Donald Trump “likely” to attend Amgen Irish Open

Donald Trump

Doonbeg could be surrounded by a ring of steel for September’s Amgen Irish Open, given the “likely” presence of US President Donald Trump at his Co Clare resort.

According to Joe Russell, the Managing Director of Trump International Hotel and Golf Links, the US leader is “earmarked” to attend the event, which is scheduled for the week of September 7-13.

Mr Russell was speaking at a public meeting held in Doonbeg’s Community Hall on Monday, where DP World Tour and Doonbeg resort representatives outlined plans for the $6 million championship.

The Clare Champion reported that Mr Russell was bullish about President Trump being at his west Clare resort at some stage during the week of the tournament.

“It is likely at the moment, President Trump will attend,” Mr Russell told the meeting. “It’s not confirmed. Eric (Trump, executive vice president of the Trump organisation) will attend, so there will be a security presence leading up to the Open, but the size and scale of that will really depend on which Trump is coming, but at the moment the President is earmarked to come.

The DP World Tour’s Chris Upson, a Senior Championship Manager at the DP World Tour, said that a visit by President Trump would affect the security cordon in place.

“In terms of local access, I think it’s important to say that we need to understand the impact of potential VIPs – which member of the Trump family will visit,” he said.

“We are working with the local authorities in terms of what a cordon might look like.”

Two park-and-ride sites, north and south of Doonbeg, are being studied by the DP World Tour, while there is also the possibility of shuttle bus services from towns such as Kilrush, Kilkee and Miltown Malbay, which will be hosting many visitors.

Considerable work has been carried out on the links in recent months, and the DP World Tour’s Paul Gillmon, Championship Director for the Amgen Irish Open, has high hopes for a successful week.

“Our goal is to give this event, this region, county and community of Doonbeg an incredible week with as little disruption as possible,” he said, adding that the tour wants to do its best for the local community.

“We’ve done two economic impact studies over the last two years,” he said. “We went to Royal County Down in Newcastle and The K Club last year.

“The average economic impact over those two years is €16m, so what that means is that we are bringing and generating revenue to the local economy to the tune of €16m.”

According to the Clare Champion, 75,000 fans are expected to travel to West Clare to see the likes of Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Tom McKibbin, Padraig Harrington and Seamus Power.

Jon Rahm, who last competed in the Irish Open in 2019 when he won his second title at Lahinch, has indicated he’s keen to return.

Given the close relationship between the Trump organisation and LIV Golf,  which will stage two events at Trump courses this year, there is speculation that Rahm could be joined by several LIV Golf stars.

The presence of Bryson DeChambeau, who has a good relationship with President Trump, would be a massive boost to the tournament, which is likely to be a qualifying event for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Co Limerick.