Future of Irish Open is secured for at least two years
Gerard O’Toole, the chief executive of Nissan Ireland, revealed that his company has become the title sponsor for 2003 and 2004 and that they could be involved for as long as 10 years.
The championship returns to Portmarnock for the first time since 1990 and will boast a prize fund of 2m when it takes place on its new date of July 24-27, the week immediately after the British Open at Royal St Georges, Sandwich.
It has taken a long time to put this package together and indeed it was revealed that Portmarnock only entered the scenario in the last fortnight.
Although European Tour chief Ken Schofield insisted there was never any doubt about the tournament taking place next year, there were many anxious moments about its future.
The new date and the attraction of the venue offer up the exciting possibility of a few leading Americans coming to Dublin on their way home from the Open. On the debit side, there is always the possibility that some big names will stay away given the busy nature of the schedule building up to the championship but most observers believe the date was very favourable to the event.
“I said recently that it would be incongruous to promote tourism through golf and not have an Irish Open and I’m delighted to see that won’t now be the case,” said Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue.
“I am also very pleased the tournament is going to a links course of Portmarnock’s stature.”
Portmarnock certainly fits in ideally with that ambition and there have been many subtle changes taking place to the links, including a new site nearer the estuary for the first green, the extension of the putting surface at the short 11th makes for some very interesting pin positions and the extension of the run-offs at the 13th and 16th holes likewise.
These changes will extend the course to a formidable 7,350 yards from the championship tees. It will make for a great test for the Europeans and the Americans returning after the British Open.
While Gerard O’Toole declined to commit himself beyond 2004, he nevertheless stressed he wouldn’t have got into this for only 12 months.
“I see this as a medium term sponsorship which could stretch for as long as 10 years. I remember attending the Irish Open as a young boy at Woodbrook and have always been fascinated by it.
“I first got into discussions about the sponsorship six months ago and walked away from it for a while. It came up again in the last few weeks and I don’t deny that the idea of Portmarnock as the venue appealed to me greatly.
“Portmarnock is the spiritual home of the Irish Open. It is truly a prestigious links and one of the best in the world.
As a private club, it can be taken for granted that Portmarnock will not be contributing to the prize fund. Instead, it is accepted that the European Tour will be chipping in from their own coffers. Ken Schofield referred to the flexibility now required to fund such a mammoth event while also showing his appreciation for all that the proprietorial courses have done in the past and hopefully will again do in the future.
Joe Leyden said that the limit on tickets will be 25,000 on the Thursday and Friday and 30,000 through the weekend. A park and ride system will be in operation now that the space around the golf course is no longer as extensive as it used to be.
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