Adare Golf Club

Adare Manor to Host the Irish Open in a Three Year Agreement from 2007

The European Tour has signed a three year agreement with the luxury five-star Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort for the prestigious Irish Open to move to Co. Limerick in May 2007. The Tour is currently in discussion with a number of potential sponsors to replace Nissan, who have discontinued their backing of the popular event after four years.

Designed by world renowned Robert Trent Jones Snr, Adare Manor is one of Ireland’s finest parkland courses, set on the 840 acre estate of Adare Manor, which opened in 1995.

The venue is no stranger to top level championship golf, having staged three consecutive editions of the AIB Irish Seniors Open in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Last July record crowds of 28,000 thronged the picturesque Limerick venue as Ireland’s own Padraig Harrington captured the individual and team titles in the JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am, which raised millions for charitable causes in the West of Ireland.

With remarkable foresight, Harrington said at the time: “Limerick needs a European Tour event, without a doubt. If people turn up in such numbers for a Pro-Am, they deserve a four day tournament.”

Principal Owners, Tom and Judy Kane, speaking for Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, expressed great satisfaction at becoming the venue for The Irish Open for the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and perhaps beyond.

They commented: “We recognise the importance of the event within the Irish golf calendar and expect to join with The European Tour and a number of other sponsors to support and expand the event in the years ahead”

George O’Grady, Executive Director of The European Tour, said: “We are delighted to enter into this three year agreement, which will see a championship with such a long and distinguished heritage as the Irish Open join forces with a superb golf course in Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort.

“We thank Tom and Judy Kane at Adare Manor for their commitment to the Irish Open. Those of us who were privileged to be involved in JP’s Invitational Pro-Am last year appreciate the potential for the Irish Open to be a truly exceptional event in 2007.”

Inaugurated in 1927, the Irish Open has consistently produced world class champions on the calibre of Fred Daly, Harry Bradshaw, Christy O’Connor Jnr, Ben Crenshaw, Hubert Green, Sam Torrance, John O’Leary, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, José Maria Olazábal, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia and Michael Campbell.

Campbell, the reigning US Open Champion, competed in the 2006 Irish Open last month at Carton House Golf Club in Co. Kildare, where Denmark’s Ryder Cup player Thomas Björn triumphed ahead of a world class field including Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Nick Dougherty, Niclas Fasth, Harrington, Robert Karlsson, Paul Lawrie, Sandy Lyle, Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, Montgomerie, Ian Poulter and Woosnam.