Portrush was a hit, so now let’s take the Open to Wales

ALL The reasons for not taking the Open to Royal Portrush are now similarly advanced for keeping it away from Royal Porthcawl.

The roads are too small, the infrastructure is inadequate, there is not enough room for the crowds, there is not enough space for the hospitality.

And yet when the success of Irish golfers — particularly those from the north — made the clamour to return to Portrush irresistible, a way was found to make it work.

Not only did Northern Ireland host a great Open, it found room for 237,750 spectators — the most that have attended outside St Andrews.

For the first time in history, every ticket was snapped up in advance. The Irish public responded magnificently to this opportunity and the Open will surely come again — and soon.

The promise was that, if this worked, Portrush would get two more Opens across the next 30 years. Now there is talk of bringing it back as soon as 2024. Royal St George’s in Sandwich will host next year, the 150th Open will be staged at St Andrews, naturally, in 2021, with Royal Liverpool already named for 2022.

Muirfield’s reward for finally recognising that half the planet exists is likely to be the Open in 2023, leaving Portrush as the favourite for 2024, with Royal Lytham out of favour.

So what about Wales? Not in 2024, but soon. how can it be that one of the four countries comprising the United Kingdom has never held the Open — with the last R&A statement, made in 2015 after Porthcawl had successfully hosted a Senior Open, announcing it had ‘no intention’ of considering a Welsh addition to the roster.

Those who know Porthcawl — 30 miles west of Cardiff, 20 miles east of Swansea — say it is the equal of any links in Britain. It was Tom Watson’s enthusiasm for the place that forced the R&A into their dismissive statement.

‘There is not a weak hole,’ he said. ‘It would make a great Open Championship course. I fell in love the moment I saw it. It’s just one great hole after another, all you want on a golf course.’

Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer have echoed that endorsement.

Yet Wales has never produced an Open champion — Ian Woosnam’s 1991 US Masters victory is the only major win by a Welshman — meaning the R&A is not under pressure to reward the country, as it was Northern Ireland once Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke came to the fore. Should Wales have to wait for three Woosnams before being acknowledged?

And is the reason Wales has, by comparison, underachieved in golf that the R&A treats the region as inconsequential?

It is a great pity. The Welsh public turned out in force for the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in 2010 and events in Portrush showed what can be achieved with a little will, and how new territory can be captured and captivated by an occasion.

Porthcawl has more going for it than mere geography, too. It would be a unique Open venue — one from which the sea can be seen on all 18 holes — and free of complications that affect many of the traditional courses. Muirfield

will get a pat on the head for changing its attitude, but the women’s section at Porthcawl is of such importance that its rooms enjoy the prime location in the clubhouse.

There is relevant history, too: Tiger Woods played it, and lost, to Gary Wolstenholme in the 1995 Walker Cup at the age of 19. And at 7,200 yards, it has moved with the times.

It was only circumstance that denied Porthcawl its place on the roster anyway. The R&A Championship Committee was previously keen to add it to their list and, to facilitate this, alterations to the course began in 1933. No sooner had the redesign bedded in when the Second World War broke out and by the time it was over, Porthcawl’s opportunity was gone.

Yet the most arresting argument to revisit its potential as a future Open venue — for making it happen to become a priority — came when this year’s champion, Shane Lowry, was contemplating what it meant to have an Irish winner of an Open in Ireland.

‘I think people watched golf today who have never watched golf before,’ he said.

Every sports administrator talks of growing the game. So how can the R&A continue this exclusion? If what Porthcawl needs is another Woosnam, where will inspiration come from if the only visitors are amateurs and old men?