Fota Island to host Irish Open

European tournament golf is set to return to Cork for the first time since 1968. It comes with the decision to stage the Murphy's Irish Open at Fota Island next year and in 2002, when the country's premier golfing event will become something of an all-Cork affair.

The announcement also lends a decidedly prophetic dimension to an observation by greens superintendent Aidan O'Hara last autumn. "If it were necessary, we could have the course in prime condition for next May - in plenty of time for the Murphy's Irish Open," said O'Hara, who was seconded to Fota from his regular duties at Mount Juliet.

The big occasion won't arrive until June 28th next year and the timing suggests that Murphy's are now locked into the new slot into which they moved on the European Tour schedule for the Ballybunion staging this season.

"It has been our stated intent to rotate our national open throughout the country and I'm extremely pleased it is to be staged at the home of Murphy's Irish Stout," said Padraic Liston, managing director of the sponsoring company yesterday.

Situated on an 800-acre estate in Cork Harbour, Fota was initially famous for its arboretum, semi-tropical gardens and wildlife park. But since 1994, it has become familiar as the site of a fine test of golf, reflecting the combined design skills of Peter McEvoy and Christy O'Connor Jnr.

Significant drainage problems and difficulties with some excessively sloping greens, however, became evident when the Smurfit Irish Professional Championship was staged there in 1997. Since then, the property has been acquired by Mount Juliet's owners, Killeen Investments, for an understood outlay of £4.5 million.

The success of Mount Juliet was clearly crucial to the deal. And the commercial wisdom of the link could hardly have been better illustrated than by the presence of O'Hara and Jeff Howes during the reconstruction work last year. Howes, who worked as design co-ordinator and on-course manager for Jack Nicklaus at Mount Juliet, carried out a major remodelling of Fota, bringing it up to the required standard for the Irish Open.

The upgrading by Howes involved the reconstruction of all 18 greens and tees. He also saw fit to completely re-site eight greens and build an entirely new 13th hole. This is a particularly impressive, long par-three, where water borders on the left, while the right is defined by an aesthetically pleasing slope. The overall length of the par-71 layout is 6,927 yards.

Meanwhile, some major infrastructural developments in the Cork City area, notably the Jack Lynch Tunnel and the Waterford road, greatly enhances Fota's attractiveness as a major tournament venue.

The country's second city has been starved of important tournament golf since the halcyon days of the 1960s. That was when the Cork GC at Little Island played host to three international events.

There was the Jeyes Tournament of 1964 when Christy O'Connor captured the then princely top prize of £450. A year later, the same venue staged the Carrolls International when the first prize of £1,000 was claimed by Neil Coles.

In 1968, there was a record prize fund of £5,000 for the RTV Rentals Tournament. This time, victory went to Tommy Horton.