Open opportunity in "North West Of Ireland"
IN: News | European PGA | North West of Ireland Open (2002) | Preview | by Bruce Young | 11 Aug 2002
With the PGA being staged in Minnesota this week most of the European Tour's leading lights will be across the pond when it's less credentialled members take to the fairways of the Ballyliffin Golf Club's Glashedy Links for the North West Of Ireland Open.
The links is the second of two courses owned by the Ballyfillin Golf Club in County Donegal in the North West of Ireland. Glashedy Links was opened in 1995 and was designed by the Dublin golf course architectural team of Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock. This will be the first time a European Tour event has been played there, last years tournament being played at the Slieve Russell Hotel Golf Club in County Cavan further to the south and east of Donegal.
The event is essentially a co sanctioned event between the Challenge and European Tours with seventy two players from each tour get a start. Tobias Dier won the event last year but with fortune smiling on Dier this past month in his Dutch Open victory he is taking the week off.
Constantino Rocca and Andrew Oldcorn are in the field as will be Ian Pyman who has done so well in Moscow this past week.
Australians Scott Gardiner, Adam Fraser and Adam Crawford along with New Zealander Elliott Boult fly the flag from this part of the world.
The tournament carries prizemoney of 350,000 euros or $A625,000 but importantly for those players from either tour the chance to shine while the strength of the European Tour is attempting to fry bigger fish elsewhere.
