Northern Ireland

'Extraordinary demand' for tickets for The Open as website crashes

The Claret Jug at Royal Portrush Golf Club, where The Open takes place in July. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire
The Claret Jug at Royal Portrush Golf Club, where The Open takes place in July. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire The Claret Jug at Royal Portrush Golf Club, where The Open takes place in July. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire

THE "extraordinary demand" for tickets for The Open yesterday left eager golf fans venting their frustration as the website crashed.

An additional 15,000 tickets were being made available yesterday morning for the championship, which is due to be held at Royal Portrush in July.

But there was annoyance for many trying to buy tickets online with the The Open website crashing following "unprecedented visits" within minutes of the sale starting.

"We'd like to apologise if you've had issues accessing the page to purchase tickets to The 148th Open at Royal Portrush," read a statement on the website.

"Due to an extraordinary demand and unprecedented visits to the website, we have experienced technical issues during the course of this morning. We are working hard to resolve this and we will continue to keep you updated.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your support of The Open."

But golf fans were able to purchase the tickets over the phone and the website was later up and running for The One Club members to buy passes.

Additional tickets for the final day had yesterday sold out, but there was still availability last night for the remaining days of the tournament.

The first batch of tickets for the event were sold in record time last year, as Northern Ireland prepares to host the Open for the first time since 1951.

The event, which is being held from July 18-21, is set to be one of the biggest sporting events hosted in Ireland with golf fans from across the world expected to descend to the famous north coast links.

Golf's ruling authority, the R&A, extended the capacity by 15,000 tickets - 3,750 for each tournament day - meaning that there will be 43,750 spectators will be at the Co Antrim course each day.

An overall attendance of 215,000 spectators is expected across the week, including practice rounds.

It came just hours after Tiger Woods made a spectacular return to major-winning form, ending his 11-year wait to secure his fifth Masters title.