R&A Breaking New Ground With Fan App, Open WiFi

Hopefully you've downloaded The Open app by now, but if not here is the U.S. link at iTunes. I'm not entirely sure what's available in the States, but as I lay out in this Loop item, the R&A has broken new ground in the march toward a 21st Century fan experience with (working!) WiFi throughout the property.

Combine that with the ability to sit in the grandstand and listen to the BBC Radio feed or watch the BBC TV feed, and even get special information pushed to your phone if sitting on the third hole grandstand thanks to iBeacons.

The app it is one of the best-designed I've seen (especially the iPad version) and should serve as the new standard-bearer for golf's other tours and governing bodies to study.

Roundup: Royal Portrush Open Championship Announcement

Brian Keogh was there for the announcement and points out that the earliest The Open will return to Royal Portrush is 2019. It sounds like it'll take longer.

Alistair Tait reports on the press conference as well and the always depressing news that the course will be getting The Treatment.

“Without going into detail, we will be spending several million pounds to bring the course and infrastructure up to where it needs to be to host Open Championship,” Dawson said.

“It’s a long time since 1951. The game has moved on. Like all of the other Open venues, we’ve had to look at the course to ensure that it provides the sort of test that an Open Championship should provide. The course can certainly do that but with some alterations, not just from a playing point of view but the also the whole infrastructure surrounding an Open Championship.”

The full R&A press release is here.

Here is R&A Chief Inspector Peter Dawson talking about the announcement:

Update on 2014-06-17 01:59 by Geoff

**Keogh files a more extensive post on the press conference and some of the interesting things said about the politics of Northern Ireland.

“As the first minister has said, the political situation here has caused some reputational damage,” Mr Dawson explained, “I think everyone knows that, but we are very happy that that is in the past… If we thought there was a security problem here we wouldn’t be making this announcement.”

The announcement was the fruit, not of months, but of years of negotiations between the three interested parties and there are still several I’s to be dotted and T’s to be crossed before a date can be set.

However, Mr Dawson admitted that two things tipped the balance in favour of returning to Royal Portrush for the first time since 1951 — the sell out 2012 Irish Open and the planned course changes.

“One was the success of the Irish Open and the evident strength of the fan base for golf in Ireland and secondly it was the day with Martin Ebert, the architect here, that we finally thought, ‘This is how we can do this’,” he said. “Those were the tipping points for me from a golf perspective and an event perspective.”

Members Still Have To Vote On Royal Portrush Open Invite

Brian Keogh reports and posts a letter that went out to Royal Portrush members assuaging concerns about a possible Open Championship (or more) by reminding them that they will get to vote before the R&A is told it's a go. The R&A has scheduled a news conference Monday to announce a future Open Championship without committing to a date.

And considering the absolutely perfect record of club membership votes, why not! What could possibly go wrong, especially as they have to build two no Martin Hawtree holes to permanently shove aside two H.S. Colt holes, including one with an iconic bunker? Who wouldn't vote for that?

There is frustration and irritation amongst many of the older members about the secrecy surrounding the negotiations between the club, The R&A and the Northern Ireland Executive. Few have seen drawings of the proposed changes and many are loathe to lose the 17th and 18th holes;

In theory, they could indeed say, 'Thanks, but no thanks' to two proposed new holes and other changes required for a potential 2019 staging.