New tourism role for Peter Lawrie
Peter Lawrie (left) and Joe O'Carroll, Director at Fairways and FunDays, pictured at The K Club.
Former European Tour player Peter Lawrie has been appointed Director of Golf for award-winning in-bound tourism operator Fairways & FunDays.
His role will be to will help raise brand recognition for the company, which sells tours to Ireland, offering a bespoke service that includes customised itineraries for non-golfers travelling as part of a group.
"As our new Director of Golf, Peter will use his European Tour experience to host golf clinics for the company's clients on their trips to Ireland and assist us in building better golfing experiences for our clients," said Joe O'Carroll, Director at Fairways and FunDays.
"As a tour winner and as a consistent high performer in Asia, where he had several top 10 finishes, Peter enjoys brilliant recognition in key target markets such as China.
"The strategic partnership will aim to convert this recognition and reputation into a growing stream of satisfied customers through our renowned attention to detail and customer focus."
Adare Manor in Co Limerick, which will host the 2026 Ryder Cup, is one of the world’s leading golf destinations
Capped at boys, youths and senior level, Lawrie (45) won the Irish Amateur Close title in 1996 and turned professional the following year.
A graduate of UCD, he played in Asia and Florida before winning his European Tour card at the end of 2002 following his victory in the season-ending Challenge Tour Grand Final.
He became the first Irishman to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, then claimed his maiden European Tour victory at the Open de España in 2008, defeating home favourite Ignacio Garrido in a play-off.
He went on to make 402 European Tour appearances, winning €5.8 million in prize money.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for me having met so many people around the world, now to be able to showcase Ireland to these people," Lawrie said of his new role.
"I'm looking forward to getting my hands in and getting involved with Fairways and FunDays."
Irish golf has been growing worldwide in recent years with in excess of 200,000 overseas visitors playing golf here every year.
According to Fairways & FunDays, “such volume accounts for more than 1.7 million bed nights and a financial contribution to the economy of close to €270 million.”
The Asia Pacific market is a big growth area and Lawrie enjoyed great success there, finishing second in the Volvo China Open in 2011 and sixth in 2005. He also recorded top-10 finishes in the Caltex Singapore Masters (twice), the BMW Asian Open and the Maybank Malaysian Open.
Tourism Ireland rated 2018 the best ever year for overseas tourism to the island of Ireland, with revenue generated by international visitors estimated at €6.1 billion.
This is an increase of 10% on 2017, with record numbers arriving from North America, Continental Europe, Australia and emerging markets.
Fairways and FunDays was founded in 2014 and named Ireland's Best Inbound Golf Tour Operator by the World Golf Awards for the third year in a row last year.
The company has been nominated for the 2019 World Golf Awards which will be held in Abu Dhabi next week.
