Causeway Coast and Glens Council Commits £365,000 To 2025 Open Championship in Portrush

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has approved a funding allocation of at least £365,000 to support next year’s Open Championship, set to take place at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

The event, returning to the acclaimed course for the 153rd edition of the championship in July, follows the resounding success of the 148th Open hosted there in 2019.

During this month's Leisure and Development Committee meeting, councillors agreed to allocate the funding towards various key initiatives, including community and business engagement, tourism promotion, and traffic management.

According to an officers’ report presented at the meeting, the 2019 championship drew a crowd of 238,000 spectators. It was heralded as “exceptionally successful,” delivering significant economic and promotional benefits to the local area and beyond.

A report added: “Tourism Northern Ireland stated that the advertising equivalent value equated to £23.7 million for Northern Ireland golf tourism, monitored in media coverage across the island of Ireland and internationally.

Additionally, Northern Ireland secured £37.3 million in destination marketing value from over 5,400 hours of global television broadcast.

Economic impacts from the 2019 championship included £45 million in overall activity, with £26 million directly benefitting the Causeway Coast and Glens area.

Picture Credit : R & A