By Sean Murphy*
If you fancy playing a golf course that hosted an Irish open, what can you expect to pay? A fair amount. The average price of a green fee is €185.
Why is this? To start, these are well regarded courses if we are to judge by their rating on Tripadvisor. All these courses were rated above 4.5 by Tripadvisor out of 5 stars. The only 5 star rated course was Royal County Down which has been voted the number one golf course in the entire world in 2020 and 2021 by Golf Digest.
If you fancy playing a golf course that hosted an Irish open, what can you expect to pay? A fair amount. The average price of a green fee is €185.
Why is this? To start, these are well regarded courses if we are to judge by their rating on Tripadvisor. All these courses were rated above 4.5 by Tripadvisor out of 5 stars. The only 5 star rated course was Royal County Down which has been voted the number one golf course in the entire world in 2020 and 2021 by Golf Digest.
Championship courses are a tough challenge to golfers of all levels, to get these courses in tip top shape there is clearly a maintenance cost and with championship courses being longer than your every-day country club it is no wonder the price charged is higher. Golfers will always love a challenge and what better way to do it then to challenge yourself on the courses that the best players in the world played on.
Hosting an Irish open is a huge honour which only 21 golf courses actually managed to do. This may be a factor that increases prices. These courses are listed in the table below.
Hosting an Irish open is a huge honour which only 21 golf courses actually managed to do. This may be a factor that increases prices. These courses are listed in the table below.
The first Irish open was held in Portmarnock Golf Links in 1927. The Irish Open was played annually, expect for the war years, until 1950. There was an event in 1953, but the event was not played again until revived in 1975. From 1963 to 1974 there was a sponsored tournament, generally called the Carroll’s international and in 1975 they became the sponsor of the Irish open which became known as the Carroll’s Irish Open.
Portmarnock Golf Links has hosted the Irish open an incredible 19 times, its closest challenger was Royal Dublin golf club which hosted the Irish open 6 times. Many of these golf courses were founded before the 1900s, with the average year of the golf course being founded being 1931. An interesting point is that there was never a course in the province of Connaught to host an Irish open.
In recent years, as can be seen towards the end of the table, the Irish Open has moved between venues. This has also coincided with the Rolex Series.The Rolex series started in 2017, with each tournament in the series having a minimum prize fund of $7 million.
*Sean is currently registered as an MSc by research student in Sports Economics at UCC. His masters thesis considers pricing models for Irish golf courses.
Portmarnock Golf Links has hosted the Irish open an incredible 19 times, its closest challenger was Royal Dublin golf club which hosted the Irish open 6 times. Many of these golf courses were founded before the 1900s, with the average year of the golf course being founded being 1931. An interesting point is that there was never a course in the province of Connaught to host an Irish open.
In recent years, as can be seen towards the end of the table, the Irish Open has moved between venues. This has also coincided with the Rolex Series.The Rolex series started in 2017, with each tournament in the series having a minimum prize fund of $7 million.
*Sean is currently registered as an MSc by research student in Sports Economics at UCC. His masters thesis considers pricing models for Irish golf courses.
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