Ireland is to stage a national Championship later this year as part of the World Corporate Golf Challenge.

50 teams of two players will take to the newly refurbished Druids Glen Golf Resort in Wicklow in September bidding to be crowned as Irish Champions and going on to represent Ireland at the World Finals against representatives from more than 30 other countries in Tenerife in October.

The Irish Challenge is being brought to life by International boutique sports agency Druid Sport who have appointed former Aviva Sponsorship and FAI Commercial and Marketing Director Mark Russell as Head of its new Irish operation.

The tournament has been established for 30 years and is a staple in the Corporate Golf world in most countries but has never previously been staged in Ireland.

The team places are filling quickly for the event which will take place on Friday 8th September.

Players play off three-quarters of their Golf Ireland Handicap and the competition is open to men’s, women’s and mixed teams.

Sport for Business is on board as a media partner of the event and we will present a special prize to the low-scoring team that includes one or two women players.

The tournament will be as close as most of us get to playing in a full professional tournament with a live scoring app so that the teams can track their progress, pre-round clinics for final tweaking, brunch on arrival, a players club lounge and a special World Corporate Golf Challenge Awards dinner.

Team entry is €1,295 which includes all flights, accommodation and entry to the World Final for the winning team.

“It is great to be bringing this event to Ireland for the first time, and we believe that it is the start of something that will quickly grow into a major landmark on the Irish golfing calendar,” said Mark Russell, Vice President of Druid Sport Ireland.

“The Irish event is positioned to promote participation for all. The tournament will be a professionally run modern event with modern values, promoting diversity and inclusion within the Irish Corporate Golf landscape”

“It will provide a fantastic business networking platform as well as an opportunity to create some healthy competition and allow your business to take on the world.”

“In this first year we will stage one national event but we have plans to extend towards regional qualifiers in the future and we are also keen that Ireland should be in the mix to stage the World finals in years to come.

If you are interested in entering a team or finding out more about the tournament, opportunities to partner with the event and more, you can do so by contacting Mark Russell at mrussell@druidsport.com