Top Euro amateur event set for Kildare

THE Montgomerie Course at Carton House will host next year’s European Amateur Golf Championships, with the August 8-11 event coming to this country for the first time in its 25-year history.

Additionally, the championship is one of only four on the World Amateur Golf Rankings points system with “elite” status — the other three being the Asian Amateur, British Amateur and US Amateur Championships.

Irish players have been particularly successful at the event.

Rory McIlroy’s victory in 2006 earned him a place in the 2007 British Open, in which he announced his talent to the world with a fine opening round of three-under 68 on the Carnoustie Links.

He went on to win the Silver Medal as the leading amateur player that week.

But his was not the first — but fourth — Irish victory at the championship, with Brian McElhinney capturing the title in 2003, Stephen Browne in 2001 and Paddy Gribben in 1998.

Prominent past winners also include five-time Ryder Cup star Sergio Garcia, France’s European Tour stalwart Gregory Havret — who finished runner-up at the US Open in 2010 — and Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, a four-time victor on the USPGA Tour.

The GUI’s Albert Lee, said “We look forward to welcoming the cream of world amateur golf to Ireland next August.

“We are also thrilled the championship will be played on the Montgomerie Course at Carton House, as I’m sure it will be both an enjoyable experience and a stern test for such an elite field.”