*Photograph: Joe Buckley
GOLFING eyes of the world are on Co Clare from this weekend with the Walker Cup teeing off in Lahinch ahead of the Irish Open’s arrival next Wednesday (September 9th).
An attendance of 16,000 is expected in Lahinch Golf Club this weekend for the 51st Walker Cup, the biennial ten-man amateur team competition. It is played over two days with 18 singles matches and eight foursomes matches. The USA leads the overall series 40-9-1.
Great Britain and Ireland will play the United States of America over two days of foursomes and singles at the renowned Irish links with the match being staged at Lahinch for the first time.
Tickets for both match days have sold out but Lahinch will be under the lens of the golfing world with live coverage from Co Clare on Sky Sports via a combination of Sky Sports Golf, Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports Digital Platforms. Full match highlights will also be aired on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. Golf Channel will broadcast the Walker Cup live and in full across both days of the match, along with regular updates from Lahinch featuring in Golf Central throughout this week.
Lahinch businessman Donogh O’Loghlin said the area is looking at its best for the arrival of The Walker Cup. He told The Clare Echo, “There is an awful lot of work and it has been nicely done, it will bring a lot of business to Lahinch but not as colossal as the media think, Lahinch is looking really well, there’s great facilities down there and great golfers so God Bless America”.
“Very few businesses will benefit from it, the golf club needs to benefit from it because they have spent a lot of money, the pubs will get a bit more money from it. They have decorations up everywhere and it looks fantastic, it is getting a lot of publicity,” he added.
