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Sport Nation
How Royal Portrush shined with a little help from Royal Wellington
Duncan Perkinson • July 24th, 2025 1:00 pm
Ryan Fox tees off at Royal Portrush | Photo: Matthew Harris/Golf Picture Agency
At this past week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, there were 156 players and over 270,000 fans in attendance.
Commentators, fans and the players regularly commentated what great condition the course was in, and a New Zealander was part of the team working hard behind the scenes to ensure this was the case.
Sam Keats’ day job is Course Superintendent at Royal Wellington Golf Club - but for the past couple of weeks, he has been at Royal Portrush working as a volunteer alongside the greenkeepers and The R&A (Royal & Ancient) who manage the tournament.
He spoke with Sport Nation golf correspondent David Bieleski at the tournament to reflect on his role, on the course, what he learnt along the way, and what he will be bringing back home to Wellington.
Keats spoke about how each green was prepared differently so that they were consistent across the course all week. He noted that greens were not rolled, but mowed every day to different heights.
Greens that were protected by grandstands needed more work, while greens that were closer to the sea and dried out more quickly needed less work.
“The 18th has the amphitheatre stadium around it, where it gets a lot less wind so that green in particular has been one they’ve (the R&A) been doing the most work," he explained.
Scottie Scheffler lines up his putt on the 18th green | Photo: Ben Brady/INPHO
Keats also noted that The R&A had taken a more conservative approach to the management of the greens this past week, than the USGA (United States Golf Association) did at Oakmont for the US Open last month.
At this past week’s Open Championship, the greens were running slower at approximately 11 on the Stimpmeter - the tool used to measure the speed of the greens - compared with 14 or 15 at the US Open.
Keats also spoke about how the players don’t often get a chance to play on fescue greens which stand up more than the bent grasses the players are more used to. In his view, this meant that players could pick their lines and hit their putt with confidence.
As well as working hard through the week, Keats was able to catch some of the golf and was lucky to be able to walk inside the ropes with his compatriots, Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier, as part of their final practice round prior to the tournament getting underway.
“It was great to see them compete and it was nice to get up and close and watch them tackle this beast of a golf course," Keats said.
Keats revealed Hillier had worked a summer as part of the greenkeeping team at Royal Wellington a few years ago.
Keats will also bring plenty of knowledge, tips and experience to Royal Wellington as the club will be hosting The R&A sanctioned Women's Amateur Asia Pacific Championship in February next year.
This is the leading amateur event in the region and offers an incredible opportunity for sports fans from across the country to see the next tranche of golfing superstars.
The winner of the tournament receives an invitation to play in the 2026 Women’s Open, which will be held at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
It would be serendipitous if a New Zealand woman can claim the title and then go on to compete at Lytham. They would be in the same field as 2024 Women’s Open winner Lydia Ko, playing on the same course where Sir Bob Charles won the British Open in 1963.
The leading amateur at the Women’s Open competes for the Smyth Salver - a title that Ko won both in 2012 and 2013.
After this week, Keats is even more looking forward to hosting the tournament next year.
“We're really excited to be able to on a good test out on our own course, to shine the place up, get people in and get the community excited about high-level golf at Royal Wellington," he said.
With the tips and knowledge Keats has picked up this week at Royal Portrush, we know the course will be in an excellent condition.
Listen to David Bieleski's full interview below:
