Killarney will up the ante
Great entertainment, a supportive community and some excellent bank holiday weather served as an ideal backdrop to last year’s tournament, which saw 82,000 spectators flood onto the Killeen Course over a week that ended with Ross Fisher holding off a last-round surge from Pádraig Harrington.
There have been a few bumps in the road since, not least another harsh winter and the loss of last year’s title sponsors but O’Meara is convinced all the ingredients are in place for another bumper event from July 28-31, running once again alongside the Killarney’s annual Summerfest.
“Following on from last year, after the success of last year, we’re delighted, first of all, to have the Irish Open return to Killarney,” O’Meara said.
“We felt last year went so well with the large crowds and the whole festival of golf atmosphere that we created which was tied in with the Summerfest.
“So when we heard that we were doing the Irish Open for 2011 it was great news and the club was delighted.
“Preparations the second time around are a bit easier, we know what to expect and we’re tweaking a few things. From a general preparation perspective, we don’t have a sponsor this year so as a community, as a town and as a tourism entity we’re trying to promote the Irish Open as much as we can within the limitations that we have.
“So this year is very much the same kind of feel. It’s going to be a family atmosphere, the Summerfest is running in conjunction with it, and it’s the Bank Holiday weekend so we’re hopefully expecting, if we get the good weather, great crowds.”
Getting a second go at presenting an Irish Open has allowed organisers to fine-tune the various elements that made last year’s event such a success. Killarney Golf & Fishing Club is one of the members of the Killarney Town Liaison Committee, which also numbers Killarney’s town council, its chamber of tourism and commerce, the vintners’ association and hotel federation as well as the Summerfest, Fáilte Ireland and the European Tour.
“To build on last year, one of the big pieces of feedback we had from outside the tournament was the family atmosphere. We had a big play area and kids’ area where they could go off and have a great time and that will be the same again and the tented village will be there again, so daddies and mummies could watch the golf and the kids could be entertained. Happy kids make for happy parents.
“It was great in that respect and we really were very proud of what we did and the way the club and the whole community came behind it through the Irish Hotels Federation and the Vintners and the Killarney Town Council. They pulled out all the stops.
“So very much the same again this year, if not better. We learned a lot from last year, experience is a great thing, so from a stewarding perspective, a roping perspective, how to manage the course a little bit better.
“We got 82,000 people, which was just phenomenal and we’ve learned how to deal with that a little bit better. All the on-course facilities are going to be the same, because they were so successful, as in the tented village, the bar and the restaurants and so on.
“But from a management perspective, managing the event, we’re going to up the ante a little bit. They’re small things but they all add up.”
Inside the ropes, too, O’Meara remains optimistic for a strong field, despite the likelihood of a prize fund for the European Tour event that will be down by around 50% on last year in the area of €1.5 million.
“There’s a reduced prize fund unfortunately due to the lack of a title sponsor but we still hope to have the main leading players, which will attract other players in that respect and all of that will be confirmed over the next few weeks.
“Plus it’s two weeks after the British Open and two weeks before the US PGA and it might fit a lot of schedules and a lot of players last year brought their families, their kids and their wives and made a week’s holidays of it for themselves and played in the tournament.
“So I’m not too concerned about the field. I’m hoping it’s going to be there or thereabouts. We had a great field last year and they all enjoyed it, which was amazing, so there was no negative reason not to come back. It was all positive feedback that we got.”
All in all, there is much to feel positive about and O’Meara praised the people of Killarney and the European Tour for their support of the event, while ticket sales are generating at the same high levels of last year.
“All the feedback I’m getting from the town is that a lot of the accommodation is already filling.
“It’s good for everybody. The golf is very, very important but it’s all about the whole atmosphere we’re trying to create.
“We’re working really closely with the Tour. That relationship is very close and because of the lack of a title sponsor we have to work very closely to make this as good as we possibly can and we are going to do that, I’ve no worries on that and I’m really positive about it.
“This time last year was more stressful, it was my first time being involved in a large event, but now that we’ve experienced it and learned from that experience we know what to expect.”
There is one thing O’Meara cannot bank on being able to expect on time, however.
“My wife’s due a baby that week,” the general manager revealed. “It’s going to be a busy week.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
