*Shane Lowry celebrates winning The Irish Open. Photograph: Joe Buckley.
CLARE’s economy has benefitted to the tune of around €20m from the successful staging of The Amgen Irish Open and The Walker Cup over successive weekends.
For the month of September, Clare lined up as the fairway to golfing heaven with the best amateurs in the world taking on the infamous links of Lahinch Golf Club for the Walker Cup which witnessed one of the most dramatic comebacks of the sporting year.
Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Doonbeg Ireland then had its time to shine as a championship golf course when hosting The Irish Open with US President Donald Trump among the many guests flocking to West Clare to see Shane Lowry win the title for the first time since turning professional following his maiden success in 2009.
Fourth-generation hotelier in Lahinch, Michael Vaughan estimated that the Irish Open was worth €15m to the local economy with The Walker Cup bringing a boost of up to €4m.
Local business owners had calculated in advance of The Irish Open that it would bring a spend of €10m to the Doonbeg economy. “I certainly feel that €10m is conservative,” Vaughan told The Clare Echo. “I’d put it at €15m with all the food and drink consumed, all the rooms whether it be B&Bs, Air BnBs or hotels and the multiplier effect from that so a figure of €15m is reasonable”.
There was less footfall for The Walker Cup but it was still a success, he noted. “We’re talking about a third of the football than The Irish Open but it created a significant boom to Lahinch, it wouldn’t be €15m but it would be worth €3 to €4m to the local economy in Lahinch but it is worth more than that. The Walker Cup is very similar to American college football and that is followed by families right across America, while people might not follow professional golf they follow amateur golf”.
A lasting legacy has been carved out for Doonbeg, Michael maintained. “The Irish Open was the coming of age of the golf course in Doonbeg in relation to hosting an international event and creating an even greater reputation in the world of links golf. The course has always been a fabulous course, this cements its place among Irish link courses, it should increase the interest in golfing in Clare in a huge way”. He added, “there is a huge legacy to be reaped by Doonbeg from having hosted The Irish Open, it will stand to the village and the resort in years to come”.
Extra eyes were on The Irish Open due to the presence of President Trump. “People have their opinions on the politics of the President but we’re very clear on one thing, the American people are always welcome in this country and certainly as tourists. The President attending the event is certainly something most Americans would be supportive of, the event went without any glitch and the island of Ireland has done well, they are all good things, notwithstanding people having strong views on the politics.
“When you look at it, the event was shown coast to coast in America on The Golf Channel and it was carried extensively here in Sky and RTÉ, all those things are invaluable in terms of the coverage, not just the golf but the magic of scenery and breath-taking views. It gave the impression of Ireland as a lush green sporting venue, you contrast that with the performance of the gallery and the people visiting Bethpage Golf Course so the word goes out that Ireland is a huge sporting country with decent supporters of the game who know how to enjoy the sport without causing disruption”.
Owner of the four-star Vaughan Lodge Hotel in Lahinch, Michael explained, “The golf tourist is without doubt the highest spending tourist we have in the country, they outspend every other tourist by two to one, it has been shown that golfers are spending upwards of €400-500 euros per day and more in the local economy, they are buying merchandise, gifts, they are paying for golf which is substantial, they come at an extended season from April to October which is a very long season. Reputationally golf tourists have a better amplification of the tourist message than other tourists, they tell others and encourage others to come back, they support high-end hotels and golf resorts, to be quite honest we would not have the facilities in Doonbeg or Lahinch without the American golfer, no other tourism will support the type of spend. Golfing will be costing €500 per round next year in Lahinch and Doonbeg, there are very few people who can afford that, the two golf courses are world-class courses and up there with the best like Pepple Beach and Bethpage and that has been proven”.
Coverage of The Walker Cup on The Golf Channel shattered previous records online. “It is already shown that the online presence that Lahinch got on social media in The Walker Cup was ten times stronger than it was for the American venue in Cypress Point, there was huge interest and the online presence was phenomenal, Lahinch has done golf in the British Isles an immense service through the galleries and behaviours of the crowd and the camaraderie shown to both teams by everybody that visited. The Walker Cup was always seen to be the pinnacle for what might be hosted in Lahinch, it is an international amateiur event, it was hosted with such tremendous professionalism and the outcome itself was so dramatic and in favour of home the home countries, it has created a legacy that will last long beyond my lifetime”.
Both Walker Cup teams stayed at Vaughan Lodge which left them in “a unique position to enjoy” the tournament. “For the town of Lahinch, people felt maybe the security presence around the Trump visit had dampened the movement of people to the point that there wasn’t the same bounce as was expected”.
According to the former President of the Irish Hotels Federation, the condensed period between both events was “unfortunate”. He stated, “It was unfortunate that two events couldn’t have had at least a month between them. In Lahinch not all accommodation was available to get for The Irish Open because Lahinch had its own bookings booked a year or two in advance, by the time the announcement was made accommodation by and large was already booked out. Reputationally, it is nice to get a break in between events to plan them and people can have the ability to have a good long interlude between events. It happened the way it happened and everyone concerned is delighted with how things ran off”.
