Three pull out of Irish Open

curranjames

Disaster for the Open

soundsham

any link........??

Vim Fuego

Yes, absolute disaster considering they agreed to sponsor for three years. Even more of a shame considering the great tournament in Killarney this year. Some hope of finding a new sponsor.

The most annoying thing is that this sponsorship was a complete vanity fest from 3 Ireland CEO Robert Finnegan from the beginning. He was all over the papers when the sponsorship was announced and now it's the usual faceless 'a 3 spokesperson said....'. I'd say the numbers didn't add up and the Asian big boys in 3 told Robert where to stick his golf sponsorship.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/golf/2010/1112/1224283222139.html

1967

Its a shame as this years tournament was a resounding success and with 3's involvement it was moved to a better date in the golfing calendar.

JerryHandbag

Wouldnt be the first time Three let a lot of people down.

Hope to god a new sponsor can be found, it will be a sad day if the Irish Open ceases to be.

Trampas

I say it come be moving up the north.

they want a tour event up there

aster99

Thats a shame, really enjoyed my few days in Killarney this year

Parky2010

Hopefully a new sponsor will come in. No Irish open on the tour would be disastrous. Hopefully george o grady will get one in.

heavyballs

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Wouldnt be the first time Three let a lot of people down.

Hope to god a new sponsor can be found, it will be a sad day if the Irish Open ceases to be.

firstly Gerry i have a 3 bill phone and i think they're a f***in joke to deal with,so no biased views from me
but i have to say i don't agree with your comments,look at the money they've thrown at this tournament,i would say it's a pity but they wouldn't be pulling out willy nilly
you need to be a multi national with a bottomless pit to sponsor a tournament like this
imo if 3 improved they're customer service first,established themselves as a top company at what they do in Ireland before they got involved in this it would prove to be quite a worthwhile marketing initiative
as it is their name is bad and rightly so,i presume they're market share hasn't improved as much as they thought after pumping €6m or so at this tourney so they're headin on

Mister Sifter

heavyballs wrote: »

firstly Gerry i have a 3 bill phone and i think they're a f***in joke to deal with,so no biased views from me
but i have to say i don't agree with your comments,look at the money they've thrown at this tournament,i would say it's a pity but they wouldn't be pulling out willy nilly
you need to be a multi national with a bottomless pit to sponsor a tournament like this
imo if 3 improved they're customer service first,established themselves as a top company at what they do in Ireland before they got involved in this it would prove to be quite a worthwhile marketing initiative
as it is their name is bad and rightly so,i presume they're market share hasn't improved as much as they thought after pumping €6m or so at this tourney so they're headin on

I'd say the reason they've pulled out - quite legitimately i may add given the 2 year opt out clause - is because they recently got the sponsorship deal for the Irish soccer team. I'd imagine they can't afford both and would think that the soccer sponsorship is far more lucrative in terms of adding customers.

dvemail

Ya one of the reasons for pulling out was beacause of the deal they made with the FAI to sponsor the soccer team. They felf that they would be able to get more exposure from the soccer than the golf.
Tis a shame alright.

BiffoGooner

Trampas wrote: »

I say it come be moving up the north.

they want a tour event up there

You might well be right there. I heard somewhere that Gmac and Darren Clarke are actively campaigning behind the scenes to get a European Tour event to Royal County Down. Although that doesn't really help the problem of finding a sponsor.

golfbgud

Yes - it's a great pity.

Really enjoyed the event in Killarney this year. Great spot and great atmosphere about the place. Big crowds too.

Let's hope that a sponsor can be found and soon.........

AGC

BiffoGooner wrote: »

You might well be right there. I heard somewhere that Gmac and Darren Clarke are actively campaigning behind the scenes to get a European Tour event to Royal County Down. Although that doesn't really help the problem of finding a sponsor.

Portrush they want it in

fionnsda

AGC wrote: »

Portrush they want it in

i don't think they could handle a big event like this, not enough accommodation in the area for a start,and i believe the course can only handle maybe 15,000 if that!

AGC

fionnsda wrote: »

i don't think they could handle a big event like this, not enough accommodation in the area for a start,and i believe the coarse can only handle maybe 15,000 if that!

They were very close to getting it to Portrush before 3 came on board. Co. Down wouldn't be loaded with space for fans either.

couerdelion

fionnsda wrote: »

i don't think they could handle a big event like this, not enough accommodation in the area for a start,and i believe the course can only handle maybe 15,000 if that!

Irelands biggest sporting event takes places in that area and attracts 150,000. Although that's not on the golf course

fionnsda

AGC wrote: »

They were very close to getting it to Portrush before 3 came on board. Co. Down wouldn't be loaded with space for fans either.

yeah portrush was mutted at the time but i remember it being also said, that the course struggled with the crowds at the senior british open championship 2004,that coupled with the lack of hotel space, mentioned at that time as well!
but i suppose if there's a will .......

couerdelion wrote: »

Irelands biggest sporting event takes places in that area and attracts 150,000. Although that's not on the golf course

and also the nw200 is mainly a one day event!

couerdelion

True the NW200 is a one day event but a lot of bikers stay over. I've camped (can't see many golfers doing that) and there's a fair bit of accommodation slightly further afield towards the Guants Causeway.

charlieIRL

Ive been to the NW every year for the last few years & know exactly where the course is. From what I saw of it I reckon it would struggle with a crowd.

Lots of NW spectators only travel for the day. We stay in Derry so not sure about accommodation.

Will be a shame to loose it but who will come in down here to sponsor it?

NI tourist board seem to have lost the WRC again so might pump the money into the golf??

JerryHandbag

Well at least the tournament will go on. Good news.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/golf/2010/1123/irishopen.html

dvemail

Good news, this tournament is never going to be able to get a good date on the calender without a good and reliable sponsor behind it though.
The date we got this year was great for attracting spectators but very poor for attracting players.

Dero123

I wonder what odds you would get on Lough Erne hosting this, Chubby Chandler tried to get an event here last year and Harrington, Clarke and the two Mac's have gone on record in the last few weeks saying there prepared to go anything to help attract sponsors.
They hosted that Irish Challenge earlier in the year and with Faldo being the designer he could have an input to get some names over

heavyballs

Dero123 wrote: »

I wonder what odds you would get on Lough Erne hosting this, Chubby Chandler tried to get an event here last year and Harrington, Clarke and the two Mac's have gone on record in the last few weeks saying there prepared to go anything to help attract sponsors.
They hosted that Irish Challenge earlier in the year and with Faldo being the designer he could have an input to get some names over

because he's sooo popular with the pro's,yeah?.Anyway i played the course and it's not great imo,if a big multi-national doesn't come in with a bottomless pit of cash the tournament is gone for the time being anyway

Screaminmidget

they've given it a date next year
http://www.irishgolfdesk.com/news-files/2010/11/29/killarney-set-for-irish-open-repeat.html

JerryHandbag

Screaminmidget wrote: »

they've given it a date next year
http://www.irishgolfdesk.com/news-files/2010/11/29/killarney-set-for-irish-open-repeat.html

So it should be Killarney again, excellent news. Although George O' Grady says "reduced prize money" so more of the big guns will stay away no doubt. But then, better chance of a home winner then