The arrival of most of the country's top professionals for the Smurfit Irish PGA Championship, starting on Thursday, has provided the best reason possible for The Island Golf Club to use the newly constructed tee-box on the seventh hole for the first time. Part of the upgrading of the course under the direction of Jeff Howes, which also included the strategic placing of a number of new bunkers, the elevated tee-box adds just over 10 yards to the long par 4 which will demand even greater precision off the tee.
Although Padraig Harrington won't be defending the title he won at Powerscourt last year, the £108,000 tournament - which makes it the richest closed national championship in Europe - has attracted the rest of Ireland's regular European Tour players including Ryder Cup man Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Des Smyth, Eamonn Darcy, Philip Walton and John McHenry. The field is made up of 102 players with the top 40 and ties surviving the 36-holes cut on Friday evening.
It is a matter of some intrigue that only seven players have managed to win the championship in the past 15 years with Smyth (four times) and Walton (four times) leading the way. Martin Sludds, a former member of The Island and now resident professional at Enniscorthy, and Darcy have been two-time winners while Clarke, McGinley and Harrington have each triumphed on one occasion.
Certainly, the players' will be contesting a tournament with significantly more prizemoney on offer than the last occasion that a professional championship was staged at the north Dublin links. Back in 1974, when coincidentally Smyth was also in the field, Jimmy Martin collected £200 for winning the Uniroyal. In the past 10 years, since the Smurfit Group assumed title sponsorship, the Irish PGA has been moved around a number of courses throughout the country including The K Club, Woodbrook, Belvoir Park, Galway Bay, Fota Island and Powerscourt. However, it is the first time since Co Louth played host in 1987 that the championship has been staged on a traditional links course.
