Killarney Open for business

WITH a little more than three weeks to go before the Irish Open gets under way at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club, championship committee chairman Tomás Kelliher is looking forward to a final bit of fine-tuning ahead of the European Tour’s arrival in Kerry.

The Killeen course will be closed in nine days’ time to members and those paying green fees and just two weeks after that, on Thursday, July 28, newly crowned US Open champion Rory McIlroy, fellow Irish major winner Graeme McDowell and defending champion Ross Fisher will lead a stellar field into action over the bank holiday weekend.

Those attending last Sunday’s Munster SFC final at Killarney’s Fitzgerald Stadium will have noticed a big promotional push for ticket sales and despite the lack of a title sponsor for the Irish Open this year, Kelliher is expecting a crowd every bit as impressive as last year’s total attendance of 82,000, in part thanks to McIlroy’s triumph at Congressional last month and his commitment to playing his national championship.

“Obviously because 3 had withdrawn their sponsorship there had been doubts and we hadn’t seen the publicity and advertising we had seen at the same time last year, but there’s been a big emphasis since Rory McIlroy won his US Open and that couldn’t have worked out better for us or been a better PR for our event in Killarney,” Kelliher told the Irish Examiner.

“So we still expect, weather permitting of course, to get something similar through the gates as we did last year. Our hotels will be busy and the hotels were very supportive in making rooms available for the European Tour and their hospitality and for the players and media, which was helpful.”

Kelliher has been buoyed by the support shown by the people and businesses of Killarney in general, as evidenced by the feedback he received from a business briefing meeting held in the town last month to address the 2011 Irish Open.

“It went very, very well. The town is very supportive and the whole community is rowing in to help make it a very family-oriented festival as much as possible.

“I think with the times we live in, the town itself, tourism and the business side of things is taking every chance it can get to promote and build Killarney.”

Building on the success of last year’s event has been the goal of the organisers and emphasising the post-golf activities in the town, and the Summerfest in particular, is high on Kelliher’s priority list.

“Michael Buckley is in charge of co-ordinating the town structures, getting the hotels, the chamber of commerce and Destination Killarney, which do the Summerfest, together so that when the golf is over in the evening, the 20,000-plus spectators each day will head into town for their hotels, restaurants and entertainment in the streets, music and kids’ entertainment.

“The golf side is one part of it but there is more to it than that and I think the key to Killarney, and one of the reasons why it’s such a suitable destination for the Irish Open, is that the town, the hotels and the golf course are so close together.

“And for the players, it’s very common for them to have 45-minute trips to and from the course to the hotel and there’s not that problem here, where it’s seven or eight minutes from the town and we’ve even opened an entrance between the (players’) hotel and the course so they won’t even have to spend time going out of the hotel and along the road to the course.

“You couldn’t ask for more.”