NI Connections

Hands up if you’re excited for The Open 2025?  
 
🙋 🙋 🙋 🙋 🙋 🙋 🙋 🙋 🙋 🙋 
(that’s all of us at NI Connections with our hands up, btw)  
 
To help us get into the spirit of The Open, we got chatting with Charlene Reid – Senior Assistant & PGA professional at Royal Portrush, lover of the North Coast and all-round lovely human being.  
 
We really enjoyed hearing about her golfing journey, return to Northern Ireland and how she and the team are prepping for the big event.  
 
And we hope you do too.  
 
So, put those feet up for 5 minutes and enjoy 10 questions with Charlene Reid…  
 

Take us back to the beginning. Where did you grow up and when did your golfing career begin?

I am from a small town in Northern Ireland called Ballymoney. I first took up golf at age 12 when my parents bought me a set of clubs and membership at Gracehill Golf Club for my birthday. My parents play golf, so it was a natural progression for me to take up the game as well.  From the moment I touched a club and hit a ball, I fell in love with the game and haven’t looked back!

What is your greatest golfing achievement so far?

My greatest golfing achievement is probably playing for Ireland between 2009 & 2012. Off the course, I am very proud of the Cadet Programme I have developed which now has 100 children from the local community. The programme gives children the opportunity to try golf and continue playing if interested. I go to the local primary schools and introduce them to the game during an after-school club. If they enjoy it, they then have the opportunity to join the programme. A real highlight was in 2019 when I worked with the R&A on the run up to the 148th Open and we gave 1000s of children aged 5-18 the opportunity to try golf. 

Tell us about your time in North Carolina. Why did you decide to come to Northern Ireland?

I went to University in North Carolina from 2005-2009. I had never stepped foot on American soil prior to going and was only 17 when I enrolled as a Freshman at Pfeiffer University on a golf scholarship. Obviously as a 17-year-old I was nervous about moving but the weather and the calibre of golf courses soon won me over! The experience was amazing. I played a lot of golf and gained a degree in Sports Management & Business. The highlight of my college career was finishing second at Nationals in 2009 and being named an All-American for the 2009 season.   

It was my intention to return to America after spending a summer at home, but I was achieving so much playing golf at home that I decided to stay. I don’t think you appreciate home until you have left it and go back again. I may be biased, but living on the north coast is so special and there is nowhere else quite like it. You have mountains, ocean, beaches all on your doorstep.  

I still go back to The States at least once a year. I go as often as I can - you don’t have to ask me twice!  

You’re Senior Assistant / PGA Professional at Royal Portrush – wow! Tell us how that happened.

I literally went to help Gary, our Head Professional in the tented village at The Irish Open in 2012 and never left! I worked in the Professional Shop for the week and after that he would keep calling me to see if I could cover a shift in the shop. Eventually he asked if I wanted a full-time job, and I jumped at the opportunity. Twelve years later and I’m still here.

What does your 9-5 look like and what’s the highlight of your working day?

I genuinely never have 2 days the same which is nice. There is never a dull moment (although as I type this, the course has been closed for 4 days due to snow and ice, so it has been very quiet!)  

A typical day at the height of season is typically non-stop and very busy from managing the shop, meeting our visitors who are very excited to play golf and teaching. The shop opens at 8am and our visitors usually start arriving around 8.30am. They are from all over the world but are predominantly American. I spend time meeting the visitors and chatting with them and showing them around. I usually have lessons from 10.30-12.30, lunch and then get ready for our afternoon visitors followed by more lessons. My day usually finishes around 5/6pm.  I know this sounds like a long day, but it flies in!

What’s the best thing about living and working in the North Coast?

I love how we have everything on our doorstep – ocean, beaches, forests, mountains, good restaurants/bars and world-famous golf courses. As well as playing golf, I’m a very keen walker and so love exploring the beaches and coastal paths. A favourite route of mine is walking the coastal path from Portballintrae to the Giant’s Causeway. It’s beautiful! I have been lucky to have been able to travel to a lot of different countries but it is hard to find anywhere better than Northern Ireland.

How did you find settling into life in Northern Ireland? Are we as friendly a bunch as we hope we are?

Settling back into Northern Irish life was easy.  We are definitely a friendly bunch.  It’s the only country I have been to where we all say “hello” to each other on the street. My friend Amber was once over visiting from America, and we went for a beach walk. She was amazed at how many people I knew. I didn’t understand what she was talking about, until she explained she thought I knew everyone because we all said “hello” to each other! (I then explained to her that this is just something we do in Northern Ireland.) 

What’s so special about the Royal Portrush course?

Royal Portrush is just such an amazing place – from the people to the golf course!  It is a golf course that you will just never get tired of playing. The natural undulations and scenery are like nowhere else I have been. We are so lucky to have 36 holes of magnificent links golf with the most natural dune structure.  The history that the course holds as well is overwhelming. The course has been here since 1888 and to think I have walked the same fairways as golfing legends such as Fred Daly, Gary Player and Tiger Woods, (to name only a few) is crazy. 

It’s all systems go for The Open 2025. Tell us how you and the team at Royal Portrush are preparing?

We are all very excited for The Open returning especially after witnessing the success of the last one. We are in a very fortunate position as we hosted our last Open in 2019 and the experience of this has really helped us prepare for the next one. The R&A are already on site and are starting to get things in place. I think we will start to see the infrastructure such as the TV towers and grandstands be assembled from March/April. It is very cool seeing everything be built and our course turn into an incredible sporting venue that will welcome 250k+ people at The Open.  

For people attending the Open and visiting the North Coast for the first time, what are your top 3 recommendations?

From kayaking around the coastline and enjoying a boat tour on Causeway Lass, to visiting Dunluce Castle and walking Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge – there are so many things to do. But here are my top 3 recommendations for those visiting this summer…  
 
1. Visit the Harbour Bar for a pint of Guinness 
2. Golf at Royal Portrush (of course I’m going to say that)  
3. Go to the Giant’s Causeway. No further explanation needed.