Irish PGA to get new title sponsor

The Irish PGA Championship has a new title sponsor, the Sherry FitzGerald Group. Ireland's largest estate agency will sponsor the tournament, which will take place for the first time at Druid's Heath from September 14th-17th, the week before the Ryder Cup.

Padraig Harrington has won the title for the past two years, and three times in all, one fewer than Paul McGinley.

The field will comprise 120 players, and for those not exempt there will be qualifying rounds on July 11th and 12th.

Meanwhile, the construction programme at Doonbeg Golf Club is on schedule for an early May opening of the lodge, clubhouse, spa and suites. The project began in May, 2004, and this phase of the building has seen the construction of the lodge, the clubhouse and the connected accommodation in the Garden, Norman and Courtyard suites.

The lodge, the centre-piece of the entire development, looks out over the first tee and the 18th green. It contains 15 suites, dining facilities, bars and a state-of-the-art spa.

The Garden, Norman and Courtyard suites, which are connected to the lodge and the clubhouse by a series of courtyards, contain 32 suites.

Television gardener Diarmuid Gavin has been working with Doonbeg course superintendent Jim McKenna on the landscaping.