Players from more than 70 different countries competed at this year’s Irish Open, reflecting the festival’s truly international flavour.
Across the world – from Switzerland to South Africa, from Malaysia to Malta, from the snowy climes of Iceland, Finland and Norway to the sun-kissed shores of Trinidad and Tobago – the Irish Open has once again proved a truly multinational event.
As always, Irish players turned up in droves. More than 1,500 Irish players competed this year, accounting for more than a third of the 5,400 players who attended the festival. The Irish made their way home – possibly on foot – with more than €2.3 million in prize money. Brits were also a big presence – some 1,032 players, more than 22% of the total field.
Germany skipped past the USA to third place this year, with 189 competitors v 172 from the States. And if you thought you were hearing a lot of Italian and French, you were right on the button because more than 130 from each of those two nations turned up to “godersi il craic” or “profiter de l’ambiance” depending.
As the Irish Open prepares to spread its wings to three new global destinations – Sydney, Marrakech and the USA – the Dublin edition was delighted to welcome players from all three of those nations.
There were also sizeable contingents from nearly every country in Europe including The Netherlands, Romania – including our new champion Narcis Nedelcu, Sweden , Switzerland, Spain, Greece and Lithuania.
Canadians – who have been huge fans of the Irish Open for many years – also accounted for a sizeable presence in Dublin this year. The 65-strong cohort included Friends of the Irish Open Elizabeth Bennett-Martin (who cashed three times), Raph Verdugo and Tim Silman along with Irish Open live stream commentator and 2017 champion Griffin Benger.
Thanks too to the singletons who came flag-waving for Abkhazia (had to look it up, it’s part of Georgia), Andorra, Belarus, Colombia, Costa Rica, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia and Thailand.
We also celebrated our first-ever champions from Luxembourg and Turkey. Congrats to Luxembourger Sami Agel (pictured) who took down the record-breaking Mini Irish Open. In total, there were six players from Luxembourg and they all cashed in at least one tournament.
Well done also to Turkey’s Cenk Nigbolu who won the Liam Flood Memorial on the final day of the festival.
And to all the thousands of players who came this year – many thanks for helping us make history once again!
