When the Island Roared Again: What The Open at Royal Portrush Means for Ireland

There are moments in golf that live far beyond the final scorecard. For the island of Ireland, one of those moments arrived in 2019, when The Open Championship returned to Royal Portrush after a 68-year absence.

For many of us, it was more than just a major. It was a homecoming.

We’ve grown up playing golf in every kind of weather this island can throw at you. Wind that bends flags sideways, rain that doesn’t fall so much as it leans. From junior competitions to the toughest amateur events, the terrain has always been our teacher. But watching the world’s best step onto those same fairways, where we’d once fought for par and pride, felt different. It felt deeply personal.

Portrush wasn’t just hosting a tournament. It was telling the world: this is golf as it was meant to be. It's raw, rugged, and rooted in nature. The roar of the crowd that followed Shane Lowry down the stretch wasn’t just support. It was release. Decades of passion, pride, and quiet belief let loose all at once.

In a world of manicured greens and manicured scripts, Portrush reminded us that golf has a soul and sometimes that soul lives on a cliffside, with gorse at your ankles and sea spray on your face.

For the island, The Open wasn't just a spectacle. It was an affirmation. That our courses matter. That our history matters. That golf played on this soil is not only relevant, it’s revered.

And for us at Isle of Golf, it underscored what we’ve always believed: golf here isn't just a game. It's part of the landscape. It's part of us.