Barry fills the void with Fingal Classic

His business senses honed from a lifetime in the music industry, Oliver Barry's persistence in filling a perceived void in the golfing calendar paid off yesterday with the launch of the inaugural Fingal Classic, which will be staged over four of north county Dublin's myriad of courses in April.

The impresario has been a longtime advocate of such a concept, although it has taken longer than he envisaged to come to fruition. Finally, however, it has come to pass, and his own course at Hollystown, along with the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links, St Margaret's and Luttrellstown Castle, will play host to 500 players - comprising 250 two-person teams - in the tournament which will run from April 26th to 29th and which is intended to be an annual affair.

"This is something which has been mooted for almost two-and-a-half years," said Marty Carr, of Carr Golf, who are the event co-ordinators, "and our hope is that the participants, divided equally with competitors from Ireland and Britain, will take the opportunity to sample what this part of the country has to offer in terms of golfing challenges."

Indeed, the four courses are all products of the 1990s when golfing tourism has grown enormously and now represents over £100 million in revenue to the economy. All the courses have been opened inside the last decade, but, already, two of them, St Margaret's and Luttrellstown Castle, have played host to the Irish Women's Open on the ELPGA Tour, Hollystown was the venue for last year's Leinster Junior Open, and the Portmarnock Links threw its hat into the ring for the Ryder Cup.

Being whisked yesterday by helicopter from Luttrellstown to Portmarnock Links - a journey in the air of seven minutes 32 seconds, incidentally - the proximity of all four courses was highlighted, although travel come April will be by more conventional means.

The format is a two-person team event comprising better ball stableford over four days, with daily individual and team prizes as well as an overall individual and team prize. The price per golfer, £125 (160 euros), includes four rounds of golf, prizes and the gala dinner in the Grand Hotel in Malahide, all of which should be as attractive to home-based players as to visitors.

Given the success of similar tournaments in Dungarvan, the north-west and in the Bushmills area, the Fingal event is likely to establish its own niche in the playing calendar and prove Barry's persistence was well worth it.