock)," Mr Darbon said.

"We’re really optimistic about that prospect. We’re working closely with the local authority [Fingal County Council] and the government to support us in undertaking that feasibility work.

"We’re not quite there yet, but it’s a process that is gathering some pace, and we are optimistic about the future."

The R&A relies heavily on income generated by The Open to fund its governance of the game outside the USA and Mexico and initiatives aimed at increasing participation in the sport.

Royal Portrush has proved a significant success in that regard, and a record 278,000 fans - the biggest attendance at an Open held outside St Andrew- are expected at the Dunluce links from July 17-20.

Rory McIlroy’s thrilling Masters victory has led to huge anticipation and there were 1.1 million applications for tickets in the ballot.

The Irish government said last October that staging an AIG Women’s Open and an Open Championship at Portmarnock “could result in a cumulative gross economic impact of €338 million.”

While there has been speculation that the Women’s Open could be staged as soon as 2028 and the Open in 2033 or 2034, the R&A has not officially proposed any dates.

The 153rd Open is expected to generate more than €250million in total economic benefit according to an independent forecast by the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University.

It estimates that the economic impact resulting from The 153rd Open will be €74 million, while the destination marketing benefit for Northern Ireland derived from coverage produced via linear television and digital platforms will exceed €187m.