Paddy Keane: ‘If there’s wind off the sea and you need a birdie to win, the 18th green is going to be like a pinhead’

There is no escaping the sense of excitement and expectation not just amongst the members of Lahinch Golf Club but also the whole of the village and West Clare in general as the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Championship looms this week.

It’s when you climb to the top of the hill after leaving Ennistymon that one appreciates the transformation that has taken place in and around this small village on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

You don’t successfully host a modern-day $7m (€6.1) sporting extravaganza without making a superhuman effort and that’s just what everyone in West Clare has done to ensure a five-star occasion of which all can be proud.

The sense of wonderment grows ever greater when you stroll around the village that has rarely looked so spick and span and move on through the 128-year-old championship links and the many acres that have been borrowed from the Castle Course.

Many believed insufficient space existed to accommodate a grandstand big enough to hold 700 people behind the 18th green. But it has been done in a highly efficient manner and will offer spectacular viewing of both the par five hole and the great links as a whole. And even that may take second place for many to the two-storey Pavilion located immediately across the Liscannor road along with the tented village and the high-class practice ground areas.

Many Lahinch people have devoted a massive number of hours over the last 12 months to ensure the success of the event, men like Championship chairman John Gleeson, head greenkeeper Brian McDonagh, chief marshal Martin O’Sullivan to name but a few. Paul McGinley is Championship host and one of those most responsible for bringing the tournament to West Clare. Colm McLoughlin of Dubai Duty Free has helped to ensure its financial viability. And overseeing it all with impressive quiet efficiency is club manager Paddy Keane.

“The logistics of running an Irish Open are large and challenging — but the staging of a Rolex-supported Irish Open is completely different”, he says.

It’s a much bigger circus altogether ... look at the hospitality suites, the facilities for 150 print media, TV studios, grandstands. It’s just a far bigger production across all the areas.

"We knew going to Ballyliffin (for last year’s tournament) that it was big but when you went behind the marquees and the support services, the broadband, the water, the sewerage, all of that and more is massive.”

Television coverage is crucial to the success of every major golf tournament and especially in a country like Ireland with tourism such a key element of the economic drive.

“A seven million purse shows the scale of the event”, stresses Keane. “TV gives an idea of the difference, Valderrama last week had about five television trucks, here you have 20 and in addition to that, we have the Golf Channel. They’ll be putting it out live with an 11-man team staying in the old Aberdeen Hotel. You’ll have on course commentators like Bones (Jim McKay, Phil Mickelson’s 25-year long caddie and more recently a leading member of the Golf Channel’s commentary team). They’re building two studios left of the 3rd hole”.

Setting up the Lahinch links, which dates back to 1891, will be the sole responsibility of the European Tour led by Miguel Viador. There are those who believe Lahinch will prove a soft touch for the pros, especially if the wind doesn’t blow, but those who know best have no fears in that regard.

“The only concern was the 13th, a driveable par four depending on the way the wind was blowing, so we built a new tee which added an extra 60 yards to the hole building it up to 334 yards”, Keane explains.

While most people in Lahinch admit that Rory McIlroy’s absence is a pity, few seem perturbed that it will harm the championship or impact on public enjoyment.

“We are very happy with the quality of the field”, insists Championship chairman Gleeson. “Paul McGinley has done amazingly well, we have 15 of the top 50 in the world rankings and along with those stars are the likes of Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood, Danny Willett and others all back in top form. So you can make that 20 and more world-class names. It’s the strongest field assembled in Europe this year. The event is not defined by whether Rory McIlroy is playing or not.”

Paddy Keane put his finger on things when speaking about the most desirable weather conditions: “If it can be dry with a little sun and a little stiff breeze, that’s all we need. Our greenkeeping staff under Brian McDonagh have done a phenomenal job. The course will be beautifully presented.

“The efforts and financial support of Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland has been amazing in securing the Golf Challenge coverage. There could be a million people here or two people, the pictures going out from West Clare cannot buy that publicity.

“The day our Irish Open Championship starts is July 4th, the start of four huge days in the States. And from Lahinch they’ll have a minimum of six hours coverage. The economic benefits for West Clare will come after the event. It’s all about tourism in the region.

“We’re a busy club. If you’re looking at the hosting of the Open from a business perspective, do we need to host it? No, because we’re busy as it is — but it wasn’t about that, it was about the local region and the whole county. That’s why the members said it’s not just about the golf club but it’s also going to showcase the whole of West Clare to a worldwide audience.

“They will see images of the Cliffs of Moher, of the Burren, all the Heads up from Loop Head, the Castles, the Heritage Centres, the history, they’re going to be shown all over the globe. The club grosses around €25 million annually for the area based on our green fee revenue research.

For every euro spent in the club, another four euro is spent by tourists and that equates to 12.5 million in this region. And when you take in the many hundreds who have holiday homes here, they probably bring in the same amount again.

Keane is confident that the 700 people in the grandstand behind the final green, the thousands on the road immediately alongside and those in the pavilion overlooking it all will have vivid memories of the action on the 18th.

“When you’re playing that hole and there’s a wind off the sea and you need a birdie to win, that green is going to be like a pinhead”, he says with a mischievous smile. “The forward tee at the 15th is being used as the back tee for the 18th making the finishing hole 564 yards and turning it into a true par five, especially with the out of bounds on the left.

“We have the stand at the 1st tee holding 300 people and then there’s a small stand at the Dell with a screen in front showing where each tee shot lands. There will be no more structures after that, it will be all natural viewing from the sand dunes.

“There are certain areas from the perspective of health and safety that we can’t have spectators but the back nine is absolutely perfect and that’s where the majority will assemble. You can’t go wrong there. The Championship village and mostly everything else is on the Castle Course including the practice area”.

It is firmly believed that the much-praised support of the Gardaí and Clare County Council will help to make the traffic flow as freely as possible and all the planning is to be found on the usual web sits.

“All of this couldn’t have happened without them,” states Keane. “When Paul McGinley came first with the tour people over 12 months ago, they met the chief executive of the council Pat Dowling and chief superintendent of the guards at the time, John Kerin.

“Pat said at that meeting that if it could be done, it would be done and if it could not, I will tell you so.”

Few will argue that he has been good to his word.