New Venue for Nissan Irish Open
Carton House Golf Club, Co. Kildare, has been confirmed as the venue to host the 2005 Nissan Irish Open. ‘The Montgomerie’, a spectacular inland links, has been chosen as the course to host the Championship next year. Since acquiring Carton House in 1977, the Mallaghan family have built two top class golf courses, The O’Meara and The Montgomerie, both of which are plotted around the historical 1,100 acre estate of Carton Demesne, one of Ireland’s greatest stately homes and one-time ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare and the Dukes of Leinster.
The transformation of the estate into a first class golf resort began in 1999 with the development of the O’Meara course. The Montgomerie opened in June 2003. This magnificent new course is Montgomerie’s second course design – his first in Ireland and the UK. He expressed his delight with the course – ‘This is a unique project and I am privileged to be associated with it. You can’t call it a links course, but it plays like a links and has all the characteristics of a links. In designing this course, I attempted to go back to a more traditional design.’
Although bordered by a variety of beautiful, mature trees on the estate, the course is actually quite barren-looking, with the shimmering fescue grasses separating the fast-running fairways. There is a great mix of holes: long par fours backed up with tricky short holes. The bunkers are well positioned and deep and the greens feature sensible slopes and interesting contours.
The Montgomerie encourages strategic play that helps to make golf so fascinating. At full stretch – 7,300 yards – the course will provide a stern test.
Welcoming the announcement, Gerard O’Toole, Executive Chairman, Nissan Ireland, said: ‘We are delighted that Carton House has been selected as the venue to host the Nissan Irish Open 2005. The course itself undoubtedly offers a great challenge to those players who enjoy both parkland and links terrains. Lee Mallaghan and his team must be commended for producing such a fine development and we look forward to working closely with all at Carton House at what promises to be an exciting event for players and spectators alike.
‘Nissan, now in its second year as sponsor of the Irish Open is very proud to be associated with the event. Our agreement to continue our sponsorship underlines our commitment to the Irish Open and to Irish golf in general and we look forward to building the tournament as a major presence on the international sporting calendar.’
Lee Mallaghan, President, Carton House Golf Club, said: ‘We are absolutely thrilled and honoured to be chosen as the host venue to The Nissan Irish Open in 2005. A variety of great courses have hosted this event over the years and we are very pleased that The Montgomerie will be among them, especially as the course is only twelve months old. All credit must be given to the course designers, Colin Montgomerie and Stan Eby of European Golf Design, and our Course Superintendent, John Plummer.
‘Carton has enjoyed a wonderful and varied history over the past 265 years where the likes of Lord Edward FitzGerald and Queen Victoria have enjoyed the estate. It is great to think that now with the Irish Open, more than 60,000 people will get the opportunity to watch some the world’s best golfers here at Carton – this is another milestone in the history of this great estate. The Nissan Irish Open is a fantastic event on The European Tour International Schedule and we look forward to being associated with it next year.’
Minister John O’Donoghue, TD, Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, commented, ‘It is wonderful to see another new golf club joining the ranks of Host to the Nissan Irish Open. This Event is shop window for golf tourism in Ireland. Fáilte Ireland’s support of golf in Ireland has proved a very successful strategy for the development of our tourism industry. Carton House Golf Club is a magnificent tourism showcase. We congratulate the owners and sponsors on this announcement’.
Ken Schofield, Executive Director of The European Tour, said: ‘The Nissan Irish Open has a rich history of being played over some of the finest courses in Ireland and The Montgomerie at Carton House Golf Club continues that tradition. It is a privilege to play the Nissan Irish Open over Colin Montgomerie’s first golf course design in Ireland.
‘We thank Gerard O’Toole, the Executive Chairman of Nissan Ireland, and his team for their continued investment in the Nissan Irish Open and Fáilte Ireland for their long-term support, and eagerly anticipate another superb Nissan Irish Open at Carton House next year.’
For more details contact:
European Tour
Gordon Simpson, Director of Communications
Tel: 0044 1344 840 400
Murray Consultants
Bláithin Boylan, Director
Tel: 00 353 1 4980 300