The 148th Open at Royal Portrush

FixdePitchmark · 23-07-2019 10:15AM

So by the sounds . everyone would go again ?

A bit mad i didnt go myself, combination of work , leave , wanted to be near course and that looked unrealistic when I looked.

one of the lads here camped. Dont know how that went in that rain ?

looks like a massive success. Could become the Glastonbury of golf for Southerners.

blackwhite · 23-07-2019 10:17AM

Seve OB wrote: »

jaysus, I must have had my eyes closed passing that. I was in the HSBC one alright. possible that wasn't there on Tuesday?

Doubt it - they had an upstairs area that they were closing off for various events and this one was Weds - so guessing it was there on Tuesday also.

BobbyBobberson · 23-07-2019 10:20AM

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

So by the sounds . everyone would go again ?

A bit mad i didnt go myself, combination of work , leave , wanted to be near course and that looked unrealistic when I looked.

one of the lads here camped. Dont know how that went in that rain ?

looks like a massive success. Could become the Glastonbury of golf for Southerners.

It was brilliant, weather really helped too and it can be hit or miss on the north coast for weather. The only two recommendations I would have is to sort out the exit system and have longer serving hours after the final game. Serving ended 30 mins after, perhaps bring it to an hour or so.

Makes hanging around after a bit easier and would stagger the crowd leaving as opposed to what happened Sunday. Counter argument is no one would leave I suppose :pac:

The Tetrarch · 23-07-2019 10:21AM

blackwhite wrote: »

Mastercard tent was decent for the freebies (anyone with a Mastercard could get in).

Now you tell me. :mad: :pac:

I forgot to say you got a 10% discount on scampi and chips (or whatever food you bought) if you paid by Mastercard.

DuckSlice · 23-07-2019 10:22AM

blackwhite wrote: »

In the tented village between 18th Grandstands and the practice range - next door to the Loch Lomond whisky tent.

All freebies. They had a VR putting game that they handed out balls for playing, and then a 3 part Mastercard tech demo showing new innovations they have developed with more balls being handed out for each demo, and a hat each for sitting through all 3 (took approx 10 min in total).

The hats seems to be Sunday morning only, as they weren't there on Saturday.

was meant to be going on the Saturday but couldn't go in the end, my plan was to go into all these tents as I just wanted to watch the golf on Friday. Didn't think there would be that many freebies though

were they good balls or warbirds?

blackwhite · 23-07-2019 10:23AM

etxp wrote: »

was meant to be going on the Saturday but couldn't go in the end, my plan was to go into all these tents as I just wanted to watch the golf on Friday. Didn't think there would be that many freebies though were they good balls or warbirds?

Warbirds - but for a souvenir, or handy gift for kids, they do the job

kopkidda · 23-07-2019 10:25AM

A roaring success, was up there on the friday, stayed in belfast two nights, some buzz around the place.

Great to say I was there when an Irish man won the Open on home soil!!

BobbyBobberson · 23-07-2019 10:27AM

kopkidda wrote: »

A roaring success, was up there on the friday, stayed in belfast two nights, some buzz around the place.

Great to say I was there when an Irish man won the Open on home soil!!

How did you get over and back from Belfast if you dont mind me asking? Was wondering was the trains were like etc.

The Tetrarch · 23-07-2019 10:30AM

I stayed in Dundalk and drove up and back each day, about two hours.
If I was going again I would stay in Belfast and go to Portrush by train (station close to the course, slightly further away than where the Park and Ride buses drop you).
On Friday night I drove back to Dublin for a few hours.

bobbyss · 23-07-2019 10:30AM

Remind me wrote:

It needed the high profile name of Rory to be reestablished. Last thing Shane needs is to host an event with no date at a time he will be trying to qualify for his first Ryder Cup.

I've not really heard of this before. What does 'to host' a golf competition mean? What do you have to do?

kopkidda · 23-07-2019 10:33AM

BobbyBobberson wrote: »

How did you get over and back from Belfast if you dont mind me asking? Was wondering was the trains were like etc.

Early train from Great Victoria and late train back ,straight to bed when we got back to Belfast. Was very well organised and great atmosphere.

sylvanb · 23-07-2019 10:38AM

Got the train up on the Friday morning , left Great Victoria St at 8:10 , into Portrush just before 10:00, fair few stops on the route especially around Belfast, train was not full which was a surprise, came out of Portrush station, volunteer tells us about the shuttle buses running up to the course.

Left the course around 6:30, shuttle bus back to station for the 7:05 train, back in Belfast before 9:00. For two adults and 2 kids fare was £59 - beats driving.

blackwhite · 23-07-2019 10:45AM

bobbyss wrote: »

I've not really heard of this before. What does 'to host' a golf competition mean? What do you have to do?

Promote it basically.

Lot of additional media work in the preceding year to help win sponsorship, etc. Quite a lot of additional commitments during the week or two beforehand and week of the tournament as well.

