Fans flocked to Newcastle for Irish Open golf tournament

Fans flocked to Newcastle for Irish Open golf tournament

12 August 2015

ALMOST 110,000 golf fans flocked to Newcastle’s Royal County Down course for the recent Irish Open.

The figure has been confirmed by Newry, Mourne and Down Council which is currently compiling a detailed report on the economic boost the four-day tournament provided for the area.

Council officials are confident the global television coverage of the event will encourage more international visitors to the district in the future and have no doubt the spectacular Royal County Down course will continue to host prestigious tournaments attracting the world’s top golfers.

Hosted by the Rory McIlroy Foundation, the recent Irish Open did not always enjoy the best of weather, but the spectators flocked to the famous links course in their tens of thousands.

The practice round held 24 hours before the Pro-Am was watched by 4,320 spectators, while the pro-am which attracted a host of local, national and international celebrities from the world of sport and showbiz, was watched by 11,239 spectators.

The tournament’s opening round over the challenging links course attracted 18,397 spectators, while almost 5,000 made their way to Royal County Down for day two.

Predictably, Saturday saw the biggest crowd of the tournament with almost 25,000 golf fans taking up positions around the course. 

The final day’s action ended with Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen presented with a beautiful piece of Waterford Crystal and a winners’ cheque of £294,000. The Dane emerged victorious after a testing afternoon on the links course where the wind howled and rain lashed down in between sun showers, watched by a crowd of 24,865 fans.

The trophy was presented by world number one golfer Rory McIlroy who disappointingly for local fans failed to make the cut at a tournament he put so much time and energy into organising.

The detailed report on the success of the Irish Open being compiled by Newry, Mourne and Down Council officials is scheduled to be discussed at the next meeting of the local authority’s Enterprise, Regeneration and Tourism Committee.