ROYAL PORTHCAWL IN LINE TO BE ADDED TO OPEN VENUE ROSTER

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By JAMES CORRIGAN
Wales may soon be in line to host to its first Open Championship. The R and A will inspect Royal Porthcawl next month to decide whether the famous links is capable of staging the British major.

It was always assumed that the South Wales layout does not have the required infrastructure to be accepted on to the Open roster. But The Daily Telegraph has learned that, after talks with the Welsh Government, the club feels it could undertake the work which would be necessary to accommodate the crowds and hospitality. 
The earliest the tournament could be held at Royal Porthcawl is 2018.

The Porthcawl members have already given their blessing with 87.5  per cent approving the project in a poll. They were then informed that “the R and A will be visiting the club in October to assess the course as a challenge ... the ability to move spectators around ... the area required for tented village ... and the traffic implications from the M4”.

Next year’s Seniors Open is ­heading to Porthcawl and it was during the bid for that event when the Claret Jug was discussed. Wales is the only country never to have staged the Open; Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush having had the honour of 1951.

There has been plenty of talk recently about the Open returning to the County Antrim links but it is understood that as far as Royal Porthcawl is concerned, the financial backing of the Welsh Assembly could be all important.

Carwyn Jones, the First Minister, is keen to raise Wales’s profile as both a tourist and business destination and after the success of the 2010 Ryder Cup, he believes the Open would be the ideal vehicle. 
Royal Porthcawl has staged the Walker Cup, which is also organised by the RandA.