The R&A is seriously considering taking The Open Championship to Ireland, marking what would be the first time golf’s oldest major ventures outside the United Kingdom.
Mark Darbon, the R&A’s new CEO, confirmed they’re giving Portmarnock Golf Club a “proper look” as a potential Open venue.
“We’re serious,” Darbon said in a recent interview. “It’s clearly a great course.”
Darbon visited Portmarnock last month, touring the links layout situated on a peninsula about 10 miles northwest of Dublin.
“Wonderful links golf course,” he said. “And clearly a links course that provides a challenge to the best golfers in the world is right in the heart of our thinking about where we take our prized Open Championship.”
The R&A already has significant history with Portmarnock. The club has hosted the Walker Cup (1991) and multiple British Amateur Championships (1949, 2019), along with the Women’s British Amateur in 1931 and 2023.
“We think if we’re happy taking our Amateur Championships there, why not consider it for the Open, too?” Darbon explained.
There’s still work to be done, particularly figuring out the logistics of accommodating the massive crowds that The Open now attracts on and off Portmarnock’s peninsula location.
While the PGA Championship once considered going global about a decade ago, Darbon made it clear that an Irish Open wouldn’t signal a broader international expansion for golf’s oldest championship.
“I think the simple answer is ‘no,’ it wouldn’t open up our thinking more broadly,” he said. “If you go back in history, the home territory of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews is the British Isles, basically. We think if we’ve got this great history with the Republic of Ireland and its great golf course, then why not look at it?”
The R&A is also conducting a feasibility study about returning to Turnberry, but the potential Irish Open represents a far more significant shift for the championship’s 150+ year history.
