Over the course of four days in late February, the 2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open issued a series of player confirmations that sent the event’s prestige skyrocketing. Alongside the announcement of Leona Maguire and defending champion Annabel Dimmock – who has Irish heritage herself – it was revealed that European Solheim Cup captain Anna Nordqvist, 2018 Women’s Open champion Georgia Hall, four-time Solheim Cup player Madelene Sagström, and world number one amateur Lottie Woad were all confirmed.
But since Leona’s attendance is very much expected, it was arguably the final announcement – England’s Charley Hull – that trumped all.
“Year one, it was just important to get it up and running,” explains Cian Branigan, ForeFront Group CEO and one of the main driving forces behind the resurrection of the Women’s Irish Open. “Now it’s coming to maturity, it’s got some wings and people are seeing it for what it is.
“Much of the early work was done on the back of Leona and some up-and-coming Irish players, and last year we brought in Georgia Hall. But it’s important for us to strengthen that field for various reasons; we’ll have more spectators, please God, and we’ll get a better viewership across the broadcast platforms as well.
“Charley’s somewhat the face of women’s golf at the moment, and luckily enough, Charley and Georgia are ex-colleagues, and we were able to bring them into the fold this year.”
One of the key factors in enticing a stronger field was moving the event from it’s late August/early September date to one at the start of July – the week before the Evian Championship – with no LPGA event in direct competition.
“It’s the best week on the golfing calendar,” Brannigan declares. “We’ve been a little bit unfortunate the last couple of years – we were up against the President’s Cup in year one, the Walker Cup in year two, and the Curtis Cup and LPGA Boston last year – but we worked with the LET and this week was a possibility, but it’s not as simple as giving the green light – you have to have sponsors and partners buy in, Sport Ireland and the venue, most importantly.
“But with the Evian a week later, the likes of Leona, Georgia and Charley are coming back to Europe anyway, looking to acclimatise, so it was an incredible opportunity.”
The 2024 KPMG Women’s Irish Open unfortunately clashed with the Curtis Cup – which was rescheduled – meaning the likes of Sara Byrne, Beth Coulter and Aine Donegan, players who’d undoubtedly have been invited and would’ve drawn additional crowd numbers, couldn’t take part.
This year, Byrne is a full LET member having navigated Q-School alongside Anna Foster and Annabel Wilson, and Irish women’s golf in particular continues its meteoric rise.
“Last year, we had 13 Irish players in the field, and we’re looking to replicate that this year,” Brannigan said. “We’ve entered a golden era – eight players have access to either the LPGA or LET – and you compare that with 18 months ago when there were only three.
“That’s incredible. You hear that word used a lot, but it really is, and I think it’s a legacy from the Solheim Cup in 2011 and the series of Ladies’ Irish Opens back then because Sara, Lauren, Anabelle – they all have pictures of themselves at those events when they were eight or ten years old.”
Another big advantage of the early July date is that schools will be on holiday, something that should be reflected in higher attendance figures for the Wednesday Pro-Am, and Thursday and Friday tournament rounds.
“We’re just a nation that supports our own national opens,” Brannigan explains. “I’ve previously worked on the Ladies Scottish Open, LPGA majors in the US, and I think we almost take it for granted that we get big numbers, but it’s grown year-on-year and last year we were around 37,000. But the Thursday and Friday were relatively quiet.
“So, I’m excited to see what the numbers look like this year, because, as a venue, Carton House just lends itself so well. It won Golf Course of the Year at the LET awards in January, and that was the perfect testament to the decision to play on the O’Meara Course.”
It’s very much a family-friendly event, and once again, under-16s will be admitted free entry and the creation of an atmosphere and environment where adults and children alike can have fun both out on the golf course and in the festival village has always been paramount.
“People assume that golf events aren’t for kids because of the “Quiet, please” and the etiquette and all that, but it’s far from it. Sure, out on the course there’s a little bit of that, but last year there were thousands of kids in the village throwing beanbags at each other, eating ice cream, playing cornhole and connect four, and it was just incredible to see.
“And this year, we’re building an extended kids’ zone – there’ll be magicians, face painting, toys, all of that – because the mission of the event is to inspire the future and with the number of kids there, there’s certainly a lot getting inspired.” The KPMG Women’s Irish Open runs from June 30 – July 06 at Carton House. To secure your tickets, visit https://kpmgwomensirishopen.ie/
Leave a comment