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Wilma Erskine gazed around Royal Portrush as Shane Lowry, who grew up across the border in the Republic of Ireland, hoisted the claret jug at the first Open Championship played in Northern Ireland in 68 years. The 2019 Open trophy presentation capped an emotional and cathartic week—a symbolic bridge between two formerly besieged nations. There weren’t many dry eyes on the property.
Erskine, the club’s then-secretary of 35 years—who many credit with bringing the Open to Portrush—was waiting for a defining moment. Some visual cue from the universe to signify the accomplishment that Portrush, after decades of political turmoil on the island of Ireland before a peace in 1998, had enticed the R&A back to this part of the world.
“I was waiting for an epiphany, something like, Gosh, is that really what we achieved? But I was back at work at 7 a.m. the next morning,” Erksine laughed, talking to Golf Digest in her thick Northern Irish accent.
It never came because, truth be told, the 2019 Open was only the beginning. The first edition of a three-Open agreement, announced in 2015, officially placed Portrush back on the rota and it returns for the second playing of that deal this week. There was work to do, not just by Erskine but an industry, and the Emerald Isle. The real impact of Portrush on all of Ireland was almost subterranean.
Aside from the 2019 Open’s €100 million injection to the Northern Ireland economy, the impacts have been far reaching and almost overwhelmingly positive. Granted, some reactions have been difficult, such as visitor green fees at the top on the island more than doubling since before the Open. There’s also a scarcity of tee times. But speaking to several golf industry leaders, it’s clear the countries have undergone a complete tourism overhaul.
Perhaps the most significant change has been a generational surge in social morale after a 30-year period of violent conflict known as “The Troubles.” Steve Martin, a native of Belfast in the era of strife, is a lifelong Portrush member and an award-winning titan of the sports marketing industry. He counts Rory McIlroy and his father, Gerry, as friends. Having founded sports marketing agency, M&C Saatchi, and now his new firm, MSQ Sport + Entertainment, he is uniquely qualified to talk about the Open’s impact on the country.
“It’s given a confidence to the country that didn’t exist during The Troubles,” Martin told Golf Digest. “In the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, when I told people I grew up from Belfast, they’d [be shocked] and say, ‘Oh, wow’. Coming from a place with a very rocky political history, it was horrendous. Now, I tell people I’m from Northern Ireland and I’m a member of Royal Portrush and I feel incredibly privileged at how people light up.”
Steve Martin and Rory McIlroy played together in the pro-am of the 2017 British Masters. Andrew Redington
That excitement isn’t just felt by the locals. There is an almost insatiable wanderlust from international golfers to play in Ireland on both sides of the border, and the influx has transformed the golf industry and tourism sector. The demand for tee times, predominantly from well-heeled American visitors, has more than doubled visitor rates at many top courses. In 2018, it cost about $265 for visitors to play Royal County Down in Northern Ireland, Golf Digest’s current No. 1-ranked course in the world outside of the U.S. Further south, it was $240 to $260 for visitors to play famous tracks such as Ballybunion, Waterville and Portmarnock Golf Club. Six years later, County Down’s peak rate is nearly $500, while Ballybunion and Waterville are $450 to $475.
It must be noted that many courses in Ireland/Northern Ireland do have a good price for locals through a Golf Ireland rate for members of clubs. But there are fewer tee times; many top courses allow visitors in one half of the day and locals in the other. “The golf business has gone through the roof and obviously the disadvantages are it’s very difficult to get tee times because many are sold within a day of whenever they’re announced,” Erskine says.
Frank Casey Jr. and his family own and operate the wildly popular Rosapenna Resort in Donegal. Only 90 minutes from Portrush, Rosapenna has 54 holes: an Old Tom Morris-designed links, as well as the Sandy Hills layout and the acclaimed Tom Doak creation, St. Patrick’s Links, which opened in 2021. Casey believes the surge in visitor green fees has less to do with the Open and far more to do with the costs of delivering golf to consumers.
