I managed to catch up with Paul McGinley early yesterday morning just as the early players were setting out for their first round.

With the pressure of securing a starting spot in his hometown Open Championship later this month now lifted, Graeme McDowell is relishing the opportunity to free his mind and concentrate on the task at hand: a good week in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

If nothing else, this week’s visit to Lahinch will leave European Tour golfers with the feeling they have played some very different holes in Klondyke and Dell.

Defining a great golf links course is trickier than you might think.

One of the most satisfying aspects of writing the 125th history of Lahinch Golf Club in 2016 was the opportunity to meet up once again with three of the most illustrious winners of the South of Ireland Championship and another who captured the Irish Close over the great links.

Rugby players in an Irish Open Pro-Am are not an unusual sight. Along with GAA stars and jockeys, they are a staple of the pre-tournament entertainment at this annual stop on the European Tour.

As the defending champion this week, Russell Knox already has his place in the Irish Open hall of fame but the way the Scot sealed victory at Ballyliffin last year means a line in the record books will never do it justice.

As the chairman of the Lahinch Golf Club Tournament Committee, John Gleeson has already visualised the packed grandstand behind his club’s 18th green as the champion-elect strides along the par-five final hole with a throng of spectators in his wake and hundreds more teeming up the Liscannor Road on the other side of the wall.

The staging of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Lahinch is having “a transformative effect” on the seaside resort of Lahinch.

Shane Lowry will get his Dubai Duty Free Irish Open campaign underway early on Thursday as part of an illustrious group also featuring Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood and defending champion Russell Knox.

Such is the bond between the two Ryder Cup veterans, Ian Poulter needed little persuasion from tournament host Paul McGinley to commit to this week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

There is no escaping the sense of excitement and expectation not just amongst the members of Lahinch Golf Club but also the whole of the village and West Clare in general as the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Championship looms this week.

Seamus Power’s track record with Lahinch and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is mixed, but the PGA Tour professional was still thrilled to receive his invitation to return home and play this week.

First-time tournament host Paul McGinley has admitted he feared the worst for this summer’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open when Rory McIlroy decided to skip the €6.25m event but now believes the field for Lahinch is coming together very nicely indeed.

Paul McGinley has revealed the European Tour are open to moving the date of future Irish Opens in order to attract the big beasts of the PGA Tour to these shores.

Organisers of this summer’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Lahinch have insisted the prestige $7m European Tour event will not be defined by the absence of Rory McIlroy from the field.

Few will argue with the hugely positive impact Rory McIlroy has had on the game of golf, both as an amateur and professional.

Kevin Markham looks at some of the recent investments made by progressive Irish golf clubs.

Holy water from a tiny well in Clare was transported across the Atlantic Ocean in the cockpit of an Aer Lingus flight on Sunday, to help a sick child in America.

Even those with a great love and admiration for the club and the village believe that Lahinch has undertaken a mountainous challenge in agreeing to stage the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Championship.

Clare is the fourth county in this series of best 18 holes in a county. Despite having only 11 courses, the Banner county boasts globally recognised Doonbeg and Lahinch, as well as Dromoland Castle, so it is not lacking in quality. Here’s our imaginary scorecard for the 18 best holes.

For all the excitement generated by last month’s announcement that the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is to be played at Lahinch Golf Club next summer, there is plenty to whet the appetite in 2018 as the famous links plays host to the 117th South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship.

Lahinch Golf Club were last night toasting Paul McGinley for his efforts in helping to bring the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open to the famous Co. Clare links course.

Killarney and Royal Portrush will contest the All-Ireland Senior Cup Final today at The Royal Curragh.

The tee shots may not have travelled as far as they once did and the swings were not quite as well grooved but the former South of Ireland champions who assembled at Lahinch yesterday demonstrated they could still teach the modern tigers a thing or two when it came to manoeuvring a golf ball around a links in demanding conditions.

The great Lahinch links, especially when it is swept by a seriously strong wind from the Atlantic, never fails to provide great matches over the closing stages of the Pierse Motors South of Ireland Championship. 

The latest phase in the 125th-anniversary celebrations at Lahinch Golf Club gets underway this morning with the first qualifying round in the Pierse Motors South of Ireland Championship and continues until Monday when many past champions will be honoured in a special competition followed by a gala dinner.

Nine of the eleven-strong Irish team that achieved a Grand Slam in last year’s Home Internationals and in the process completed a hat-trick of successes in the championship have entered for the Pierse Motors South of Ireland, starting with the first of two qualifying rounds at Lahinch next Wednesday.

Leading qualifier Mairead Martin (Kanturk) is safely through to the last 16 at the Irish Women’s Close Championship at Mullingar.

Residents living in the seaside resort of “Lehinch” are poised to put the A back into the resort’s name in a move that could cost the tax-payer at least €10,000 to implement.

Lahinch Golf Club will not be taking the honour of hosting the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup lightly.

Beyond party town, it’s the place to begin exploring the great outdoors

The Shannon Group has initiated plans to develop a new flagship tourism attraction for the mid-west region.

Sexton still shining in Lahinch.

Profits at Lahinch Golf Club, last year jumped 19% to €491,937.

A little over 18 months ago, Lahinch’s infrastructure was battered and bruised by winter storms — but it has been making a strong recovery. Now there are plans to capitalise on the Clare resort’s growing reputation as a watersports destination, writes Gordon Deegan.

Stuart Grehan from Tullamore was last night crowned winner of the 114th South of Ireland Championship after a four and three final win over Ulster golfer Colin Fairweather from Knock.

Paul McBride, a student at the famous golfing academy of Wake Forest in North Carolina which numbers Arnold Palmer, Eoghan O’Connell and Darren Clarke among its alumni, demonstrated once again at Lahinch yesterday that Malahide continues to produce young golfers of the highest calibre.

With handicaps ranging from plus 4 to 1.1, the high quality of the entry for the West Coast Hotels sponsored South of Ireland Championship beginning at Lahinch this morning is a source of considerable satisfaction for the organising committee.