t was
supposed to
be a positive
announce-
ment and,
indeed, it will be
magnificent to see the
world’s best female
golfers tackling Royal
Porthcawl. Yet, in the
wake of the remarkable
success of Royal
Portrush, it was
inevitable that the focus
would turn to the Open
Championship – and the
fact that Wales is the only
country in the UK yet to
have hosted the R&A’s
male major.
The top table at the
AIG Women’s British
Open at Woburn
consisted of Johnnie
Cole-Hamilton, the R&A’s
executive director of
championships, Dafydd
Elis-Thomas, the deputy
minister for culture, sport
and tourism for Wales,
and Rhys James, the
Royal Porthcawl captain.
After the traditional
pleasantries, came the
awkwardness, as Cole-
Hamilton and James
offered wildly contrasting
views of the chances of
Porthcawl hosting the
Open. The frostyIt is time
to invite
Wales to
the Open
party
The R&A should
ignore concerns
and complete the
full set of host
nations for men’s
major, writes
James Corrigan
atmosphere which
engulfed the room is best
summed up by this edited
version of the transcript:
Q: “Rhys, is Porthcawl
interested in staging the
Open?” Rhys James:
“The club is certainly
interested. We all saw
what a massive success
Portrush has been ... and
working closely with the
R&A, with the Welsh
government and other
related organisations, it is
certainly something that
we would like to consider.
Q: “Johnnie, can you
talk about it?” Johnnie
Cole-Hamilton: “I
absolutely can. Martin
Slumbers [the R&A chief
executive] was quite
clear at the Open
Championship that we
have no plans to take the
Open to Royal Porthcawl.”
Red faces all around.
Poor Rhys – the only one
not paid to be there –
suddenly resembled
the character off
the Ribena advert,
while Cole-
Hamilton looked pig-sick
to have had to stick to theparty line. Elis-Thomas,
canny politician that he is
as the former leader of
Plaid Cymru, played a
perfect flat bat when
asked if he thought it was
fair that Wales was the
only member of the union
not to feature on the Open
rota. “I look at these
things very pragmatically
about what we can
achieve, and my interest
as sports minister is to
invest the Welsh pound in
an effective way,” he said.
“It’s not a matter of
competing with other
parts of the UK.”
In other words: “I
haven’t permission to
commit the funds.” The
Northern Irish
government stumped up
more than £30 million for
Portrush and the Welsh
government will be
expected, at least, to
match that. Yet while
government support
would be vital to
convince the R&A to
transport its pride and
joy across the Severn
Bridge – and there are
no other options to
Porthcawl in Wales – this
is essentially about the
governing body simply
doing the right thing.At the Open at
Portrush, I asked a
question. “England,
Scotland, Northern
Ireland ... when are you
going to take this thing to
Wales?” For some reason
the interview room
erupted in laughter, but
Slumbers eventually
replied: “We are very
happy with the 10 courses
on the rota and have no
plans to add any more.”
Peter Dawson,
Slumbers’s predecessor,
said the same about
Portrush initially. But at
least he added “never say
never”. The most the R&A
will say now is “it is not
on the radar, at the
moment”.
The R&A should make
it known that it would
like Wales to join its
Open party. Ignore the
concerns about
“infrastructure” and the
strength of the links
because they are mere
smokescreens. Portrush
showed what was
possible and highlighted
how a community, a
country even, can be
electrified by a golf
tournament. Why would
the R&A not want to
spread this love to Wales?Local hero: Shane Lowry’s
Open victory captured the
attention of an entire nationPortrush
showed how a
community,
a country
even, can be
electrified by
a golf event
Final whistle
I
16 *** Thursday 1 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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