Portstewart Golf Club will host Irish Open in 2017

Portstewart Golf Club will host the Irish Open in 2017.
Portstewart Golf Club will hold the 2017 Irish Open having held the British Amateur Championship and Ladies British Amateur Open in recent years. Photo Matt Mackey/Presseye.comPortstewart Golf Club will hold the 2017 Irish Open having held the British Amateur Championship and Ladies British Amateur Open in recent years. Photo Matt Mackey/Presseye.com
Portstewart Golf Club will hold the 2017 Irish Open having held the British Amateur Championship and Ladies British Amateur Open in recent years. Photo Matt Mackey/Presseye.com

The event was originally scheduled to be held at Lough Erne, however doubts emerged in January that the Fermanagh course may not stage the tournament, and this was confirmed in April with Lough Erne stating the Tour had decided to change the venue to a links course.

Portstewart will now host next year’s event, which has been moved closer to The Open, being held from July 6-9.

“Portstewart is an excellent links course and one of Northern Ireland’s hidden gems,” said Rory McIlroy, who won this year’s event at The K Club.

World number four McIlroy donated his prize money from the victory to his charity, the Rory Foundation.

The foundation, which supports a number of children’s causes, will be the official host of the Irish Open for a third year.

Tour officials had been in discussions with Portstewart and visited the course, which is situated on the north coast of Northern Ireland.

“We have no doubt the Strand Course will provide nothing less than a worthy test of golf,” said Portstewart’s general manager Michael Moss.