The Historic Links That Could One Day Be The Republic Of Ireland's First Ever Open Venue

Surely it's only a matter of time. The Open has never been played outside of the United Kingdom, but it can't be long before that changes.

If The R&A was to add another course to The Open Rota tomorrow, the smart money would be on Portmarnock Golf Club getting the nod.

One of the obstacles preventing the club from hosting the tournament was removed in 2021, when it voted to admit women members for the first time.

Although there are still questions around infrastructure, it appears we are edging closer to a decision being made, or at least another significant update.

"We're serious," was the message from Mark Darbon, The R&A's new CEO, when the topic came up again recently.

"We’re having a proper look at it," he added. "It’s clearly a great course."

Last October, The R&A said it was it was keen to investigate the possibility of staging The Open or Women’s Open at the famous links course, located just north of Dublin.

This came on the back of Portmarnock's statement that it had contacted The R&A to say that it wanted to explore the possibility of hosting the event.

"The department of tourism, culture, arts, gaeltacht, sport and media will continue to engage with Portmarnock Golf Club and The R&A to further explore the costs of hosting and to prepare a full business case for the events, in line with the department’s recently published major international sports events policy," said an Irish government statement.

"The department assesses each request for support to a major event on its own merits. In particular, it is imperative to ensure that economic, participation and sports benefits are derived from any state investment."

Matters seem to be ramping up. Darbon's first visit to Portmarnock Golf Club in May is further evidence that hosting The Open at the prestigious venue is being seriously considered.

"Wonderful links golf course," added Darbon. "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."

As well as hosting the Irish Open on 19 occasions, Portmarnock has staged the Walker Cup (1991) and the Amateur Championship twice, first in 1949 and again in 2019.

The club has also hosted the Women's British Amateur Championship twice, most recently last year.

"We think if we’re happy taking our Amateur Championships there, why not consider it for the Open, too?" said Darbon.

He added: "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?"

As it stands, only two courses are confirmed on the future Open venues list; Royal Birkdale in 2026 and St Andrews in 2027.

We're speculating here, but could The R&A make an announcement regarding future Open sites prior to this year's contest at Royal Portrush?

What we do know - and this will hardly come as a surprise - is that The Open will not be going on a worldwide tour.

"If you go back in history, the home territory of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is the British Isles, basically," said Darbon.