After a 16-year absence, elite senior golf returns to Carton House as the Kildare venue hosts the OFX Irish Legends, rekindling a rich tradition while welcoming some of the game’s biggest names back to one of Ireland’s premier championship venues.
When it was formed in the early ‘90s, the European Senior Tour didn’t stray far beyond the home nations and, as a result Ireland and Irish events were among the cornerstones.
Christy O’Connor Snr was runner-up in the Forte PGA Seniors Championship on home turf at Royal Dublin in the inaugural year, losing out to Tommy Horton in a playoff, and a fortnight later, South African John Fourie won the Belfast Telegraph Irish Senior Masters at Malone, with ‘Himself’ again the top home performer.
In the decade spanning 1994-2005, the British Senior Open – now the Senior Open Championship – was staged in Ireland nine times with Royal Portrush hosting six and Royal County Down another three, and O’Connor Snr completed back-to-back victories on the Dunluce Course in Portrush, becoming the final winner in one millennium and the first winner in the next.
And, by the time the first decade of that millennium was up, 18 years after the tour was founded, a grand total of 27 Senior Tour events had been held on Irish soil and the list of winners had expanded to include the likes of Gary Player, Sam Torrence, Constantino Rocca, Ian Woosnam, and our own Joe McDermott, who won the second Irish Senior Open in 1998 at Woodbrook.
But the financial crash in the late noughties put heavy strain on the tour in general, and the Irish events in particular, and when Frenchman Marc Farry captured the 2010 Irish Senior Open at Carton House – he’d been a four-time runner-up before finally slipping on the bride’s dress – it would be more than a decade before European Senior Tour golf would return to Irish shores.
Now, 16 years later, we’ve come full circle as the Montgomerie Course at Carton House will welcome the top players on the Legends Tour, just like it did back in 2010.
The branding may be different – the Staysure Legends Tour replacing the European Senior Tour, and the OFX Irish Legends replacing the Handa Irish Senior Open – but just like back then when you had major winners in Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam, and Ryder Cup stars like Eamon Darcy, Sam Torrance, Manuel Piñero and Constantino Rocca in the field, this year we’ve got major-winning pedigree in Michael Campbell and Paul Lawrie, and a total of nine former Ryder Cup stars including three-time winner as a player and once as a captain, Paul McGinley.
“Carton House is a very important venue in Irish golfing circles” – Paul McGinley
McGinley was instrumental in the return of senior tour golf to these shores, having served as tournament host for the revival at Rosapenna in 2021 and then again in 2022 where he narrowly missed out on victory, and he’s very excited to be back competing on home soil once again this year.
“Carton House is a very important venue in Irish golfing circles,” McGinley said. “It’s synonymous with Irish Opens as well – we’ve had Irish Opens here in the past. I played in the Pro-Am here at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open on the O’Meara Course last year, that was a big success too, so it’s great that we’re going to have a Legends Tour event here too. I’m really looking forward to playing the Monty again.”
“The timing is perfect for this tournament because there’s a big dependence on the fescue rough for the course to really stand out and look its best and that’s exactly what we have at the moment” – Liam McCool
Preparations for hosting the event began as soon as it was confirmed that Carton House would be the venue, and Liam McCool, Director of Golf at Carton House, says that the club and the golf course have been championship-ready well ahead of schedule.
“We could’ve held the tournament a few weeks ago,” McCool said a fortnight ahead of the Irish Legends starting date. “So, it’s nice to see the course in the shape that you want it to be in and just maintaining the level.
“We held the KPMG Women’s Irish Open here on the O’Meara Course last year, and the World Amateur Team Championships in 2018, but you have to go back to 2013 to the last time we had a really big event on the Montgomerie Course. That was the Irish Open, and a lot of the Legends Tour players that are here will have been in the field back in 2013, so it’ll be nice to get feedback from them on how the course has matured because we think it’s matured really well.
“And the timing is perfect for this tournament because there’s a big dependence on the fescue rough for the course to really stand out and look its best and that’s exactly what we have at the moment.”
The ‘Monty’, as the Course is affectionately known, is rather unique in that it’s an inland golf course that plays closer to a links than to a traditional parkland, and McCool expects the wind to be a considerable factor over the course of the tournament.
“It’s pretty much an everyday thing around here,” he said. “There’s rarely a flat calm day, and to get three in a row? There’s almost no chance. So the course will be a great challenge to the Legends Tour players, and Derrick Cooper, the tournament controller plans to have it measure around 7,000 yards for the event.
“Derrick is a former European Tour player himself so he knows what he’s doing, and I think that’s perfect because these guys – lots of them anyway – still hit the ball a really long way, but that would be a mix of green, white and blue tees so there’ll be good variance to the way holes play from day-to-day.
“If you pushed me for a winning score, I’d say somewhere in the 10-to-12-under region, but that’s weather dependent of course. If it’s calm, it’ll be lower, but if it’s a day like we have today [25 kph winds, gusting to 45] then it’ll be a few shots higher.”
Tournaments like this can’t happen without buy-in from the members, and McCool paid tribute to the support both he and the tournament organisers have received from the players who play the golf courses on a daily and weekly basis.