GreeBo · 23-07-2019 10:49AM

BobbyBobberson wrote: »

How did you get over and back from Belfast if you dont mind me asking? Was wondering was the trains were like etc.

kopkidda wrote: »

Early train from Great Victoria and late train back ,straight to bed when we got back to Belfast. Was very well organised and great atmosphere.

Be warned, we got the 6pm train from Portrush to Belfast to get the 8:05 Enterprise back to Dublin and the Portrush train was 40 mins late into Belfast (Lanyon Place) so we missed what was the last train to Dublin by 5 mins

Conductor on Portrush train refused to ask the Enterprise to wait so 8 people were left stranded.

Thankfully they organised a taxi (and paid for it!) back to Dublin, £185!:eek:

Scott Tenorman · 23-07-2019 11:25AM

In the main it was very well organised but some things could be improved upon:

More and/or bigger stands
More scoreboards around the course needed
Shop was simply a rip off (that won't change if the gear was selling well but still....)
Food overpriced for what you got
Park & ride is needlessly too far away from the course, surely they could have found fields even half the distance away?

Probably nitpicking a bit there as i had a fantastic day and would go again in a heartbeat!

I wasn't bowled over by the course itself TBH, seen nicer and the elements seems to be its main protection.

The Tetrarch · 23-07-2019 11:42AM

Scott Tenorman wrote: »

In the main it was very well organised but some things could be improved upon:

More and/or bigger stands
More scoreboards around the course needed
Shop was simply a rip off (that won't change if the gear was selling well but still....)
Food overpriced for what you got
Park & ride is needlessly too far away from the course, surely they could have found fields even half the distance away?

I though the stands were fine.
Most people brought small binoculars to view players and scoreboards.
It was a souvenir shop, not competing with the high street or the internet.
There was food on sale outside the course.
Park and ride was a 10 minute journey, 4.1 miles away (I timed it). They want to take traffic away from Portrush.

GreeBo · 23-07-2019 11:47AM

Scott Tenorman wrote: »

In the main it was very well organised but some things could be improved upon:

More and/or bigger stands
More scoreboards around the course needed
Shop was simply a rip off (that won't change if the gear was selling well but still....)
Food overpriced for what you got
Park & ride is needlessly too far away from the course, surely they could have found fields even half the distance away?

Probably nitpicking a bit there as i had a fantastic day and would go again in a heartbeat!

I wasn't bowled over by the course itself TBH, seen nicer and the elements seems to be its main protection.

While I agree with some of that (the shop prices made the airport look cheap!) the course looked amazing and had more than just weather, a handful of players had great scores but any bad shot was punished which you cant say about most US courses.

My main gripe was that the practice ground stand was too far from where they were hitting, even with a zoom lens it was difficult to get some good shots.

RoadRunner · 23-07-2019 12:11PM

I camped in the open camping village which was in ulster university in coleraine.

Decent vibe there, decent bites, pint, showers, toilets all that carry on. No noise at night. Slept well. They setup the tent. There was few bugs in the outer part of the tent, but they didn't get into the tent 'bedroom' part.

Lowest point by far was when I went for a pint just outside portstewart and couldn't get back home in heavy rain. Got Soaked. The taxi setup was very poor. Next time I think I'd stay in belfast and get the train.

Burger and chips was £9 (didn't have) Scampi and chips was £11 did have. The scampy was skimpy but good. Fish and chips was £11. forgot a towel and bought one in the open shop which was £40! Little ball marker was £4. Tee shirts were lovely, but started at £75 which I couldn't justify.

Great few days. Really nice craic on the course struck up conversation with people all over the place despite making the trip on my own.

Got a free putting lesson (zoe allen from Lurgan golf club). What caught my eye was a weird contraption with legs that clicked on to the bottom of the putter and goes under the arms. So did that. Then on sunday I had a great round avoiding a three putt all day (every round in my life has had three putts until sunday!)

Class golf few days.

8-10 · 23-07-2019 12:16PM

If I'm to give anything 10 out of 10 it was the Open Burger. £8.10 (with MasterCard) and was a truly amazing burger. I've had worse in restaraunts

BobbyBobberson · 23-07-2019 12:25PM

The taxi situation is beyond dire on the north coast. I will run out of space if I start ranting about it here.

ThunderCat · 23-07-2019 12:45PM

What a weekend. Sunburn on Saturday, Soaked to the bone on Sunday but all worth it to witness history.

The course was absolutely immaculate. And having played it last October in a storm it was in amazing condition even then but to see it in the sunshine on Saturday it really is a jewel. I have no doubt it will be back but personally speaking I think Portrush is the only Irish course that it will ever go to and can't see the R&A adding any other Irish venue to the roster. It wasn't that massive a leap for them this time seeing as it has been at Portrush before and they weren't breaking tradition, which they value immensely, but I think it would be a bridge too far for them if it went anywhere else.

