Where and when is the KPMG Women’s Irish Open on?
The KPMG Women’s Irish Open will be staged at the O’Meara Course at Carton House, Co Kildare from Thursday, August 29th to Sunday, September 1st.
Getting there
For those travelling by car, take the M3 and exit at Dunboyne/Ratoath, following the AA event road signs to Carton House.
Bus users can use the 139 or C3 services, both of which stop outside Carton House, while spectators wishing to travel by train should disembark at Maynooth station, which is a five-minute journey by taxi to the venue.
How can I follow the action?
The four-day event will be televised on RTÉ and Sky Sports.
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Coverage across the four days is as follows: Thursday 3pm-6pm, Friday 3pm-6pm, Saturday 2pm-5pm and Sunday 2pm-5pm.
Anything I need to know ahead of the event?
There will be a strong Irish showing at this year’s event, with five professional and eight amateur Irish golfers competing. Anna Foster and Anabel Wilson are making their professional debuts, joining Leona Maguire, Lauren Walsh and Olivia Mehaffey, while Róisín Scanlon, Kate Lanigan, Emma Fleming, Kate Dillon, Olivia Costello, Aideen Walsh, Canice Screen and Anna Abom are our amateurs.
The last two installations were held at Dromoland Castle, Co Clare following a 10-year hiatus. Last year’s event drew over 31,000 spectators to see Demark’s Smilla Tarning Sønderby claim the title.
Up for grabs is a €400,000 prize fund.
Who are the golfers to watch?
Leona Maguire: The Cavan woman had a difficult time at the Olympics in Paris and returned from the Games to a tough result at the Scottish Open, finishing nine over par to put her 24 shots adrift of the winner. But last week’s British Open was a much more positive outing as the 29-year-old survived the halfway cut to finish four over. Maguire is one of the event’s leading lights and the home crowd may well bring her back to form.
Georgia Hall (England): Maguire’s Solheim Cup team-mate has four wins from across the LET and LPGA, including the 2018 British Open. On Monday, she was confirmed as one of Team Europe captain Suzann Pettersen’s wild card picks for this year’s Solheim Cup, taking place in Virginia next month.
Anne van Dam (Netherlands): The 28-year-old has five LET titles under her belt and has some unfinished business at this event having lost last year’s three-way playoff to Sønderby.
Tee-times
Leona Maguire is playing with Smilia Tarning Soenderby and Trichat Cheenglab at 1.48pm on Thursday.
Off 1st tee:
9am: Verena Gimmy, Florentyna Parker, Kate Dillon (a)
1.12pm: Annabel Dimmock, Kirsten Rudgeley, Roisin Scanlon (a)
1.36pm: Lauren Walsh, Anne van Dam, Klara Davidson Spilkova
1.48pm: Leona Maguire, Smilia Tarning Soenderby, Trichat Cheenglab
2pm: Rosie Davies, Moa Folke, Kate Lanigan (a)
3pm: Madelene Stavnar, Anne-Charlotte Mora, Canice Screene (a)
Off 10th tee:
8.12am: Diksha Dagar, Olivia Mehaffey, Annabel Wilson
8.36am: Amy Taylor, Chiara Tamburlini, Anna Foster
8.48am: Georgia Hall, Casandra Alexander, Marta Martin
9am: Lily May Humpheys, Sara Kouskova, Emma Fleming (a)
1.48pm: Tiffany Chan, Thalia Martin, Aideen Walsh
2.24pm: Amy Walsh, Tian Xiaolin, Anna Abom (a)
3pm: Felicity Johnson, Tiia Koivisto, Olivia Costello (a)
Tickets
For those hoping to attend, tickets can be bought at the course (card payments only), and there’s free parking for all spectators. Tickets can also be purchased online.
General admission day tickets are priced at €20 for Thursday and Friday, rising to €25 for Saturday and Sunday. A week pass is also available for €75, and a weekend pass will set you back €40.
Entry is free for under 16s across the competition, but they must have a valid ticket.
A Pro-Am event is also set to take place on Wednesday. Entry is free and there promises to be some familiar faces taking to the greens.
How’s the weather looking?
Overall, the weather across the four days is expected to by dry and cloudy with gentle winds.
Thursday afternoon is looking blustery, but winds seem likely to die down until Sunday.
Temperatures will hover around the mid-teens but could near 20 degrees on Sunday.
