Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Ballyliffin

Approach to the par four 1st

There is a constant string of news about the Irish Open being held in Ballyliffin next week. That's no surprise as it's a not only a huge event for the European Tour (their $7 million Rolex Series), it's also a massive occasion in Donegal, where Ballyliffin's General Manager, John Farren, compared it to hosting the World Cup. Here's the latest press release... which provides a perfect opportunity to show off the Glashedy Links in photographs.

Lowry excited ahead of homecoming at Ballyliffin

SHANE Lowry cannot wait to return to his homeland when the former champion arrives at

A Matter of the Masters - Six Irish Golf Events

Sun kisses the 18th hole at Esker Hills at last year's event.

What golf nut isn't already thinking about the Masters? What golf nut isn't contemplating how they'll play their regular weekend round while ensuring they still get to watch every thrilling minute of the year's first and, for many, best Major?

May I steer you in the direction of a number of themed events, starting with From Esker Hills to

The Master of Esker Hills

Sunset over the 18th green at Esker Hills

The Masters is over for another year and while there was no Irish winner there was a strong Irish showing... from Esker Hills Golf Club.

Here's a golf club showing a bit of innovation and chutzpah... and there’s not an awful lot of that about.

Using the hashtag #FromEskerToAugusta, the club ran a tournament celebrating Shane

Golf News... Episode 3

Portsalon's 12th green from the left hand side.
The club celebrates 125 years in 2016.

There are several events going on at Irish golf clubs in the next month or two, and new figures show the ups and downs of Irish tourism and Irish golf.

Esker Hills

When you have a superstar like Shane Lowry as your golden boy, why wouldn’t you take advantage? Esker Hills are running a four day

Simply Golf... Simply. Golf.

Shane Lowry takes on the Pebble Beach 17th challenge.

Simply Golf… does exactly what it says on the tin. This is, simply, golf. And it’s targeted at all those thousands of golfers and would-be-golfers who want to take lessons to improve their game.

So what’s new? you ask.

Simple. This is a free app you download to your smartphone that enables you to book and pay for a lesson with a Pro of your choice.

You can choose by

Ireland's Top Ten Hidden Golf Courses - No. 9

Esker Hills 8th - a sharp dogleg right

Here's the second blog on Ireland's best Fairways Less Travelled... or Hidden Gems.

These are the 9th-ranked courses. For the 10th-ranked, click here.

Parkland: Esker Hills
Links: Laytown & Bettystown

There's a free fourball up for grabs at the end of this post.

West of Ireland Championships 2010

[Photo: views of Rosses Point's par three 13th]

The West of Ireland (Amateur) Championship at Rosses Point, Co. Sligo, is a rich breeding ground for Ireland’s future professionals: Harrington (1994), McIlroy (2005 and 2006), Shane Lowry (2008) have all won here, while Walton (1980), Murphy (1995) and Hoey (2001) were runners-up – Gary Murphy losing at the 23^rd hole. Other instantly recognisable names include McGimpsey, Fox and Fanagan, not to mention Miko Illonen from Finland, who won here in 1999 – proving it’s not just an Irish affair. The 2009 winner was David Corsby from Royal Lytham, who beat the 2008 winner, Shane Lowry, in the final.

[Photo: views of Rosses Point's par three 9th with Benbulbin beyond]

Rosses Point (Par 71) is a tough test of golf in any conditions, but coming in early April 2010, it was going to be a tough affair this year. And the wind blew during the two days of strokes competition. There were 141 competitors (and 61 reserves), and CSS on Day One was 74, and 73 on Day Two. Forget about qualifying – sometimes this was about surviving. The wind was coming straight down the Index 1 par four 7^th of 393 metres, which has a deep drain right in front of the green.

When McIlroy won his first West of Ireland, he was 16 years old so I had high hopes for my home club’s 17 year old star, Paul Dunne (pictured). With a handicap of +2 it was his first visit to the West of Ireland Championships. He fought through the winds on the first two days to record a 77 and a 71, which qualified him comfortably for the matchplay stages. He won his first round match against Brendan Walton (The Island), but lost 2&1 to Eddie McCormack (Galway) in the next round. No doubt it was an excellent education for Paul and he will be firing at plenty more titles this year - especially after a stunning 64 in the Lee Valley Scratch Cup at the end of March. At the time of this blog, his victor has won two more matches and is now in the semi-final.

The last two rounds are played tomorrow and will see:
Eddie McCormack against Michael Sinclair (Knock), and
Rory Leonard (Banbridge) against Rory McNamara (Headfort)

The Championship began in 1923: the greatest victory ever recorded was by J Burke of Lahinch, who won 11&10 in 1936; the greatest battle was won by W Ferguson of Malone at the 38^th hole (i.e. the 20^th extra hole) in 1959; and the most prolific winner is J Carr with a remarkable 13 wins.