'I can see Killarney hosting professional events again in next number of years'
And even as the Killarney staff were putting the finishing touches to the Killeen course and the property in general ahead of Tuesday's opening day of action as Ireland takes its place among the top 16 teams on the continent, the mindset at the club is that this week's competition is only just the start of staging such events.
Director of Golf Colin Finlay told the Irish Examiner that a return of the men's professional Irish Open for a fifth time and a first since 2011 was within Killarney's scope given the investment that has already gone into the property and the funds still to be deployed.
For now, though, the hard work has been to get the 7,200-yard Killeen layout in pristine condition in readiness for Europe's top amateur men.
"The most important part is getting the course looking how it needs to be for a high-level championship,' Finlay said, 'so Enda Murphy the head greenkeeper and the greenkeeping team have been working day in, day out and putting in a really good effort to make sure it's going to be tip-top for the guys coming over here because that's what is expected.
"There's hundreds of hours' work that's gone into this. It was 100 per cent a Golf Ireland bid but we at Killarney are delighted to be hosting these championships again.
"Preparations started the moment we're won the bid last year and it's been a full-on process ever since from all the team on the ground here.
"Everyone in the club has been working towards this championship and so you're looking at hundreds and hundreds of hours of work that go into five days, and the practice days and the set- up.
"It's exciting, it's good and it's going to look impressive. Killeen is a beautiful golf course and as parkland courses go it's 7,200 yards and it can be a beast but the setting doesn't get much better with the first four or five holes around the lake.
"But the holes themselves, €100,000-plus has gone into the 18th hole. From the 18th tee you used to just see a water hazard down the left, but now there's a stone perimeter around the lake and two stone bridges, so it's framed beautifully now.
"All the work done here just adds to the professionalism and the quality and the standards that have been kept high over the last five or six years."
Finlay spoke of the combined efforts of Killarney town and its golf club to get this championship up and running and said: "The town lends itself to these events and hosting large groups of people, which it does every year.
The hotels have been on board with the Castlerosse next door and the Brehon booked out for the week and the facilities here are second to none.
'The practice facilities we have across the road in the academy will be absolutely spot on for the championship and I think that's probably where we can shine a little bit this week.
'The investment has gone into the academy with grass tee boxes, it will be like a tour event because we want this to be a memorable week for the guys. It's a serious week but we want them to enjoy it and enjoy what Killarney has to offer and I think they will."
Finlay believes a successful staging this week can be a stepping stone to hosting professional tour events once more.
" I think you can absolutely see some high-level events coming here in the near future.
"What that will be remains to be seen but I think we'll have this week as a very high-level event which I think we will deal with very well. We've hosted big events and large numbers of people before and if we can do that again in the future I don't see why wouldn't at least try.
"Killeen is a stadium course, it's set up for these events. We have the infrastructure, we have the course, we have the facilities.
'I can see us getting up to hosting professional events again in the next number of years. Whether it's an Irish Open, or a Seniors Tour or Women's event, I don't see why not. The sky's the limit.
"We have the people on the ground, we have the people behind the scenes and we have the drive to be able to do that sort of stuff now. It's going to be an exciting five or six years ahead."
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