Part II of this series looks at how clubs around the island of Ireland are planning for the year ahead and what Irish golf can expect in 2020.

Another Christmas rolls along and the golfer in your life waits nervously to discover what gifts await under the tree. Kevin Markham offers some options

Graeme McDowell will host the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open for the next two years, starting with the 2020 event at Mount Juliet.

Shane Lowry will sit down with the family for Christmas dinner in seven weeks' time and bask in the warm glow of an unforgettable season.

I worked in sales as a rep for 33 years with Beamish and Crawford in Cork. I fell into hospitality by accident when offered a part-time job as a caddy on the golf course here in Mount Juliet.

Parkland looks set to gain terrain unless Portmarnock Golf Club open membership to female golfers and is welcomed again into the European Tour family.

Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, and Bernhard Langer are among previous winners at the Kilkenny course.

Eddie Pepperell may have earned himself a late tee time in today’s third round at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open after he followed his opening 65 with a 67 yesterday, but the Englishman is not banking on a good night’s sleep in Lahinch.

You won't break 70. You probably won't even break 90. But it will break your heart. Kevin Markham introduces a 18-hole golf course made up of the roughest and toughest that Ireland has to offer.

The Mount Juliet Estates Residents Group in Kilkenny claims the removal of a putting course modelled as a mini-Augusta in Georgia, USA, should not have taken place without planning permission being obtained first.

The owners of Mount Juliet have run into difficulties with planning authorities over plans to build housing on its par 3 golf course.

It’s time to plan ‘Twixmas’, your sneaky short break between Christmas and New Year.

Eric Van Rooyen’s justified reputation as a rising talent in the professional game would have done little to prepare him for his final round at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open yesterday, writes John McHenry.

A month ago today, Ophelia made landfall across Ireland. Kevin Markham investigates the aftermath for golf clubs and courses.

You can hear squeals and screams all day but they’re floating in on the fresh sea breeze from the nearby Port Aventura amusement park.

Profits before tax at the country’s largest hotel, the Citywest in Dublin, last year declined sharply by 79% to €316,634.

“Time and tide wait for no man…” wrote Robert Frost, the American poet, “… but time always stands still for a woman of 30.”

David Moran enjoys pizza and golf but only when he is not playing football.

Richie Power Sr and Richie Power Jr have the distinction of being one of the father and son combinations where both parties won a senior All-Ireland. The final experiences against Tipperary were mixed, but the father passed on important lessons...

What better way to wake up than knowing you have a big breakfast waiting and you’ve got all the time in the world to get there. Ireland has hundreds of hotels — from five-star luxury to everyday comfort — and when it comes to golf you’ll never have to look too far for somewhere to rest your head.

In more than 30 years as a caddie to pros such as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, Colin Byrne has seen more than his fair share of the world’s top courses but now the Irishman is lending his expertise to help guide golfers around them from a new vantage point.

Paul Dunne is in position to challenge for his maiden European Tour win and a third successive Open Championship appearance after carding a career low 63 in the second round of the Joburg Open.

Over the last number of years, heading out for Christmas dinner has become more and more popular. It’s a trend Martin Gallagher, who has been in the hotel business for the last 42 years, knows only too well.

Having led the Irish challenge at the Qualifying School Final Stage at PGA Catalunya Resort outside Girona, Simon Thornton is in a real battle to make the cut heading into today’s fourth round.

Kevin Phelan seized a final Race to Dubai lifeline with both hands, banking a four- under-par 66 in sauna-like conditions on the opening day of the UBS Hong Kong Open.

Kevin Phelan may like to hit the ball 25 yards further but it’s the six inches between his ears which concern the new Mount Juliet touring professional more that his driving distance.

Tiger Woods could be set to make his return to The K Club for next year’s Irish Open — 10 years after the USA’s crushing Ryder Cup defeat and Darren Clarke’s tears of joy.

It may have been a washout summer but business interests in Waterford’s premier beach town, Tramore, are finding that visitors’ willingness to spend is benefiting the town’s tourist trade, writes Sean O’ Riordan

In the mind’s eye, he will always have a hurley in his hand.

The distance between the Munchen Golf Club and Mount Juliet may be around 1,400 kilometres but Kevin Phelan felt right at home on the opening day of the BMW International Open.

Like the 46A bus to Dun Laoghaire, which would take an age to come and then arrive with another stuck to its exhaust pipe, there are signs that things are about to start moving apace in Irish golf.

Graeme McDowell will tee up for his third round at Royal County Down this morning eight shots behind the leaders but convinced the Irish Open title is within his grasp.

Kevin Phelan has packed just about everything into his first 18 months as professional bar a win.

Strength in numbers appears a policy paying dividend for a growing alliance of golf clubs, resorts and hotels in Ireland’s east and south-east, whose unified cause is attracting increasing numbers of British golfers to their part of the world.

Operating losses at the five-star hotel and golf resort, Mount Juliet more than halved in 2013 to €1.65m as revenues increased.

Five Irish are among the 156-man field who will tee off at PGA Catalunya this morning, hoping to secure a European Tour card for the next 12 months.

He might have lost his European Tour card but Waterford’s Kevin Phelan is feeling so good about himself after a strong finish to his rookie season that he can’t wait to get to the European Tour Qualifying School.

From Monday October 27 to Friday October 31 the children are off school. This can mean one and one thing only: you need to keep them busy. Very busy.

Weekend wins for Rosslare in Irish Senior Cup Leinster section and Warrenpoint in the Barton Shield in Ulster have confirmed the field for the national finals of the AIG Cups and Shields at Carton House, Kildare next month.