The club’s Open Championship committee chair and two-time past captain, Kerr has been dealing with the nuts and bolts of life behind the scenes for a number of years. But when asked to reflect on the appeal of Royal Portrush makes the switch from administrator to admirer and simply states the Open venue as “absolutely magical”. “I think there are a few things that make Royal Portrush unique,” he said. “First is the course which is absolutely magical, weaving its way through the dune system surrounded by that beautiful countryside and coastline. "Then you’ve got the history and heritage of a club 137 years old. "Then you add in the welcome…it’s a very friendly place, the club embraces everyone. "It’s one of those places I would say the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. "People like to come to it and like to come back to it.” In-house work over many months towards helping showcase Royal Portrush to a record-breaking audience of 278,000 spectators across the past week and a global audience numbering hundreds of millions has been a mammoth task but one Kerr embraces. “I don’t really view it as work…it’s great to be in the mix and to be on the inside of something like this is not only very interesting but very satisfying,” said Kerr, with Royal Portrush now having hosted a third Open Championship in history following Scottie Scheffler’s triumph on Sunday. “To see it happen at your own club is the icing on the cake…it’s a good news story for Northern Ireland. "I’m from Belfast but been a member of Royal Portrush for about 22 years and it’s a privilege…it’s a spectacular and beautiful golf course. "I’ve played golf around the world and have yet to play as good a course as the Dunluce Links. "It’s also our unique opportunity to showcase the beautiful Causeway Coast…being beamed into 600 million homes worldwide - you couldn’t ask for a better advertisement. "In 2019 we were just overjoyed to get The Open back after an absence of 51 years and to get it back so quickly is a great endorsement of that event and the wonderful course. "With the spectator numbers at 278,000 that’s around 40,000 more than 2019. "You’ve over 1,500 volunteers helping, about 1,200 marshals, probably 100 scorers with the player groups…alongside various others. "Then you have to look at the hundreds of people employed for the week of The Open with the various food and beverage hospitality concessions. "And the legacy benefit is enormous - Portrush is bringing in lots of people who want to play at The Open venue. "Even the years post-Covid have been incredibly busy…it’s not just the week of The Open or the year of The Open. "The amount of planning that goes into something of this scale is truly remarkable…the R&A are uniquely experienced in putting The Open on so that the spectator experience is maximised. "It’s a great day out for people...young and old all enjoying the spectacle.” Kerr reflects on Royal Portrush’s 2019 event – the second time as host venue following on from 1951 – as an inspiration...one he is relishing from 2025. “It did inspire a generation in 2019 and will do so again,” said Kerr. “For example, we have a junior member of our club who hadn’t taken up the game until 2019, was inspired and now is better than a scratch handicap. "It’s great that our members have turned out in force, with over 200 volunteering with memories forever. "Everybody gets an economic benefit - the tourists who come to play Royal Portrush…they stay in the hotels, drink in the bars, use the taxis, eat in the restaurants. "I’ve so many lovely memories…the power of sport to bring people together.” With the future in mind, earlier this year Golf Ireland and The R&A launched “The Road to The Open” initiative designed to harness the legacy of the major’s return to Northern Ireland with an emphasis on community-led projects and school engagement. "Initiatives like this one are so important...we already invest heavily in the development of junior golf,” said Kerr at the time, highlighting how club staff “head up a number of coaching schemes”. He added: "Up to 30 cadets can be found on the practice range every Saturday and there are regular visits to neighbouring primary schools in our efforts to encourage children to take up the game.”