County Louth Golf Club in Baltray, one of Ireland's great links courses, will host the Nissan Irish Open for the first time in 2004. The tournament will take place the week after the British Open Golf Championship from July 22-25.
Portmarnock Golf Club staged the hugely successful Nissan Irish Open earlier this year, and the policy of venue rotation to promote Ireland's major tourist attractions and golf courses means that the 2004 edition moves 30 miles further north along Ireland's east coast to County Louth Golf Club, situated four miles from Drogheda at the mouth of the River Boyne.
The Nissan Irish Open attracts huge numbers of spectators each year, with over 77,000 people attending the 2003 tournament at Portmarnock, where New Zealand's Michael Campbell secured the title following a sudden-death play-off with Thomas Björn of Denmark and Sweden's Peter Hedblom.
Ken Schofield, Executive Director of The European Tour, said: "We are delighted to visit another outstanding example of a great Irish links, with the wonderful course at County Louth Golf Club following on from this year's successful return to Portmarnock."
The Nissan Irish Open, inaugurated in 1927, has had a long and outstanding history, with an impressive array of champions of the calibre of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Sergio Garcia, Mark James, Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, José Maria Olazábal, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam.
Filed by Rob Wright
