European Tour - Irish Open

First topic message reminder :

The much anticipated return of the Irish Open to Northern Ireland and to the Royal Portrush is finally upon us. It was 65 years ago (1947) when the event was staged there last time, with Harry Bradshaw from Delgany, Co. Wicklow, being the winner. The Dunluce Course is widely acknowledged as one of the best links courses in the world (redesigned by Harry Colt in 1929) and as many players have commented in the last couple of days, the course should be in great condition for the event...

Spoiler:

The last couple of years the Open was held on a parkland course in Killarney, a place which has been particularly good to the English golfers who have won each of the four editions organised there in the ‘modern’ era (i.e. since 1975… there was no Irish Open as such between 1953-1975). In contrast, English golfers haven’t been so successful when the event has been organised on a typical links course (Mark James the last winner in 1980 at Portmarnock). With all the great successes of Irish golfers over the past 5 years, there are obviously very high expectations that one of them should win the event this year. Would be great for one of the Portrush boys to get it, of course, but considering DC’s health and form of late, probably the only realistic option in that category remains McDowell. Don’t know what to make of Rory’s chances though, not sure if he is ready to contend again, especially considering that the weather prospects are not very good. You can’t overlook the fact that he holds the course record here (61). He posted on twitter a short clip with the scorecard and some images from that record setting round in 2005 (weather was very good then…) and interestingly enough he added… “Think my course record might be in jeopardy though!”

http://social.rorymcilroy.com/videos/192209

Then there is Padraig Harrington, who often mentions the Royal Portrush as being his favourite course, and with his newly found form he cannot be ruled out by any means… But as much as I would love to see an Irish winner here come Sunday, I also have a feeling that all the added focus and pressure on the local star players, could well influence the proceedings and the outcome by the end of the week…

Rather disappointing in the end to see that quite a few of the top European players are not coming, but having said that, the strength of the field should be close to the highs achieved over the past decade or so…

Spoiler:

For quite a number of years now, John Daly has been the star US attraction at the Irish Open. And he will be here again, but he’s been certainly upstaged this year by Keegan Bradley, who won quite a few fans over here since he announced his intention to play in the event. And fair play to him, he really seems to be very excited to be here, flying over a couple of days ago together with McDowell and taking time to do at least some of the compulsory Co. Antrim sightseeing (Giant’s Causeway, Bushmills Distillery, etc.). Liked one of his tweets about the local weather... You know the weather gets bad here when it's 50 blowing 20 sprinkling and the people keep saying "hope the weather holds out like this all week"
...as well as this picture of him looking rather lost, but happy, in the middle of the famous 'Big Bertha' bunker on the 17th...

Spoiler:

The European Tour has already announced that Friday, Saturday and Sunday are a complete sell out, which we’re told is an unprecedented achievement for a regular ET event. With over 100,000 visitors expected to ‘flood’ the course over the next few days (a limit of 27,000 per day will be imposed), and with some very typical Irish weather forecasted (rain on Thu & Fri and then wind picking up as well on Sat & Sun), this is not going to be just a very tough test of golf, but also a tough test for the organisers who will be extremely keen to show the world (and especially the R&A) that the Royal Portrush is well capable to host a top event like this, and maybe more…


P.S. Unfortunately couldn’t travel to the event this year, but luckily this should be well covered live on National TV channels over here from Thursday to Sunday (especially now that THE famous handshake is out of the way…). With all the Euro footy, Wimbledon and the Euro Athletics on the box as well, should be very little time left for any work this week I’m afraid… Bring it on!

navyblueshorts wrote:Quick like some Van Morrison myself. Supposed to be a bit of a sod to work with...

Really, pretty much every song is about god with him isnt it. And you a supposed non believer!

You can still like the tune and sound of the songs. I quite like to put his sort of stuff on when cooking or concentrating on something else.

Diggers wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:Quick like some Van Morrison myself. Supposed to be a bit of a sod to work with...

Really, pretty much every song is about god with him isnt it. And you a supposed non believer!

I'll have to re-listen to some of the lyrics but I'm not sure I recall obvious references to the Imaginary Deity in "Brown-eyed Girl" or "Moondance"...

GunsGerms wrote:Yes he did. Aldred worked with Luke Donald first didn't he? Something seems to be working.

Depends on your point of view - I haven't seen Lukey kick a penalty or drop goal anywhere near as well as Jonny Wilkinson as yet... Or at all, come to think of it.

Speaking of God tunes.

Anyone remember when Sir Cliff 'cut a disc' under another name.
He had been banned from the BBC2 playlist and it was his way of hitting back.

Some of the DJ's started praising this great new artists song. Then the cat was let out of the bag and they soon stopped playing him.

Sir Cliff banned from the BBC? I think you just made that up

Skydriver wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Yes he did. Aldred worked with Luke Donald first didn't he? Something seems to be working.

Depends on your point of view - I haven't seen Lukey kick a penalty or drop goal anywhere near as well as Jonny Wilkinson as yet... Or at all, come to think of it.

Aldreds input isnt anyway related to golf technique is it? He examines and records how golfers practice and gives advice on how to maximise time spent practicing and improves processes etc. or something like that?

JW isn't the only rugby player to have worked with Aldred. JS has also benefitted from his advise amongst others. Busy man.

