NI Connections

The Open

After a long 68 year wait, The Open was finally held at Royal Portrush back in 2019.

Welcoming over 237,500 spectators, it was the second largest attended Open event in history – a momentous occasion for the club, local golfing community, and Northern Ireland as a whole.

There was more than 5,400 hours of TV coverage of the action. Hundreds of millions of global viewers enjoyed the nerve-wrecking competition and jaw-dropping scenery on display.

And the icing on the cake?

The fact that Irishman Shane Lowry emerged as triumphant champion and lifter of the famous Claret jug.

Thankfully it hasn’t taken another 68 years to return to home turf. (We don’t think we could have waited to 2087!)

In case you hadn’t heard, The Open 2025, one of the biggest sporting events on earth, is returning to the Antrim coast this summer.

On 17-20 July, all of golf’s biggest names will be here to take on the challenging Dunluce Links in the 153rd Open tournament.

And golf fanatics from every corner of the world will be making their way to Portrush in their thousands.

We couldn’t be more excited to welcome them!

Performance Golf Programme

In the meantime, we caught up with some of the wonderful students on the Performance Golf Programme at Ulster University.

What’s the Performance Golf Programme, you ask? It’s a unique scholarship that the university offers talented young players, so that they can excel in their golf as well as their studies.

Under the leadership of Head Coach and Level 3 PGA Professional Johnny Foster, the students avail of world-class sports facilities at the Ulster University Sports Village and are offered flexible study options to allow them to travel to competitions and training camps throughout the year.

The benefits don’t stop there either. Students on the programme can access a wide range of support services based upon their individual needs. For example, strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, nutritional advice and sports psychology.

Not to mention optometry, musculoskeletal screening and biomechanical analysis.

(Ok fine, we admit don’t know what exactly these are, but we know they sound like very impressive programme perks.)

But the biggest perk of all?

That’s easy.

Students are awarded free membership at Royal Portrush Golf Club during their time on the Performance Golf Programme.

Yep, that’s right, they get to play their home fixtures and practice any time they want at one of the top-ranked courses in the world. Tee-rific!

Click to watch this short video to find out how students Sophie, Kate, Ronan and Charlie feel about it…

Sadly, you can’t just sign up if you fancy trying out a new hobby in 2025.

To be eligible for the programme, you must hold a current handicap of three or better if you’re a male, or seven or better if you’re a female.

If you fit the criteria, click here to find out more and get applying for this phenomenal programme.

Studying here   

The golf students had loads of good things to say about studying in the North West region, and all shared about how much they loved having such stunning scenery right on their doorstep. As for the academic side, Ulster University was recently voted 'University of the Year 2024', by Times Higher Education. This is the pretty much the most prestigious title there is throughout the UK and Ireland.

This is down to the university’s high-quality teaching, significant research opportunities, commitment to career preparation and diverse course offering.

I think it’s fair to say that as a small nation with a population of under 2 million people, we punch well above our weight when it comes to education.

(Also in sports, food, healthcare, technology and the arts too… but we’ll save that for another day.)

If you’re a student considering studying in Northern Ireland, we have a whole blog on why that would be fantastic decision. Check it out here. 

Back to The Open again…

We’re thrilled to be sharing lots of lovely new content with you all in the run up to The Open. It’s a super exciting time for Northern Ireland, as our unrivalled golf greens, natural landscapes, and wonderful people get a chance to shine on the international stage once again.

Are you flying home for The Open?

We’ve got loads of blogs on things to do and places to eat when you’re home. Click here for some foodie inspo and here for some outdoorsy inspo for family walks (or wild swims if you’re that way inclined) for the days you’re not spectating.

We can’t wait to give our diaspora a good ‘ole Northern Irish welcome. If it’s been a while since you’ve been back in the motherland, let us remind you of what that looks like… Expect big hugs, raucous laughter, a few light-hearted insults about your new ‘accent,’ and plenty of offers to go round for a cuppa tea after the golf.

As always, we’d love to hear from our brilliant Northern Irish diaspora around the world. If you’re coming home for The Open this summer, drop us a message and let us know about your plans.

The countdown is on!