TROON, Scotland — With the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon in the books, Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland is officially on the clocks for next year’s British Open, July 14-20.
Shane Lowry won the Claret Jug there in 2019 and just six years later, Portrush will make a swift and triumphant return to hosting duties. The name Wilma Erskine is synonymous with the club and efforts to bring the Open back to the Emerald Isle.
In 1984, Erskine, who retired after the 2019 Open, became the first female secretary at a “Royal” club. She’s been a leading promoter of golf on Ireland’s north coast and the heartbeat of Portrush ever since.
Growing up a farmer’s daughter from nearby Ballymoney, Erskine studied in Edinburgh and Bristol with an eye toward a career in the hotel and catering business. Despite being a non-golfer she was able to land jobs at two golf clubs before hearing of the position at Portrush. Her mother encouraged her to apply.
In 2006, the club decided to make a play for the Open Championship, which had been staged outside of England or Scotland just once before—at Portrush in 1951.
“We all kind of said this is a little farfetched, but let’s go for it,” she said before the 2019 Open.
A successful staging of the 2012 Irish Open impressed the R&A but there was still the matter of accommodating all the demands of a modern Open. Erskine remembers a dreary day when then-R&A chief executive Peter Dawson and course architect Martin Ebert walked the course and conceived the idea of changing the routing: Using land that was part of the adjoining Valley course, two new holes were created as the 7th and 8th of the Dunluce, replacing the original 17 and 18.
There were plenty of doubters and no shortage of obstacles, but Erskine and the club succeeded in landing the Open.
“During the process, we added a new word to our vocabulary at the R&A and that is being ‘Wilma’ed,’” said Dawson. “That means being told to sit up, pay attention, and do what you’re told. I was ‘Wilma’ed’ on several occasions, and I know I deserved it.”
Erskine’s retirement didn’t last long and in the following Q&A…
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