Advance ticket sales have been excellent for the first World Golf Championships event to be staged in Ireland. The WGC - American Express Championship, which carries a total prize fund of $5.5 million, will be played at Mount Juliet, Kilkenny, from September 19-22. An estimated 25,000 spectators are expected each day as the world’s leading golfers compete for the $1million first prize.
Announcing further details of the event in Dublin today (Monday 22 April), the Championship Director, Peter Adams, said the response of the Irish public had been extremely positive.
“We launched ticket sales exactly a year before the Championship and were unsure about the public reaction but demand was strong from the very outset and sales have increased further in the past few weeks with the high profile events getting underway. We are anticipating crowds of about 25,000 on each of the four days and with five months to go to the start of the Championship we believe this figure may well be surpassed. While we still anticipate tickets being available during the week of the Championship, the quality of the field and the pre-sales already recorded, mean we can give no guarantees in that respect.”
Speaking at today’s press briefing, the defending Champion, Mike Weir, said he believed most of the world’s top golfers would play. “Obviously, I am looking forward to defending my title and also to playing competitive golf in Ireland for the first time. The profile of Ireland as a venue for professional golf events has grown considerably over the past number of years and golf fans on the island are unlikely to have a better opportunity for some time to see the world’s best compete. I know most of the players are excited about the event being held at Mount Juliet.
“I am sure there is great excitement already about The Ryder Cup Matches in 2006 but fans should remember that there are many top players from outside Europe and the US for whom The Ryder Cup can be no more than a spectacle to be watched on television. The World Golf Championships truly attract the world’s best golfers.”
Mike Weir won the Championship at Valderrama in 2000 and is the defending Champion as last year’s event was cancelled on account of the tragic events of September 11th in the United States. The WGC - American Express Championship is one of four global events that serve to determine the true champions of the game by pitting the best players in the world against each other in a variety of formats.
This year’s event will be held at Mount Juliet the week preceding The 34th Ryder Cup Matches at The De Vere Belfry when Ireland will have three members in the European Team for the first time. The Captain of the European Team, Sam Torrance, regards the participation of the players in one of the biggest events in the annual golf calendar as a positive. “People who question the wisdom of this fail to realise that professional golfers operate best at high octane levels and the better the competition the sharper their games tend to be. Of course players must be sensible and take the necessary amount of rest but it is not a question of necessarily taking that rest immediately before The Ryder Cup. I cannot speak for the US Team but I would certainly be pleased to see my players competing at Mount Juliet and very much look forward to watching the action there myself.”
The Vice President of American Express Europe, Michael Madden, told the briefing that the Championship represented an important statement by the company in a market where it first opened an office on Grafton Street in 1936. He told the briefing: “We are obviously very pleased that the event will be hosted in Ireland, one of the world’s greatest golf destinations and an important market for our company. Our sponsorship of the World Golf Championships gives us the opportunity to offer our Cardmembers in Ireland a range of special benefits, including complimentary access to a range of hospitality areas for the duration of the tournament.”
The Acting Chief Executive of Bord Fáilte, Niall Reddy, told the briefing that Bord Fáilte’s investment in the Championship was the second largest commitment made to golf after the investment in The Ryder Cup Matches. “Work on this strategy of driving home Ireland’s advantage as a place to visit and play golf began ten years ago and this summer marks a particularly important manifestation of its success. For a small country to ‘top and tail’ its already strong portfolio of annual golf events with The Seve Trophy and the WGC - American Express Championship shows just how far we have come. The proof of the value of this investment is the huge growth in golf tourism to the point where overseas golf tourists now spend an estimated €150 million per annum in this country,” he said.
Padraig Harrington, Touring Professional of the host club, Mount Juliet, said: “Obviously the golf course is by far and away the best conditioned, probably in the whole of Great Britain and Ireland. They have done a phenomenal job. Since the day the club opened, the greens have been some of the best to putt on anywhere in the world, and I mean anywhere in the world. That’s incredible for Ireland.
“It’s a tremendous layout. It’s one of Jack Nicklaus’s older designs and it’s a beautiful course. It’s a pretty nice, enjoyable, yet challenging, golf course for the members, but when they bring a tournament like the Irish Open to the venue it is much tougher. I think that when that event was at Mount Juliet it was voted as the best tournament of the year.
“The golf course is very challenging. Because the greens are so good, once they get them firm and fast, missing on the wrong side leaves you struggling. It’s exactly how golfers want it. If you hit good shots, you are rewarded. If you miss a few, you are struggling.
“As regards Mount Juliet as a resort, it’s very relaxing. Once you go through the gates you find a beautifully relaxed, casual place to stay. There is always a warm welcome awaiting you and the staff are very friendly. It’s a very easy going place. It really is a haven with all the facilities you could wish for – horse riding, fishing and other things as well at the golf.
“The hotel and the restaurants have a lovely ambiance. I’ve been telling the US players to bring their families to the WGC-American Express Championship. It’s that type of place. They have apartments and houses as well at the main hotel building and it would be ideal for players and their families to share a house or apartment. You could fit two families into the houses and they would have a ball for the week. With Kilkenny very close by, with its great restaurants, it really is an idyllic setting. Of course you don’t have to leave the site but there is plenty to do in the immediate environment.
“I firmly believe the American Express Championship will be a tremendous success. I think some people from abroad will be pleasantly surprised just how good a golf course and facility Mount Juliet is. The players have been asking me about Mount Juliet and I’ve been extolling the virtues of the place during my trips over to the States.
“I keep telling them about the type of course it is – some subtle slopes on the greens, no big tiers. The whole place is about subtlety, on and off the course. The difficulties aren’t obviously apparent until you get into competition and the greens speed up and then you know all about it. I don’t think you could get a better venue for a World Golf Championships event. Everything you could want in a tournament venue is on site. The facilities, accommodation, restaurants are all first class and it’s a superb golf course and always, always in fabulous condition. For me personally, I am thrilled to be associated with such a wonderful place.”
Tickets for the Championship are available through Ticketmaster Hotline IR: +353 1 246 9900
UK: + 44 870 333 0389 and a limited amount of corporate hospitality is still available from The Hospitality Partnership on +353 1 676 2728 and the UK: + 44 845 305 0900.