“We’ve been blessed over the years,” he said. “We’ve had several Irish Opens, the Women’s Irish Open, the World Amateur Team Championships, and the Irish Seniors Open all over the past 15 years or so, and that makes us fairly unique as I think we’re the only club that has hosted all of these. And we wouldn’t be able to do that without the support of the members.
“They’re particularly excited to see a lot of yesterday’s stars coming back here again, and I think the more relaxed atmosphere of the Legends Tour allows you get a little bit more up-close-and-personal with the players, which all helps.
“But though they may be a little more relaxed now, they are all still fierce competitors, and you’ll see that come out in them and they’ll put on a great show for the spectators who come. And being this close to Dublin, in the middle of a big golfing community, I’m sure we’ll have great crowds here throughout the week.”
“I remember playing with a pal of mine and I shot eight-under and didn’t even take the money because he got me on the double or quits on the last. I’m sure he’ll be reminding me of that on the week” – Gary Murphy
Gary Murphy wasn’t one of those who played in 2013, but he did play in the Irish Opens held on the ‘Monty’ in 2005 and 2006, and he, along with McGinley and Peter Lawrie, add home flavour to the event.
“I think Carton House has been amazing for European golf at all levels with Irish Opens, with the Women’s Irish Open on the LET, and I think it’s lovely now to get the senior side of the tour represented,” he said. “And the ‘Monty’ is a fantastic golf course.
“I was there recently and it’s in brilliant condition. Liam McCool and all the gang there will put on a great show, I’m sure.”
Murphy has only played one event on the Legends Tour so far this year, and though it was one to forget, he’s been working hard and feels that the buzz of playing in front of an Irish crowd will stand him in good stead at a golf course he’s very fond of.
“I’m really excited to get to play because I had a tough time in Barbados and I’ve done a lot of good work since,” he explained. “The standard is so good on the Legends Tour, but I’m playing at home and I’m looking forward to seeing if I can play well and where it takes me.
“I’m fortunate because I love links golf and I work at The K Club where we’ve got the North Course, which I think is the best parkland course in Ireland, and the South Course which is as close as we get to the ‘Monty’, so I’ve got the best of all worlds really.
“And I’ve got a few friends that play in Carton, so I’ve played there a lot. I remember playing with a pal of mine and I shot eight-under and didn’t even take the money because he got me on the double or quits on the last. I’m sure he’ll be reminding me of that on the week. But if I can produce something like that round, I’ll definitely take a few quid there this year.”
Big-name winners, incredible performances, and no shortage of late drama, the Irish Legends never fails to deliver. Here’s what happened in the last five…
2021 – Irish Legends presented by the McGinley Foundation – Rosapenna
Winner: Thomas Bjørn (-16)
The 2018 European Ryder Cup captain fired a six-under 65 to join Welshman Phillip Price at 16-under, and the Dane birdied the second hole to secure his first victory on European soil in eight years.
“Once you get in there, all those old feelings come up in you,” Bjørn said. “As a sportsman, there’s no greater feeling than Sunday afternoon. It doesn’t really matter where it is, and I really got into it today. I recognised myself and I haven’t seen that person for quite a while. It’s pretty special winning any golf tournament.”
2022 – Irish Legends presented by the McGinley Foundation – Rosapenna
Winner: Phillip Price (E)
A year after his playoff loss to Bjørn, Price wasn’t to be denied and, having taken a three-stroke lead into the final round amidst heavy winds, he held on to win by one.
“I love the course,” Price said. “I was disappointed last year not winning because I led going into the last day, Thomas played great shooting a 66, a worthy champion but I probably felt like I deserved this one.”
2023 – Irish Legends – Seapoint Golf Links
Winner: Peter Baker (-18)
On his way to winning the Order of Merit, the Englishman was in a league of his own at Seapoint and cruised to a seven-stroke win to capture the first of four titles that year.
“I’ve always wanted to win in Ireland, and I’ve come close a few times in the past, so to come here and play this well and win is absolutely brilliant,” Baker said. “It was one of my ambitions to win with Helen (my wife) caddying for me and that’s ticked that box as well.”
2024 – OFX Irish Legends – Seapoint Golf Links
Winner: Adilson da Silva (-7)
For the second straight year, the Irish Legends winner would go on to claim the Order of Merit title, and this time it was the Brazilian who kickstarted his charge at Seapoint with a back-nine charge and then a playoff win over Swede Patrick Sjolund.
“It’s just wonderful to win again,” da Silva said. “I’ve been practicing so hard, sometimes the game just keeps knocking you down and you think there’s something wrong with you. This week was about hanging in there; it was playing kind of tricky for everybody. I was hanging in there on the first nine and on the back nine, things felt like it came on.”
2025 – OFX Irish Legends – Mount Juliet
Winner: James Kingston (-12)
When a playoff looked odds-on with a bunched leaderboard, the South African birdied his final four holes – and five of the last six – to take a one-stroke win over Peter Baker, Darren Fichardt and Keith Horne.
“It’s an absolute fairy-tale finish to make five birdies in the last six holes,” Kingston said. “I’ve always said playing golf in Ireland is one of those places I really enjoy. People come out and they support us and they love the game. It’s been a tremendous week.”
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