Killeen course ready to test the best

EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS:THE RUBBERSTAMPING job on the 3 Irish Open's return to Killarney for next year's tournament will be conducted in a Dublin city centre hotel this afternoon.

In truth, though, the decision to bring the tournament back to the lakeside Killeen Course — which has been revamped and further upgraded since Nick Faldo completed back-to-back wins there in 1991 and 1992 — on a new date, the August bank holiday weekend, is a no-brainer and set to be a sure fire winner.

The move from the May date it occupied in the schedule this season, when Shane Lowry — still an amateur — emerged victorious at Baltray, to a new prime summer slot on the PGA European Tour should help to further strengthen the field.

The Killarney course was one of four seriously considered by the European Tour. Fota Island in Cork, Carton House in Maynooth and Mount Juliet in Kilkenny which have all previously played host to Irish Opens were the other showpiece parkland courses deliberated over in the process.

Killeen, which has also hosted the Curtis Cup, was reopened in 2006 with new tees bringing the length to over 7,200 yards and with greens remodelled and constructed closer to the lake. The official announcement is due to be made in the Westin Hotel in Dublin this afternoon.

Meanwhile, the early part of the 2010 PGA European Tour schedule was released yesterday and will start with back-to-back tournaments in South Africa before Christmas. The new season will start with the Alfred Dunhill championship on December 10th-13th and will be followed by the South African Open. Two new tournaments, the Africa Open in Johannesburg in January and the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco in March, have also been added to the schedule.

In fact, the 2010 season will start with four consecutive tournaments in South Africa before visiting the Middle East for the Gulf Swing that takes in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai. Then, after the WGC-CA Championship in the States, the early season will return to Europe for tournaments in Spain and Portugal as well as Morocco ahead of the US Masters in April.

In confirming the early part of the season and announcing the additional tournaments, European Tour chief executive George O’Grady remarked, “We are confident that by continuing to globalise the game it will grow in stature with the best golfers in the world being given the opportunity to compete in an exciting and dynamic season-long competition.”

EUROPEAN TOUR 2010 EARLY SEASON SCHEDULE

2009 DECEMBER

10-13: Alfred Dunhill Championship, Leopard Creek, Malelane, South Africa.

17-20: South African Open Championship, Pearl Valley, Paarl, South Africa.

2010 JANUARY

7-10: Africa Open, East London, South Africa

14-17: Joburg Open, Royal Johannesburg and Kensington, South Africa

21-24: Abu Dhabi Championship, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

28-31: Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy, Doha, Qatar

FEBRUARY

4-7: Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates Club, United Arab Emirates

11-14: to be confirmed

18-21: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Dove Mountain, Marana, Arizona

25-28: tbc

MARCH

4-7: tbc

11-14: WGC — CA Championship, Doral, Miami, Florida, USA

18-21: Hassan II Golf Trophy, Royal Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco

25-28: Andalucian Open, Parador de Malaga, Malaga, Spain

APRIL

1-4: Estoril Portuguese Open, venue tbc

8-11: US Masters, Augusta National, Georgia

8-11: Madeira Islands Open BPI-Portugal, Porto Santo, Madeira.