Welcome to the 2023 edition of Destination Golf Ireland .
Welcome to the 2023 edition of Destination Golf Ireland . It comes with considerable hope and expectation after a very successful and busy 2022 . More of the same , please .
Irish golf had reasons to be content as visiting golfers returned en masse after the lows of Covid . All indications are that this will continue this year . But indicators of success stretch beyond mere green fees and the investments being made by golf clubs across the four provinces is a sure sign that the future is bright . Club membership also remains high and there are few times in the past 15 years that the outlook has been so promising … despite the effects of what is going on elsewhere in the world .
The investments made in 2022 range from the very small to the impressively large . And none is larger than the revamping of Druids Glen , due to open in late spring of this year . A multi-million euro investment will see our most vibrant parkland recalibrated for the modern age . New greens , new bunkers , new just-about-everything … including a spectacular Augusta-like new 4th green setting . There will be a new clubhouse , too , and there is a marvellous sense of anticipation as we await spring . Portmarnock Links is creating six new holes while Royal Dublin – our oldest links – is renovating all of its bunkers and almost halving its total of 93 . Dromoland Castle ( ahead of hosting the Women ’ s Irish Open ), Castlemartyr , Blainroe , Luttrellstown Castle and several others have all followed suit with a full-course bunkering overhaul .
And then there ’ s the K Club , which removed and renewed all of its fairways on the Palmer North course . The Horizon Irish Open will return to the Co . Kildare club in September , 2023 ( as well as in 2025 and 2027 ), and fans will be anticipating another scintillating victory for Rory McIlroy .
Yes , it is safe to say , there is much to look forward to this year .
Kevin Markham Editor Destination Golf Media Ltd .
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