“People forget the enormous supply chain issues we’ve had as a golf industry post-COVID-19,” Casey, an accomplished amateur in his prime and a member of Portrush for nearly 20 years, said. “The green fees really aren’t a case of clubs cashing in on the Ireland boom, it’s more the machinery costs that have gone up enormously. Before COVID I would’ve bought a mower for our fairways for €55,000 ($63,700), but today that same machine costs €100,000 ($115,900). Updating machinery is also an annual cost.”
Martin, who is based in London, but has lived in Australia and played many of the world’s top 100 courses, says Irish golf’s upper echelon was likely too cheap relative to the U.S., U.K., Europe and even Australia and New Zealand.
“I don’t really accept that green fee argument; markets will dictate themselves and you’ll soon find out if green fees are too high based on a decline in visitors,” Martin said. “For too long there’s been a sort of insecurity around the courses in Ireland to open up and charge what they should. I was quoted $A750 ($485) for Royal Melbourne [in Australia] recently for international visitors recently and they can justify because the West Course is one of the finest courses in history.
Martin noted how pricey Pebble Beach is, now charging $675 to walk for resort guests who can book times month in advance. (Those who want to walk on have 24 hours.)
“It’s about value, not cost. The competition for top-tier golf around the British Isles is extraordinary,” Martin said. “While there’s a small sample seeing increased visitor fees, the grassroots of the game are in great health because it’s incredibly accessible and cheap to play. There are two dynamics at play.”
In any case, the economic injection to the island is extraordinary. The tourism bodies of Ireland and Northern Ireland estimate that for every €1 or £1 spent by regular tourists, visiting golfers spend approximately three to four times that.
Frank Casey Jr. (seated) and his brother, John Casey, and their family run the Rosapenna Resort.
Erskine, Casey and Martin have all witnessed the industry-wide benefits on the ground. Erskine is now an ambassador for Dunluce Lodge at Portrush, a five-star accommodation near the fourth hole at Royal Portrush with a nine-acre property purchased by golf-loving U.S. owners from Dallas. Dunluce Lodge has 35 suites with a spa.
“If you had said 20 years ago that a five-star property would come to Portrush, people would have asked, ‘Who’s brave enough to put that money in?’” Erskine says. “All the tourism reports over the past 40 years indicated the north coast of Northern Ireland [could not support] a five-star property. It couldn’t have happened without the Open.”
Rosapenna is perennially busy but has the benefit of being open seven days and having no members. Casey said after fielding enquiries for tee times around the 153rd Open “for the past two years,” Rosapenna will enjoy a 75- percent increase in volume of green fee visitors on all three courses from July 12 to 22.
“We didn’t get the 2019 Open boom because the following summer, COVID had already stopped travel,” Casey said. “I would say the overall golf boom, particularly this 10-day Open surge, has allowed us to invest with confidence in our own product.
“Because we knew the Open was coming [in 2019 and 2025] we were able to spend on everything from advertising, to staff, maintenance, we refurbished the hotel and reception, built eight new rooms in 2023. We’ve put money back into our own staffing levels. We’re seasonal, open from April 1 until the end of October. It’s created jobs, there’s money being spent in Downings, the local town. This has all been beyond our wildest dreams as a success story. The morale is really high in Ulster now.”
With Royal Portrush cementing its status on the Open rota and growing speculation that Portmarnock GC in Dublin will eventually host the first-ever links major held outside the U.K., Martin believes the best is yet to come.
“Golf on the island of Ireland is such an authentic part of what Ireland is all about and has been for decades, but it was held back for 30 years because of what was happening politically,” Martin said. “There was a global apprehension about coming to play golf in Ireland. Because there were three Opens promised, Portrush wasn’t just a flash in the pan. “[2019] was enormously successful, but I think this will be one of the biggest Opens of all time, socially and commercially, and I don’t say that lightly.
“What that means is you can plan for the future. We’ve already seen a renaissance of a tiny old seaside town which now has Dunluce House and several great hotels, bars and restaurants.”
That said, what will the Open’s legacy be in the country? “That golf was the Trojan horse to change the perception of Northern Ireland,” Martin said.
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