By any metric, the 2019 Open Championship was a raving success. The storyline was perfect - when Lowry holed his winning putt, bringing joy to the whole island of Ireland, the emotion was unlike anything I have witnessed at an Open before.
Commercially Royal Portrush was a triumph too. The attendance of 237,750 was second in number only to St Andrews. Furthermore, the R&A set an important new precedent. For the first time ever, tickets were sold out in advance, with a limit on the number of tickets available. For the organisers this was heaven, creating a feverish atmosphere around securing a ticket, with revenue guaranteed.
They swiftly deployed the same tactic for the 2020 Open at St George’s, before COVID interfered. For St Andrews in 2022 they have gone a step further by instituting a ballot. It seems the days of walking up to the gate and buying a ticket for The Open are a thing of the past.
The Open is incredibly important to the financial success of the R&A as an organisation. In recent years their investment in the game has been tremendous and their support for the junior, amateur and women’s games has been tremendous. The Open pays for much of this good work.
There are some Open venues which clearly make more money than others. Just look at the recent attendance figures and four courses stand out - St Andrews, Hoylake, Birkdale and Portrush have had massive attendances. In these years the R&A can fill their boots.
2019 Portrush - 237,750
2018 Carnoustie - 172,000
2017 Birkdale - 235,000
2016 Troon - 173,000
2015 St Andrews - 237,000
2014 Hoylake - 203,000
2013 Muirfield - 142,000
2012 Lytham - 180,000
2011 Royal St George’s - 180,000
2010 St Andrews - 201,000
2009 Turnberry - 123,000
Martin Slumbers, the Chief Executive of the R&A had a big smile on his face today when he said, ‘We have the 150th Open in St Andrews next year and based on current indications that will be the largest Open ever and it will be interesting to see whether that can be beaten here (in Portrush) in 2025.
There is a contract in place between the R&A and Tourism Ireland to justify the investments from both in taking the Open to Portrush - they agreed to hosting three Opens between 2019 and 2040 - and it looks like there will be more beyond. As Martin Slumbers said today, ‘It’s firmly on the Open rota, it’s one of the ten and it won’t be going anywhere’.
If only there was such certainty for some other venues.
Slumbers said that there are still ten courses on the rota and said he was ‘very comfortable with the ten’, However, no-one is pretending there is equality amongst the ten.
Three particularly stand out for concern.
Turnberry held a wonderful Open in 2009, when Tom Watson was so close to achieving the most unlikely victory in the history of the game. Since Donald Trump bought the club in 2014 there has been no hint of hosting an Open there.
Earlier this year Slumbers made the point that he simply didn’t want a Trump dominated Open when he said, "We have no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future. We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself’.
On top of that, Turnberry is not helped by its relative remoteness leading to lower attendances. The changes at the course are simply phenomenal - but, by the sounds of things, the world won’t be seeing them any time soon.
The new Turnberry is simply spectacular, but out of favour.
Royal Lytham’s position is also the subject of intense scrutiny. While the attendance figures of 180,000 in 2012 were healthy enough, the site itself isn’t huge, providing logistical challenges for the infrastructure which seems to grow and grow every year. And if truth be told there isn’t a huge clamour from the players to get back to Lytham, a course that is respected rather than loved.
2026 is the year to watch. Alistair Tait gives a compelling case here for why the Open should be going to Lytham then. It will be the 100th anniversary of Lytham’s first Open and Bobby Jones’ victory.
Muirfield, however, is a different kettle of fish.
The Open in 2013 had the lowest attendance of modern times - 142,000. It was the first year where concession prices were done away with and tickets were £75 - up from £60 in 2011. The spokesman also blamed the warm weather (I kid you not!) and a British winner of the Tour de France for the modest numbers!
The 2013 Open at Muirfield took place in a gloriously hot Scottish summer
The ban on female members meant that Muirfield’s place on the rota was in jeopardy, but some overt pressure from Slumbers led to a change in the club’s policy in 2017, removing that obstacle.
Slumbers is still lukewarm on a return to Muirfield though. He clearly needs to be convinced that the fans will come, and the cash registers will ring, before taking the Championship back there. Last year he said “What we’re spending a lot of our time on is how do we get 200,000 people around Muirfield?” adding, “How do we get Muirfield to be Edinburgh’s Open?’.
Well, we won’t know the answer to that question until probably at least 2027 now - 14 years after the last Open was held there and that’s just too long.
No-one questions Muirfield’s credentials as an excellent Open course. Some believe it is the very best. However, the R&A doesn’t appear to be willing to take the tournament there for fear of a hit to their coffers.
If Turnberry changes ownership at some stage in the future it would be such a shame not to see the event held there for fear of lower attendance figures. And the golf world is being robbed of seeing Muirfield on centre stage more frequently.
I would advocate a different approach. Rather than try to maximise every single pound of revenue, every single year, the R&A should take a more strategic approach. Of course a threshold has to be met. There are plenty of great links courses which just couldn’t host an Open even though the course would justify it.
I love Portrush, I think it’s probably the best course in Ireland and I hope it has many more Open Championships there. However if the R&A are going to claim to have a rota then they need to use it properly.
They should accept that some years will have lower attendances than others and take a long term view. That way fans will be treated to seeing the best golf courses these shores have to offer, not just the courses that make the R&A the most money.