With just 13 months to go until the Open Championship returns to the Causeway Coast and Royal Portrush, the club are on the hunt for a new General Manager.
The news came as something of a shock to the club’s membership when they were informed in a Tuesday email that John Lawler, a Dublin native who’s been at the forefront of operations in Portrush since 2019, is set to make the move to London’s SW19 and take up General Manager duties at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, best know for the Wimbledon Tennis Championship held each July. .
Lawler has a long history in golf club management that stretches back to 2002, and can boast the likes of Carton House, Mount Wolseley, Rathfarnham and The Island as former employers before heading north of the border just after the 2019 staging of the R&A’s showpiece event.
Lawler succeeded longtime Secretary Manager Wilma Erskine at the head of affairs at Royal Portrush after the latter had occupied the role for 35 years and opted to retire from the role shortly after the Open Championship in 2019, which was the culmination of many years of work and preparation.
The All England Club is one of the most prestigious in all of the United Kingdom so few could blame Lawler for his interest, but with the 2025 Open Championship just around the corner, the timing is less than ideal for Portrush.