Leinster and Irish Rugby International, Sean Cronin, officially launched the inaugural Irish Minigolf Open today at Rainforest Adventure Golf in Dundrum. The Irish Minigolf Open is set to take place on Saturday February 18th and Sunday February 19th in Rainforest Adventure Golf.
Sean Cronin and both his Leinster and Irish teammates are regular visitors to Rainforest Adventure Golf, with Irish International Ian Madigan holding the best record on both the “Aztec” and “Mayan” courses in Rainforest Adventure Golf, followed closely by Leinster and Irish International Dominic Ryan.
Sean Cronin, ambassador for the Irish Minigolf Open, commented, “This is a fantastic opportunity for people to discover the sport of minigolf and to learn and compete with some of the best in the world. It’s shaping up to be a very exciting weekend and I’m delighted to be part of it. Rainforest Adventure Golf is a fantastic venue to host the very first Irish Minigolf Open, both my teammates and myself love to compete on both courses during our downtime!”
This will be Ireland’s first World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) event, with the competition set to attract players from across the U.K. and Europe. Rainforest Adventure Golf have also named Make-A-Wish Ireland as their charity partner for the event, which will see the charity receive a sizable donation from Rainforest following the Irish Open.
Rainforest Adventure Golf are currently calling for participants to sign up and take part in the competition, where they will then get the opportunity to compete against some of the best minigolfers in the world and be in with a chance of cashing in on the prize fund which is in excess of €3,500.
With two titles up for grabs; Irish Open Champion and Irish National Champion, Rainforest are encouraging players of all levels to compete. International players will compete in the Irish Open while Irish players will compete across both categories.
Darrin O’Toole, General Manager of Rainforest Adventure Golf and Chairman of Irish Minigolf Association, said, “We are delighted to host Ireland’s very first Minigolf Open here in Rainforest. This is something we are all very passionate about and we’ve been working on pulling this together for the past number of months.
We want to encourage as many people as possible to enter and take part in the tournament, which is why we decided to have two titles up for grabs, The Irish Open Champion and The Irish National Champion. The title of Irish National Champion is open to players of all levels who would like to compete. We want this competition to be fun and inclusive for everyone, no matter what level they play at.”
The tournament will be promoted by the Irish Minigolf Association, which is a new member of the World Minigolf Sport Federation. The competition format will be an eight round cumulative strokeplay competition on a single course in Rainforest. Five rounds will be played on Saturday February 18th with the remaining three rounds to be played on Sunday. Only the Top 18 players of the tournament will be eligible to play the final round. Rainforest have also waived practice fees with Free Open Practice available during the week leading into the competition.
Interested golfers are encouraged to register online via the Rainforest Adventure Golf Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RainforestAdventureGolf/. Participation for international players is €40 while Rainforest Adventure Golf are subsidising 50% off the fee for local players to encourage participation, bringing the entry fee down to €20. The competition is open to both males and females aged 16 years or older.
Gareth Crowe, Make-A-Wish Ireland, said, “Make-A-Wish Ireland is delighted to partner with Rainforest Adventure Golf as they host the Irish Mini Golf Open at their Dundrum headquarters. Make-A-Wish is proud to be associated with this unique sporting event and wish all of the minigolfers good luck during the competition. This support is vital to our work as we receive no government funding and we are extremely grateful to the golfers and team at Rainforest Adventure Golf as we work to grant more magical wishes to Ireland’s bravest children”
Pasi Aho, WMF Sport Director, said, “We are delighted to see our new member Irish Minigolf Association getting off to a flying start for their membership by organizing a highly attractive international competition in Dublin at Rainforest Adventure Golf. We hope this competition will encourage a lot of new Irish players to compete at WMF International Championships.”
Sean Homer, Chairman of the British Minigolf Association, and the Tournament Director of the Irish Open, commented, “I’m delighted to support the newly formed Irish Minigolf Association in their first International competition. The course is part of a brilliant venue and will provide an entertaining challenge for all players who take part over the weekend in February.”
For more information, log onto www.rainforestadventuregolf.ie,
Facebook – www.facebook.com/RainforestAdventureGolf
Twitter – @RainforestGolf
Notes:
- So far there has been nine high-ranked players confirmed from the U.K. and four players confirmed from Czech Republic.
- This is an Irish Minigolf Association event, backed by The World Minigolf Sport Federation.
- The Irish Minigolf Association hope this competition will encourage Irish players to form an Irish Minigolf Team to compete at the European and World Championships.
- The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) is the umbrella organization of 63 Minigolf sports associations worldwide with continental associations in Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. There are more than 38,000 competitive minigolf players registered with the WMF via the 63 member nations, with 900-plus clubs between them. Over 1,000 courses are approved for official competitions and over 1,500 minigolf tournaments are held each year.
For further information:
Keith McConnon – Insight Consultants – 087 215 6098 / keith@insightconsultants.ie