| Carton House in a Snapshot |
| – Just 30 minutes from Dublin City Centre & Dublin Airport |
| – Two time Irish Open Host (soon to be three) |
| – Two, 18-hole, championship golf courses & 4* luxury hotel |
| – Packages start from just £79 – Incl. 1 Night, Unlimited Rounds + B&B |
This week the European Tour heads to Carton House, Ireland, for the highly anticipated Irish Open which will see all of Irelands top golfers compete for the title – including the ‘Irish Super Six’ comprising of: Clarke, McDowell, McIlroy, Lowry, Harrington and McGinley.
This will be the third time that the Open will take place on the Colin Montgomerie-designed course, which is ten years old, however it will be the first time since 2006 the event has headed to Carton House.
In 2005, the first time Carton House held the Irish Open, Monty finished a tied for 28th place following a poor third round of 75.
Carton House, nestled in a 1,100 acre walled estate dating back to Norman times, is very easy to get to from Dublin International Airport and the city centre, at just under half an hour drive west from each.
Despite being inland the Montgomerie Course provides a distinctive ‘links feel’. And if last year’s Irish Open is anything to go by (the competition at Royal Portrush attracted huge crowds – with more people watching the Irish Open than the Open Championship live last year) we should be in for a very popular event.
The second championship course at Carton House was laid out by the former Masters and Open Champion Mark O’Meara.
The course has an interesting sculptured layout, which stretches to a considerable 7,300 yards from the championship tees, and gets its characterization from the rolling fairways, sweeping fescue grass, distinct definition between cuts of grass and the numerous deep pot bunkers – so for us not lucky enough to be there watching live it should look great on the TV.
Monty was particularly pleased with his course, “In my design, I attempted to go back to a more traditional golf course. I looked at the great courses around the world – Royal Melbourne, Troon, Turnberry – and worked out what is so good about them. One thing that springs to mind – bunkering. They are hazards and they work with the prevailing wind. Few holes are straight up and down the wind but tend to be across, which brings the bunkering into play. This is the kind of course where the best players would always come out on top.”
Features include – two Championship Golf Courses, a leisure centre with pool, Spa, Training Pitches, Tennis Courts, Purpose Built Events Centre and state of the art conference facilities, making Carton House the ideal choice for your Kildare hotel break.
The favourites:
Rory McIlroy (15/2) – The World No.2 is the automatic favourite to take the title in Ireland this week, however there are good reasons to oppose him. He’s never won a European Tour event in Europe, he’s still without a win in 2013 and with more off-course interruptions (switching management groups again) may be related to his recent form which shows a missed cut (Wentworth), a 57th (Memorial) and a 41st (US Open). As an amateur, McIlroy played in this event at Carton House, shooting a 71-81. However he’s not performed too badly in recent years with a 7th at Adare Manor in 2008 and a 10th at Royal Portrush.
Graeme McDowell (12/1) – G-Mac has been very up-and-down in his last six starts – MC-Win-MC-Win-MC-MC. So who knows what we’re going to expect this week? Well the Northern Irishman’s previous Open form has not been particularly good with a 16th (2012), a 25th (2011) and a 31st (2010) while his two previous starts at Carton House ended with an early Friday exit. In truth, he’s never made the top 10 in 11 Irish Open starts!
Thomas Bjorn (14/1) – In his previous two starts the Dane has finished runner-up and will, without doubt, feel as though victory slipped through his fingers in last week’s BMW International Open in Germany. He’s also in good form, with the figures from his last five events: 2-2-4-40-8 and in the last three he’s been putting terrifically. Thomas also won at Carton House in 2006 and can also brag four other top-5s in the event.
[youtube width=”600″ height=”400″ video_id=”IJgpbG5N3v0″]
Padraig Harrington (18/1) – The two-time Open champion and USPGA winner won at Adare Manor in 2007 and was second at County Louth in 2001 and Killarney in 2010. In total, he’s made the top seven eight times. He’s had an OK run of results in America in recent times (10th St Jude, 21st US Open) so Padraig may be up there near the top at the Irish Open.
Ross Fisher (25/1) – Fisher has a decent Irish Open Record, finishing first at Killarney in 2010, fifth here at Carton House in 2005 and 10th at Royal Portrush last year. The Englishman has also been in top form over the last two months (10th Wells Fargo, 8th Nordea Masters, and 18th BMW last week). However, it’s not all been good for the 32-year-old as he lost a play-off at the International Final Qualifying event at Sunningdale for the final spot for this year’s Open at Muirfield.
Shane Lowry (25/1) – The Irishman is Carton House’s attached touring pro so he should know the course like the back of his hand, especially because his house is only round the corner. He famously won the event as an amateur at County Louth in 2009. Shane, now a reputable European Tour star, finished 12th at Wentworth the other week and closed with a 65 to finish 22nd in Munich last weekend – so he’s looking good going into the tournament.
