Ireland to host European Amateur Golf Championship next year

The Golfing Union of Ireland has announced Ireland will host the International European Amateur Championship in 2012.

The Montgomerie Course at Carton House will await the best amateur players from across the world on August 8-11.

Some of the biggest names in the world of professional golf have captured the European Individual title on their way to global success – including current US Open Champion and current World No.2 Rory McIlroy.

It is the first time in the 25-year history of the event that Ireland will host the event – the championship having previously been held in Denmark, France, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Finland, Scotland, Belgium, Portugal, Wales, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, England and The Netherlands.

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. McIlroy’s victory in 2006 earned him a place in the 2007 Open Championship, 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.

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 Honorary Secretary of the Golfing Union of Ireland, Albert Lee, said: "We are delighted to be selected to host the European Individual Championship and look forward to welcoming the cream of world amateur golf to Ireland next August.

"We are also thrilled that 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."