County Sligo sits on the west coast of Ireland and it’s one of Connacht’s five constituent counties. Poet and playwright W.B. Yeats spent many of his formative years in County Sligo and the rugged landscape in this part of Ireland was the inspiration for much of his work, evidenced by one of Yeats’s last poems, “Under Ben Bulben”.

County Sligo Golf Club – better known to many as Rosses Point – is, appropriately enough, the oldest and most prestigious club in the county. Formed in 1894, the club affiliated to the GUI eight years later and its Championship course has played host to a wide range of regional, national and international tournaments down the years.

Since 1923, County Sligo has been the venue for the West of Ireland Amateur – an event dominated during its first half century by Cecil Ewing, Joe Carr and John Burke – and it has also been used for a combined total of almost twenty Cups & Shields Finals and Irish Close Amateur competitions. The Home Internationals were also held here in 1991 and 2011.