Dazed In The Life

The European Tour International Schedule, as it is now known, announced its line-up for 2009 yesterday and in these troubled economic times, one thing became very apparent: Getting sponsorship for golf events – as with every other event going right now – is not the easiest of tasks. 9 of the tournaments pencilled in for a marathon 53-week long schedule currently have no venue assigned. This is largely to do with the fact that it costs a lot of money to stage a Tour event, money which sponsors are simply unable to fork out. One of the tournaments in most danger of extinction is our very own Irish Open. First played in 1927, it now looks as if one of the oldest events in Europe is teetering on the brink.

Ireland has a lengthy history in the annals of European and world golf. Think of Fred Daly and his Open Chamionship victory in Hoylake in 1947; Harry Bradshaw’s ball coming to rest in the broken beer bottle which cost him the championship two years later; Christy O’Connor Senior, Himself, considered by many to be one of the finest ball-strikers of all time, who appeared in 10 Ryder Cups; Bradshaw and O’Connor winning the 1958 World Cup of Golf. Think of further Ryder Cup heroes like Eamonn Darcy holing a slippery 6-footer to beat Ben Crenshaw in 1987, Christy O’Connor and his famous 2-iron in 1989, David Feherty beating the US Open Champion Payne Stewart in 1991, Phillip Walton clinching the decisive point against Jay Haas in 1995, Paul McGinley holing the winning putt against Jim Furyk in 2002, Darren Clarke’s emotional homecoming to the K-Club in 2006. Think of the wonderful Dunhill Cup wins in the late-80s and early 90s; Padraig Harrington and McGinley winning the World Cup again in 1997; Darren conquering Tiger in the 2000 World Matchplay. Think, of course, of the wonderful moments Padraig has given us over the last two years.

There are others, many others, of course. And there are the hundreds of fantastic golf courses which dot our countryside, some of the finest tracks in the world, which see golfers from all four corners of the globe flock to our country every year, in spite of our less-than-appropriate weather systems, to sample some of the greatest tests of golf and some of the very best hospitality this planet knows. Ballybunion, Portmarnock, Royal Portrush, Royal County Down, The Old Head, Lahinch, Waterville, The K-Club, Baltray, Adare Manor, the list is endless, and many top golfers would list several of these among their favourite places to play the game.

Yet our national championship is dying. Just this year, Irish golfers have won 8 times on tour, more than any other country. We hold two of the four major championships. And yet, the Irish Open is without a sponsor – a situation which has existed for the last couple of years – and is now homeless. Failte Ireland has been underwriting about €350,000 of the money needed to run the tournament, but that has left Tom O’Kane, owner of Adare Manor which hosted the last two Irish Opens, footing the remainder of the bill, about €2.1million. The prize fund has been paid for by the European Tour, which has owned the tournament since Murphys gave up their sponsorship at the turn of the decade. When Nissan took over the sponsorship, it was only the titular rights and the Tour retained its ownership – i.e.: Nissan couldn’t give enough money to the event to buy the rights outright and to pay all the prizemoney. Hence, in the last few years, the Irish Open has suffered as its low prize-fund meant a lot of pros chose to stay away. It was shunted about the schedule for a few years but has now settled to a May slot which could help as it is not now struggling to entice the top names back from the Players Championship. Other factors such as bad weather (and the subsequent low attendances) and the competition from the European Open at the K-Club all adds up to an event struggling for survival.

O’Kane’s intervention, bringing the Open to Adare Manor in 2007 - and with it, the happy coincidences of good weather and Padraig Harrington’s win (the first by an Irishman in 25 years) - gave the Open a shot in the arm, image-wise. However, money talks and right now it’s all a bit tight-lipped around OUR Open. The European Open has gone, leaving the Irish Open as the only top-quality golf event staged in Ireland. Very soon it could be gone too. For an event which in the 70s and 80s was played on the best links courses in the country and attracted some of the biggest names in the world, from Norman to Crenshaw, Faldo to Langer, to be sliding down the drain is a sad state of affairs.

The fact is, however, that golf sponsorship is so much easier in Asia where there are bags of money, expenses are cheaper and crowds are insanely enthusiastic and will pay exorbitant prices to see the lowest-quality European Tour fields. The events which are still waiting on their venues TBA are in Europe itself rather than the Asian leg of the tour. Recession or no recession, the Irish Open needs a sponsor, or another little piece of our heritage – our sporting heritage – will go the way of Wood Quay and the Hill of Tara, victim to the march of “progress”. This time though, the progress is an economic progression beyond its control.

Okay, so the Irish Open is not quite as old as Wood Quay or the Hill of Tara, but you get my drift. It’s history. It’s tradition. And it’s ours. Anyone feel like sponsoring it? Pass the hat around so.