PETER DAWSON:THE RA's Peter Dawson has brought a cold dose of reality to any fledgling proposals to bring the British Open to Northern Ireland any time in the near future.

Although he didn’t slam the door shut on the proposal to bring the championship back to Royal Portrush, the venue in 1951, he didn’t open it more than enough to allow through a sliver of light.

“Obviously there’s much emotion about Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy’s victories and why don’t we go back to Northern Ireland and perhaps Portrush in particular, and I understand that.

“You can’t, however, base where you hold the Open on where players come from. I think that should be obvious to anyone.

“Portrush is a terrific golf course (and) may well be strong enough for an Open, but as we all know, there are other issues of infrastructure, accommodation, roads, what would the commercial success or otherwise of the championship be, that need consideration.

“(We are) not ruling it out by any stretch of the imagination, but it would have to meet all those criteria, and I don’t think it’s something that’s going to be in any way imminent, but it’s certainly something we’ll have a look at again in view of the success of the golfers from that part of the world.”

In 2007, then RA director of championships David Hill admitted it would require an “amazing amount” of investment to consider returning to Portrush.

“Royal Portrush is a fantastic course and I looked at it in great detail about five or six years ago,” Hill said at the time. “It would be a fantastic venue, but only for about 15,000 people a day.

“The Seniors Open was at Portrush and with 6,000 people we were struggling – it’s jammed with normal holidaymakers as it is.”

A more realistic option in the short term could be a pursuit of the Irish Open. The Irish Open was last held in the North, at Belvoir Park, in 1953.