Santa comes early at K-Club and Mount Juliet

THE ADMISSION prices for two of the major golfing events to be held in Ireland in 2004 have been announced — and make very interesting reading.

The Smurfit European Open last night confirmed that their tournament on next July (1-4) at The K-Club will be played over the new South Course, taking over from the North Course which has hosted the event for the past nine years. They also announced that there will be a special ‘Christmas discount’ on ticket charges. All orders for any one day and season tickets placed and paid for by December 24 will be discounted.

In other words, a season ticket priced at €75 in 2003 will now cost €60 because of the Christmas discount. The €25 ticket is on offer at €22.50 while parking is free to all spectators.

The American Express World Championship returns to Mount Juliet on September 30-October 3, with the near certainty that the 2002 winner in Co Kilkenny, Tiger Woods, will head a star-studded field. The quality of the entry is surely reflected in the ticket prices now being quoted for the $6.5m million event although there will be no booking fee no matter what outlet is used.

The prices are: season, €120; Tuesday and Wednesday, €27; Thursday and Friday, €42 each day; Saturday and Sunday, €47 each day; Thursday and Friday combined, €68; Saturday and Sunday combined, €478.

The decision to move the European Open to The K-Club’s South Course comes as little surprise and has been mooted for some time. There has also been considerable speculation that the 2006 Ryder Cup would also be switched to the new lay-out. While that is most unlikely, there should be a clearer picture as to the intentions of the European Tour and the Smurfit organisation early next month.

Construction on the South Course began in February 2001 and it opened for play last July. The course is located on the other side of the River Liffey, spanning a total area of 180 acres, a tenth of which is accounted for by water hazards. Dr Michael Smurfit, owner of The K-Club, is clearly delighted with the news.

“The staging of the Smurfit European Open on the South Course is a milestone for the resort,” he said.

“It has been built to the highest possible standards and designed by, in my opinion, the world’s greatest in this respect, Arnold Palmer. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the European Tour pros, for the contrast between the two courses is enormous. The South is a battle of the elements with wind, sand, water and wilderness being much larger factors. I believe it has a more Irish ‘feel’ to it, given the grasses used in construction and the extensive planting of wild Irish fauna.”