Saturday tee-times ‘tweaked’ due to Portrush band parade, R&A say

The start of The Open Championship in Portrush on Saturday is being brought forward due to a band parade in the town.

More than 70 bands and about 2,000 people are due to be involved in the event which has been organised by Portrush Sons of Ulster on Saturday evening, as the golf tournament finishes for the day nearby.

The chief executive of the Royal & Ancient (R&A), Mark Darbon, said there would be “marginal adjustments” of about 15 minutes to the golf tee-times on Saturday to try to ensure both events could take place in a “seamless” way.

Mr Darbon said, as organisers, they are “guests in the community”.

More than 275,000 spectators are expected to descend on Portrush over the coming days, making it the largest sporting event held in Northern Ireland.

The Open was first played at Portrush in 1951 and was last hosted in the town in 2019.

Organisers say The Open generates more than 5,000 hours of global television coverage, with the competition beamed into 500 million homes.

It is estimated that the 153rd Open will boost the Northern Ireland economy by more than £200m.

“We recognise that when we bring The Open Championship to town, we are a guest in the community in which we operate,” Mr Darbon said, at a press conference.

“On many occasions, there are concurrent events that take place around the action that we are very focused on here, within the rules of the venue.

“So, recognising the events that are taking place on Saturday, we have worked collaboratively with the organisers and across multi-agency groups to ensure, primarily, both events can run as seamlessly as possible.

“We are making a slight tweak to tee times to try and finish – it’s not dramatic, maybe 15 minutes or so earlier.

“At the same time, this is an outdoor sport; the weather can play a big role.

“It’s very difficult to be precise on finishing times, but we are looking at some marginal adjustments.”

Asked about reports that the organisers of the band parade had been offered £20,000 to postpone their event, Mr Darbon did not answer the question directly.

He said the R&A had contributed “incremental costs” to the logistical operation involved on Saturday evening.

The Open normally finishes after 19:00 GMT on a Saturday.

No exact times are ever known due to weather and playing conditions on the day.

The band parade is due to begin at about 20:30, according to the Parades Commission website.

More than 77 bands are scheduled to take part and it is expected to finish at about 23:00 GMT.

In a post on social media on Wednesday, Portrush Sons Of Ulster said the band has made it clear from the start of meetings that “we were having our parade and that hasn’t changed”.

“It has taken a serious amount of work for us to get where we are at today,” they said in their post on Facebook.

They urged people attending the event to plan ahead “due to the volume of golfers and parade goers” in the town on the same day.

“As is well known, our parade already draws a massive crowd but this year we expect it will be even bigger due to the publicity it has received,” they said.

“We ask all spectators to spread themselves out throughout the town and not to be all gathering at the one point.”