Could course upgrade bring the Open to Newcastle?

Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle has submitted a planning application for a major upgrade of its championship course.

The work could help position the club to bid for the Open golf championship, which has previously been held at Royal Portrush.

The club is working with the same designers and planning consultants who worked with Royal Portrush ahead of The Open in 2019.

The plan includes new and revised tees, new bunkers and reconfiguration of fairways on nine of the championship course holes.

The planning application states the aim is to "significantly upgrade the course to reflect Royal County Down's status as one of the very best golf courses in the world".

It adds that the improvements would "enable the club to continue to attract and support the hosting of large events, building upon the success of the hosting of the Amgen Irish Open in 2024 which attracted approximately 70,000 spectators."

One section of the application focuses on the potential economic impacts.

It states that the club already attracts about 10,000 international visitors each golf season making it "one of the most significant tourism drivers" in the Mourne area and Northern Ireland as a whole.

It adds that independent research suggests the Open in Portrush last year had "a total economic impact of £89.2m" to Northern Ireland.

The Royal County Down plans have already been the subject of a public consultation.

They will now be considered by the planning committee of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.

Work on the scheme could begin in the 2027 off-season, subject to planning.

The standard of the course is only one element of qualifying to host the Open.

The event's organiser, the R&A, also need to see evidence that the venue has infrastructure to safely host tens of thousands of spectators.