On Friday 14th The Minister for Sport and Tourism (Mary Hanafin) attended the official announcement of Ireland’s Golf Ambassador, no surprise to all concerned that Padraig Harrington has taken up the role. Speaking at the launch Harrington said that this appointment officially gives him a title to a job he has being doing for some time now. He  went on to tell that wherever he travels he continues to get questions about golf in Ireland and he has always responded favourably. With over 40% of the worlds links Padraig continued by saying that it’s the golf courses that get tourists to come but it’s the people that get tourists to come back. You can find out more about Padraig’s role here…………

We received an email over the last few days enquiring about whether we organised “scheduled Irish Golf Vacations” , and the short answer to this was no. We have received emails and calls in the past where golfers where looking to join a larger group and travel Ireland playing some great courses, meeting new people and generally having a good time.

So, with this in mind we are looking at sceduling an “IRISH GOLFING FRIENDS” trip for the summer of 2012

But rather than us telling you what to do, we are looking for you to provide some suggestions. So get emailing us with your thoughts on what would make a great “IRISH GOLF FRIENDS” trip in 2012

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We always try to keep our clients informed of special offers and today is no different — Aer Lingus is having an “Ireland Summer Sale” If you have been thinking about booking your Irish Golf Vacation and looking at the cost of flights, now is  the time to book, there is great value to be obtained. Visit the Aer Lingus site for more details

Recently Backspin Magazine (an Irish golf publication) published it’s second Irish course rankings list. What makes these rankings unique is that they have decided to segregate the courses in links and parkland; so we have a # 1 links and parkland to debate! We all like to rate the courses we’ve played (my favourites are Ballyliffen Glashedy [links]  and Mount Juliet [parkland]) and everyone has a different opinion, and thats great as it makes golf such a brilliant participant sport. Backspin put together a “crack team” of judges for the voting panel including Graeme McDowell, Christy O’ Connor Jnr, Ewen Murray and Niall Quinn. You can find the full list here Links (top 3)                                                                                                                                 1. Portmarnock 2. Royal County Down 3. Royal Portrush (Dunluce) Parkland (top 3) 1. Mount Juliet 2. K Club (Palmer) 3. Adare

Myself and my wife (Cara) managed to make a break away from the kids and made it down to Castlematyr Resort. Located in County Cork, it’s only a 20 min drive from Cork City and very close to the lovely seaside town of Youghal. From the minute you arrive you are greeted with smiling and helpful staff, more than willing to go that extra mile to ensure our stay was memorable. Andrew Phelan (Manager of the Resort) made sure to introduce himself, a nice touch and I’m sure this is par for the course. When walking the course the one thing that struck me immediately was the amount of mounding , very rarely will you find a level stance and it has a feel of an inland links (similiar to the Montgomerie Course at Carton House)  if there is such a thing! The clubhouse itself is unique and I suppose I can describe it as a wooden box dropped into landscape with one end of the box a large window so you can see all aspects of the course unfold in front of you. Overall I’d recommend Castlematyr to anyone visiting the area, excellent facilities, great course and a superb hotel.

The recent cold snap in Ireland has being playing havoc with golf courses in Ireland – realistically no courses have been open and available for play since mid-December. In the last week we’ve seen some movement, most noticeably from The European club which offered a special offer of €40 a round (it’s normally closer to €100 a round). I came across an interesting chart on the Met Eireann (Meteoroligcal Society of Ireland) that illustrates the extent of the big freeze we’ve experienced in the past 4 weeks. The loss of revenue when coupled with the relatively poor 2009 has increased the pressure on courses to be more inventive in attracting golfers and maintaining golfers. The Golf Union of Ireland (GUI) has put together a report to stimulate debate and ideas for courses – you can read it here.

Ireland finished second to Italy in the World Cup of Golf, held at Misson Hill’s in Southern China. Ireland had dominated up until the final day where Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell were unable to finish off the job – but congratulations to  both for showing such a fine display. The Molinari brothers took the spoils for Italy with Sweden joining Ireland in second place. Check out the full leaderboard here It’s McIlroy and McDowell’s first time pairing up at this tournament, in previous years it was usually the reliable Harrington and McGinley, in fact Ireland won this event most recently in 1997. There is no doubt that Irish golf is on the up and McIlroy is spearheading the charge – the young man from Hollywood has taken to his professional career with gusto and last week finished second in the Harry Vardon (European Order of Merit)Tropy to Lee Westwood. His recent announcement that he is to take membership of the PGA tour is exciting and US audiences can expect to see more of this prestigious talent. A recent question was put to Rory about his favourite golf course in Northern Ireland – he choose Ardglass and I couldn’t disagree. If ever there was a course that deserved the title of “hidden gem” it’s Ardglass. It would be a worthy addition to your golf trip to Ireland and most people would combine Royal County Down into their schedule too.

After months of speculation Rory McIlroy has finally confirmed the worst kept secret in golf – he is to take up membership of the PGA tour in 2010. He intends to adopt the same model as P. Harrington and play both the PGA and the European Tour. McIlroy said: “I can’t thank the European Tour enough but I am just in a privileged position where I play wherever I want, and besides I earned enough money in US Tour events to get my card so I have taken out membership. “I want to become a better player and the best way to develop my game is to be playing more in the States and playing a worldwide schedule. “I just feel that I will become a better golfer if I also play in America. I will be playing in world class fields with more world ranking points on offer. “The only way for me to get better is to play alongside better players and on paper at this moment there are 16 better players than me in the world. “In this game you have to challenge yourself against the best and last Sunday in Shanghai was a great example of how I was able to respond to the challenge.”

For those of you not familiar with Rosapenna, it’s located at Downings, Co. Donegal (NorthWest of Ireland). In September of this year the new Strand Holes opened on the Old Tom Morris Course. Prior to this the back nine was located across the main road and in reality it took from the course. Now with the addition of the new holes, Old Tom is a rival to the jewel in the crown of the resort, Sandy Hills. I’ve played both courses on numerous occasions and keep going back for more. Sandy Hills is championship standard and I’ve no doubt that some day it will host the Irish Open – it really is that good. Its long by links standard and punishes wayward shots, the rough is “rough” and you’d be advised to leave the driver in the bag and use a wood/rescue of 3 iron off the tee. You can see more about the Strand Nine here. While up around that area I would suggest you also play Ballyliffen, Portsalon, Dunfangway and Murvegh links – Donegal really has everything you need for an  great irish golf trip.

The 5th and 6th of July 2010 will see the latest installment of the JP McManus Pro-Am. The premier charitable golf event in Europe, JP’s event has gone from strenght to strength since its first run out in 1990. In total it has raised over €55million for local organisations that aim to help underprivileged and disadvantaged of the region. The event is held every 5 years and attracts the cream of international golfers – including Tiger Woods and Padraig Harringtion (2005 champion). Such an event lift’s the spirits of everyone. It’s far too easy to stereotype pro golfers as being too busy to attend these events so it is refreshing to see so many huge international players commit to playing at Adare Manor in July 2010. Entry to the event is €50 for the two days with U16s entering for free. It’s a great way of getting to see great golfers in a relaxing atmosphere – well worth a visit. You can find out more details about the pro-am here