The romantics would have us believe that the real reason some of the world's top course designers - Messrs Nicklaus, Palmer, Trent Jones, Norman et al - have flocked to these shores is because Ireland is steeped in a rich, almost unparalleled, golfing tradition. A more cynical observer, or even a pragmatist, might point out the financial rewards which make it darn good business sense for them to cash in.
Inside the past decade alone, over £100 million has been invested in golf course development in this country. Such expenditure not only reflects the roaring "Celtic Tiger" economy, but also the association with golf as a marketable (and profitable) commodity. The perceived status symbol of having a "name" as the course architect is all part of the package, it seems.
The intoxicating combination of lucre and tradition appears irresistible, hence the high-profile foreign invasion. Jack Nicklaus may have been one of the first to sniff out the potential in Ireland, but a stream of others, most recently Greg Norman, haven't been slow to follow in his footsteps. For instance, Robert Trent Jones designed the new links at Ballybunion; Nicklaus created Mount Juliet; Arnold Palmer was responsible for Tralee, a links, and then returned to more familiar parkland terrain to create The K Club, while Bernhard Langer lent his name to the Portmarnock Hotel Links.
And the invaders continue to make their mark on Irish soil. Norman, for much of the past decade the world's number one player and with even more time on his hands for design work now that he won't be playing for another six months due to an operation on a shoulder injury, has been signed-up to design the £12 million links at Doonbeg in west Clare, which (we're told) will be ready for play in the spring of 2000, although the environmentalists have other ideas. Seve Ballesteros is the front-runner to design another upcoming project at Killeen Castle in Meath.
Meanwhile, an Englishman Peter McEvoy, one of the game's top amateur players ever and recently installed as Walker Cup captain, designed Powerscourt, one of a growing list of Irish courses on his curriculum vitae.
Obviously, the financial incentives are sufficient to ensure Ireland (as much as the Far East and Japan which are also undergoing a boom in course construction) is an attractive destination for these top international course architects. But it is more than that, too. Roddy Carr believes there is a certain "prestige" to having a course in Ireland, perhaps more than almost anywhere else.
"There is a tremendous image of quality about Irish golf and anyone who matters wants to say they've designed a course in Ireland," he says.
Maybe that explains why they have all been elbowing each other out of the way to join in the Irish experience. The "invaders" have captured a niche in the market, a highly competitive one. Yet, while all this has been happening, with one big name after another joining the group of imports, Ireland's "home grown" designers haven't been left behind either.
Indeed, the likes of Paddy Merrigan, Christy O'Connor Jnr, whose most recent commission is to design the second 18 holes at Headfort, Des Smyth, Declan Branigan, Pat Ruddy, Tom Craddock, David Jones and Dr Arthur Spring are among those who have all contributed handsomely to the development of new courses in the country in the past decade.
O'Connor, indeed, at the behest of Shannon development, was involved in the original routing of the proposed new links at Doonbeg - however, the attraction of having a major international name, with Landmark National developing their first course outside the United States, meant Norman, a true golfing entrepreneur with his finger in playing, designing, club manufacturing and apparel, was called on board and jumped at the opportunity. His minimum fee for designing a course is, reputedly, $1 million.
Unlike other big name designers, who, apart from one or two fleeting visits, reportedly don't see their course until the product is finished by their "team," Norman has the reputation of keeping his finger very much on the pulse and insists on regular visits. "It's like a fingerprint of life," he explains. "In 200 years this golf course is going to be here. If your name is on it, you've got to put your time and effort into it.
"To the world, Irish golf is links golf," explains Doug Barton, the vice-president of Landmark. "Greg is passionate about links golf. He's the man who will make this the finest 18 holes. Pretty soon, everyone will know where Doonbeg is."
One of the attractions of designing Doonbeg, for Norman, was the fact that it was a links course. And, interestingly, links is one of the areas unlikely to suffer from the tightening of European Union coffers.
Just as the roads network around Ireland has benefited from European money, so, too, have new golf courses. In the period from 1989 to 1993, Irish courses benefited to the tune of £8,979,165 from the European Regional Development Fund, marginally less than 10 per cent of the total investment in the industry for those five years.
The period from 1994 to 1999 won't reach a comparable figure: just £1,763,528 has been approved from the ERDF. Yet, other European money is available and, in fact, Doonbeg - which is under the auspices of Shannon Development - has secured a £2.4 million grant from the EU Operational Programme for Tourism.
Interestingly, the diminishing funds available from the ERDF coincides with a degree of caution about any further development of courses, certainly parkland courses. Damien Ryan, the Marketing Promotions Executive (Golf) with Bord Failte, explains: "We feel we have the product now, although I expect another one or two extra links courses could receive funding. As far as parkland courses go, the fear would be that there could be a casualty if many more were developed."
Such caution appears well founded, particularly given that a number of new courses in Scotland and England went to the wall in the late '80s and early '90s. However, actual golfing tourism figures suggest the boom in Ireland will continue well into the next century.
The reason for such optimism is that just 17 per cent of golfing tourists come from the United States, a country with a golfing population in excess of 25 million. "We've monitored our golf tourism programme and we will continue to aggressively market it abroad," says Ryan. "But we intend to strongly target the US in 1998, with a heavy emphasis on links courses and then getting the major parkland courses in on the back of that."
Apart from tightening purse strings, environmental issues have become increasingly important in golf course construction. In the past, courses were built with little or no regard to environmental impact. That has all changed. Indeed, the European Golf Association has set up an Ecology Unit (accountable to the EGA, R&A and the PGA European Tour) and the Golfing Union of Ireland has set up a specialist advisory Ecology sub-committee to monitor developments in the field.
Now, anyone undertaking to construct a new course is obliged to walk hand in hand, so to speak, with environmental consultants, particularly any courses being built on dune systems which are now covered by nature conservation designations. These stricter conservation guidelines could slow down the pace of new course construction and, perhaps, the past ten years will be observed as the golden age of course building with so many coming on stream between 1987 and 1997. But the fact remains that Ireland will continue to be a magnet for international "names" eager to get an Irish course among their design portfolio. The only question is: Who's next?
