The Ladbrokes.com Irish PGA Championship marks a special anniversary this week with the staging of the event for the 100th time at Seapoint Golf Club in County Louth.
With a strong field the 72-hole tournament the 2010 Irish PGA Championship will be played from September 23rd -26th and sees Shane Lowry and Damien McGrane from the European Tour join the field, as well as Des Smyth – the course designer.
Damien McGrane hopes to continue the form shown at the Austrian OpenGolf last week and is currently the favourite to win the tournament with Ladbrokes.com currently posting odds at 4/1.
The winner of the event for the last three years, Padraig Harrington, is unable to defend his title this year given the schedule clash with the Vivendi Cup in Paris - which is part of the Dubliner’s the build up to the 38th Ryder Cup matches next week at The Celtic Manor.
Also included in the field is leader of the Lexus Race to Mount Juliet in association wit PING Order of Merit, David Higgins, he is joined by 2010 Glenmuir PGA Championship winner, David Mortimer and four time PGA Championship winner, Philip Walton.
European Tour School Stage 2 qualifiers Damien Mooney, Michael Collins and Barrie Trainor of Team Ireland golf are also down to play.
The venue this week, Seapoint, was opened in 1993 and designed by Des Smyth, the oldest winner of a European Tour event at 48 years of age in 2001, and one of Ireland's best amateur players, Declan Brannigan.
The venue has hosted distinctive Amateur events over the years and played host to The Glen Dimplex International Tournament in 1995 and was voted number 27 in Golf Digest Ireland's Top 100 courses in 2009.
It will be 100th time the championship has been contested since its inception in 1907 - there were no Championships played from 1915-18. James Edsmundson won the first two titles in match play, followed by the legendary Michael "Dyke" Moran who also triumphed in 1909 in the match play format that year before reeling off four more titles 1910-13 when the event changed to stroke-play.
Sadly Moran was later killed in the last few weeks of The Great War.
The former champions of this historic event are also “a who is who” of Irish golf including the likes of Fred Daly; joint record winners Christy O' Connor Snr and Harry Bradshaw who lifted the title 10 times apiece, and 2010 Ryder Cup Vice Captains, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley.
