- The Championship will get underway on Thursday next week in Northern Ireland
- Saturday action had been set to end at 8pm with parade to start 15 minutes later
- It is reported that the R&A made the marchers a £20,000 offer to suspend march
Bosses at the upcoming Open Championship are considering adjusting tee times on Saturday because of a planned loyalist parade in the area.
The Championship will get underway on Thursday next week, with Scottie Scheffler the favourite to take home the crown but closely followed by the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
On July 19, however, around 2,000 people and 60 bands are expected to begin a march through the streets of Portrush, which could cause disruption to the event.
It would come shortly after thousands of golf spectators would be leaving Royal Portrush in the current schedule.
Every year, ‘marching season’ takes place in Northern Ireland between April and August, with the Orange Order the most active group.
The Portrush Sons of Ulster organise the parade and recently voted against rearranging their plans to march on July 19 at the same time of the tournament, which Championship organisers also fear could result in spectators leaving early to avoid the crowds.
Open Championship organisers are considering moving Saturday tee times in order to avoid clashes with a loyalist parade
Scottie Scheffler (pictured) the favourite to take home the crown but closely followed by the likes of Rory McIlroy
The march is set to get underway at 8:15pm, with the golf scheduled to end at around 8pm
The R&A had requested the march was rescheduled, but that request was rejected. The third round of the Open is set to finish at around 8pm BST, which the march set to get underway at 8:15pm.
With the option of rescheduling the golf not an option, the R&A are now considering moving the tee times at the course.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, the loyalist band whose march clashes with the Championship were offered £20,000 to postpone their event, but turned the offer down.
The R&A said, via The Guardian: ‘We are working on plans to minimise disruption for our fans leaving the championship due to the event taking place in Portrush.’
PUP councillor Russell Watton, meanwhile, said the situation should have been dealt with a long time ago, with the offer coming too late to be considered.
‘They (the R&A) are only doing it because of the traffic problem,’ he said. ‘There are 64 bands booked to go to this parade,’ he told this newspaper.
‘They came in and did a presentation to the council six months ago, but they should have been at that long ago, not at the last minute.
‘There are people there getting paid to run the thing. They knew the parade was always on that Saturday after the 12th. They knew it and everybody else knew it.’
