Live From Lahinch

We were live from Lahinch on Friday at day two of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

We updated here and on social media with a mix of what was happening on the greens as well as in the village, taking a look at how the various sponsors of the tournament are activating on the ground.

All the towns and villages on the way to Lahinch are well decorated with Open branding. Acutely aware of the value that the Championship coverage will deliver over the coming years.

When the prize money for the Rolex Series is €7million it’s well worth investing in data tech like Trackman to give yourself your best shot.

The Championship Village is always a key way in which sponsors and partners engage with the crowds at an Open Championship. Last year at Ballyliffin there was space to have the village in a very central location as fans entered and exited the course.

That was more challenging at Lahinch where the location at the heart of the town meant the practice range and the Village being seperated from the main course by a row of holiday homes.

That made it calmer but also slightly removed from the main action which might have had an impact on the number among the 18,441 who were there alonhside us on Friday.

Among those who were there were title sponsors Dubai Duty Free who had a golf simulator as well as opportunities to win trips.

Golf Ireland, part of Fáilte Ireland were present as well with half a dozen individual courses putting themesleves forward as venues for both the domestic and the international fans in attendance.

Heineken ran the bar which was doing good business in the sunshine as the day progressed and there was the regulation large merchandise shop carrying Irish Open branded gear as well as from all the major manufacturers.

This being in County Clare there was a very local element to the Village with a Hurling challenge nestled side by side with Nearest the Pin and Longest Drive competitions.

BMW is one of the major partners of the European tour and they had cars on display at key vantage points around the course.

They also provided all the courtesy cars shuttling officials and players around the area. All the white X3’s and X5’s were UK registered and will doubtless be heading back to Loch Lomond now for the Scottish Open. They’ll have a break then as Mercedes Benz is the official partner of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

The Championship Pavilion where all the key sponsors were in situ with through the day hospitality was located overlooking the 18th green.

Erected by Hospitality specialists Eventus the facility extended over two floors and provided respite from walking the course to guests of all the key partners from Dubai Duty Free to Sport Ireland, Sky, BMW, Heineken and all the rest.

TV Coverage throughout the four days was provided by Sky Sports and RTÉ on this side of the Atlantic and by the Golf Channel in the US who had a full team of personnel over reporting on the tournament and selling the majesty of Irish golf to one of our key tourism markets.

I have to say it was a brilliant experience to watch the golf live at Lahinch. Links courses are set up to provide multiple viewing options and there were plenty to choose from.

We had one spot for anhour where we could see the golfers approaching and holing out on the 13th green, making their way to tee off at the 14th and then coming up to the 15th green and the only movement we had to make was a leisurely turn of the head.

The renewed success of the Irish open in the past decade has been down to its popularity as a spectator event.

Over 86,000 watched live at Lahinch with sell out crowds on each of Saturday and Sunday, the only event on the European Tour that achieves that.

The 2020 host club has yet to be formally announced but will be so shortly and we look forward to bringing you that news right here on Sport for Business.