Golf: Next year's Irish Open is to be held on the Montgomerie Course at Carton House, following its successful staging of the European Amateur Championships in August.
After improvements were made to the resort's O’Meara Course this year, speculation suggested it would be selected for the June (27th-30th) event, but the golf club owners and the European Tour opted for the ‘Monty’.
In fact, the work on the O’Meara counted against it, in the end, according to managing partner Conor Mallaghan.
He said: “We are in the very fortunate position of having two championship golf courses at Carton House but with the recent construction development of the two new holes on the O’Meara, and knowing how unpredictable Irish weather can be we have decided that the Montgomerie course is the sensible option for 2013.”
The Montgomerie has staged the event twice before, when Stephen Dodd and Thomas Bjorn won in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
The 2007 winner at Adare Manor, Pádraig Harrington, has welcomed the competition’s return to his neck of the woods, though residents of Kildare will be keen to point out the Maynooth is not in the capital.
“I am thrilled that the Irish Open is coming back to Dublin next year,” said the three-time Major winner. “As far as I am concerned it is my ‘Fifth Major’ and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing at Royal Portrush earlier this year, as a Dubliner, it’s great to play in my home town and at the same time build on the success of this year’s tournament in the North.”
