No West of Ireland at Easter as Golf Ireland prepares to tweak men's calendar
County Sligo Golf Club, Rosses Point
The West of Ireland Championship will not be played on its traditional Easter date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Golf Ireland is currently engaging with clubs to finalise the 2021 schedule with a number of leading events originally scheduled for April and May — the West, the Munster Strokeplay and the Irish Close — likely to move to later in the summer.
The West of Ireland Championship is scheduled for County Sligo Golf Club from April 2-7 but with an Easter staging now out of the question, the club has confirmed that its board will meet early next week to discuss a variety of suggested new dates before a decision is communicated to Golf Ireland.
Should County Sligo turn down all proposed new dates, an alternative venue would have to be found.
The Munster Stroke Play Championship, scheduled for Cork Golf Club from May 1-2 and the Irish Men’s Amateur Close, scheduled for Tullamore Golf Club from May 8-12 also look likely to be moved to dates in August or September.
The date and venue for the Irish Amateur Open Championship have also to be confirmed after Galway Golf Club’s management committee indicated earlier this year that it was unwilling to give up its course from August 12-15.
While much will depend on the government’s roadmap for dealing with the pandemic, it appears the men’s amateur season may not begin until the East of Ireland Amateur Open, scheduled for County Louth from June 5-7.
With members starved of golf due to the Level 5 restrictions, clubs may face opposition if they suggest staging a championship at the height of the summer season.
As an experiment, the West of Ireland was scheduled to be played under a new format in 2020 and 2021 with a 54-hole strokeplay qualifying event with the leading 16 players going through to the matchplay.
That format looks the most likely this year after the 2020 West of Ireland Championship was cancelled due to the pandemic.