Spectator wise the layout and setup was world class. You knew you were at something special. I had the burger and chips and also fish and chips and both were far better than anything I've ever had at any other festivals, gigs, sporting events etc. Plenty of things to keep the kids entertained and some really cool golf simulators and stuff too as well as an autograph zone. For example in the HSBC golf zone they had 3 simulators set up where you are hitting Harringtons famous 5-wood approach at Birkdale (no-one got near it), trying to replicate Ernie Els hole in one at the postage stamp hole in Troon and lastly trying to drive as far up the 18th at St Andrews as possible trying to replicate one of Jack Nicklaus's famous shots. It was great fun. They also had an area where they took loads of photos of your swing using a fast shuttered camera and stitched all the frames over each other and then emailed it to you. And lastly was the robot simulator where there is a golf club set up for you that you hold on to while the robotic arm guiding the club mimics whatever golfers swing is programmed in. On Saturday it was DJ and let me tell you that "pulling the chain" move in his downswing is insane to feel in person. Sunday was Koepkas swing. And there was mini golf and chipping areas for the kids too. And all of this was in just one tent. Amazing really.

Oh and you could also get a free 15min lesson off one of the pros too in one of the six nets they had set up which was just fantastic. My fella gave me lots to consider! As others have said the merchandise shop was pricey but it was a hell of an operation to be fair. More like an aircraft hanger than shop. But I did get a couple of programmes and a couple of those steel 'The Open' bottles which were the best value out of everything there.

And on top of that Lowry wins The Open Championship - absolute dreamland. I'll never ever forgot the atmosphere heading up 18.

Adiaga 2 · 23-07-2019 01:24PM

Not sure if it has been mentioned on this thread already but I read only yerterday(bbc.com Iain Carter) that part of the deal they struck with the R&A was that Royal Portrush would get three Opens. This was the sweetener for all of the changes and extensive work that needed to be carried out. So hopefully 2 more to look forward to. Would go again in a heartbeat. Hopefully try and sort something for the whole week next time.

ThunderCat · 23-07-2019 01:53PM

Adiaga 2 wrote: »

Not sure if it has been mentioned on this thread already but I read only yerterday(bbc.com Iain Carter) that part of the deal they struck with the R&A was that Royal Portrush would get three Opens. This was the sweetener for all of the changes and extensive work that needed to be carried out. So hopefully 2 more to look forward to. Would go again in a heartbeat. Hopefully try and sort something for the whole week next time.

Deservedly so. The scale of the operation amazed me. Any prospective course, if such a thing were ever on the cards, would almost need a second course like at Portrush in order to fit everything in.

The Tetrarch · 23-07-2019 02:17PM

I agree with all the positive comments above.
From Monday to Sunday we got a typical Irish summer. :rolleyes:
The marshals and staff were very pleasant.
If they were selling tickets for the next Portrush Open now I would buy.

Scott Tenorman · 23-07-2019 02:41PM

The Tetrarch wrote: »

Most people brought small binoculars to view players and scoreboards.
There was food on sale outside the course.

Do you work for the R&A or something? It is ok to enjoy something but see room for improvement.

On the above:

If you need binoculars to see scoreboards that is proving my point
Shall i bring a solar powered microwave to heat it up when i get hungry later? :pac:

Leslie91 · 23-07-2019 02:49PM

blackwhite wrote: »

Mastercard tent was decent for the freebies (anyone with a Mastercard could get in).

Ended up with a dozen Callaway balls branded with Open logo (and Mastercard logo) and a cap each for myself and herself.

The caps were identical to ones on sale in the shop - just with a small Mastercard logo on one side.

The £4.50 water bottles were probably the best value in the place. Decent souvenir to have, and if buying water from concessions you'd have spent a lot more than that over a day.

I was in there Sunday morning, saw no free caps nor balls... you get em before Sunday?

LizT · 23-07-2019 03:07PM

I thought the whole thing was run very well. Only downside was the queues to get out of the course, some people in the queue near me were getting very agitated and starting to push.

Got a seat on the 18th on the last day, it was great to see Lowry lift the Claret Jug.

Chivito550 · 23-07-2019 03:10PM

Anybody know why the presentation this year didn’t have any mention to the runner up and the presentation of the ‘silver salver’? I’ve watched the Open for years and this was always part of the tradition during the presentation ceremony.

There was also no reference to the silver medal for the leading amateur either, though I’m assuming that’s because no amateurs made the cut this year.

The Tetrarch · 23-07-2019 03:22PM

Scott Tenorman wrote: »

Do you work for the R&A or something? It is ok to enjoy something but see room for improvement.

On the above:

If you need binoculars to see scoreboards that is proving my point
Shall i bring a solar powered microwave to heat it up when i get hungry later? :pac:

I do not work for the R&A.
I could view scoreboards 400 yards away with binoculars, read players names on bags at 250 yards, read mobile scoreboards carried with the players.
I think they would not allow you bring a microwave on course.

Miley Byrne · 23-07-2019 03:35PM

GreeBo wrote: »

Conductor on Portrush train refused to ask the Enterprise to wait so 8 people were left stranded.

He was hardly going to inconvenience a whole train load in the Enterprise just because 8 people on his train left their connection too tight and didn't allow for any delays

The 148th Open at Royal Portrush

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