Yes, that's right - he's not a technical coach [in golfing terms at least]. Possibly my attempt at humour was a bit oblique. But I don't care, I laugh at my own jokes anyway.

Anyway, one of the things Dave has done with Luke is to introduce a game into his practice. It's called "FIG" or something like that (extract of same acronym which Phil Mickelson allegedly says about himself - "[Flip] I'm Good"...). Basically take [3?] shots from the same place when playing a practice round, take best ball and see how good you could be at your best. I think part of it is confidence-building, but also with a semi-measurable goal on the standard to aspire to.

On other matters, anyone been golfer-spotting at Wimbledon? From the BBC coverage so far (and I haven't seen that much I don't think), I believe I've seen Sergio Garcia the other day, and today on centre was Paul Casey and Ernie Els. Mr Casey looked happy in the company of a mystery blonde-haired lady - presumably he's moving on from his divorce last year...

I hope adam scott didn't fly over to see anna, she was dealt with pretty quickly today.

Why would you not give this course consideration for an Open Championship? And while contemplating that, I would throw in Walton Heath ... Plenty of land with the two courses. Or St. George's Hill, or Sunningdale, or ...

McLaren wrote:I hope adam scott didn't fly over to see anna, she was dealt with pretty quickly today.

]

Do you think he's bothered by how she plays tennis?

Shotrock wrote:Why would you not give this course consideration for an Open Championship? And while contemplating that, I would throw in Walton Heath ... Plenty of land with the two courses. Or St. George's Hill, or Sunningdale, or ...

I agree Shotrock, as far as I can see there's no reason not to play on courses other than Links (is tradition THAT important?). Too many good courses around unused in top tournaments and too many boring courses (T.O.C) on the Open rota.

Heathland courses are some of the best in the whole of the UK.

Paul Caseys new lady friend is Pollyanna Woodward, she is a presenter on channel 5's Gadget Show and also a pretty handy golfer apparently.

dont contribute much but thought would chip in and while I'm here I'd just like to say that princed and Kwini articles are a must read, thanks!!

I actually think the open should be played somewhere like the London club or trumps new place. Although I would resent trump gaining financially from the open. There is no reason to just play on the classic links courses especially when some of them need major alterations after the R and A have got their paws all over the clubs wishing to hold the open.

The 17th tee at the TOC being placed in the driving range has to be the final straw. If the courses are too short then don’t play the open there. It would have been a great hole of the normal tees for the pro’s. I would much rather guarantee our great courses are ensured to be enjoyable for day to day play rather than making alterations for an event that will happen less than once a decade. Was it Birkdale where the 17th green was altered to the point it was almost unusable.

Or as we always point out on here; get a ball for the pro’s. Imagine being able to hold the open on somewhere like Walton heath or hankley common?

The combination of a restricted ball and true fast and firm conditions would make watching golf so much better. I think it is a reasonably well known theory that some of the most exciting shots in golf rely on the length of time that the outcome of the shot remains unknown. This could usually mean both aerially or along the ground but you cant really see where the ball is in relation to anything else when spectating on tv. So if you can see the ball rolling on the ground for longer while waiting for the outcome the viewers would have a much more exciting experience while watching golf.

Mac, why not just make the pro's use clubs with no loft, that way you could watch them hit the ball along the ground all day long.

By the way, I don't think the extended tee at the 17th@ TOC is that much of a big deal, I was hitting 8 iron into the green there last week off the normal tees and I'm not a massive hitter, so a pro 25 yards further back could easily be doing the same.

Like I say, the course is just too easy, even for normal players.
It's place in history justifies an open every 12-15 years or so, but no reason for it to hold it any more frequently than that.

HiGun wrote:Paul Caseys new lady friend is Pollyanna Woodward, she is a presenter on channel 5's Gadget Show and also a pretty handy golfer apparently.

I understand he's en route to the French Open anyway this week, but wonder if this means he might be spending more time in the UK (esp given his PGA Tour status).

Thanks, HiGun and welcome!
Would be great if Paul finds someone to make him happy... hopefully that will have a positive effect on his golfing carreer as well. Used to really like him a couple of years back and thought highly of his golfing prospects, just got a bit confused with what's been happening to him lately... Maybe this 'romantic' golfing trip to Paris this week will help...

Hello, haven't posted on this forum before but having just read this thread thought I might add some info.

Portrush can be made easy or difficult dependent on pin positions and rough conditions. Although it's always difficult in a 20+ mph breeze. The wind never really got up this week though.

The European Tour have a 'TV' product to sell. They want to see birdies because that looks good on TV.

RPGC had a different agenda. They wanted to show that they could cater logistically for an 'Open'.

Both ended up happy. However, if the Open is held at Portrush the winning score will not be anywhere near -18. 9 and 10 will be 4's instead of 5's and the fairways will be a lot narrower. Also the pins will be nowhere near as 'easy'. The only difficult pin was 6. Add to that the likelihood of firmer conditions and wind and Portrush will provide as stern a test as any course on the rota.

I see that Barry Lane and Paul Broadhurst have earned spots at Lytham by surviving yesterday's qualifiers . . . . . . .

... but unfortunately not Chris Wood, nor Nick Dougherty (who was rather surprisingly the subject of a feature article in yesterday's Evening Standard).