If one Irish player can be mentioned in the same breath as the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship, it has to be Headfort's Brendan McGovern.
A staunch supporter of the flagship event for Great Britain and Ireland's top club professionals, Brendan, who's 42, has missed just one championship since he first ventured over to the 72-hole final in 1991, held that year at King's Lynn, in Norfolk.
And as he heads for the Irish qualifier at County Louth on Wednesday (May 7), his enthusiasm for the event remains undimmed - even though qualification for the final on July 29 -August 1 at Moortown in Leeds will leave him jetting to and fro across the Irish Sea to fulfil his playing ambitions.
"That last week in July is a brutal one for Irish pros, particularly those of us playing in the 36-hole Ballyliffin Pro-am (on July 26/27). Because the airlines restrict your baggage allowance, I normally like to take the car over to England and give myself plenty of time. This time - if I qualify - I'll have to fly."
It would be one of the shock results of the season if the bluff, outspoken County Meath pro doesn't reach the final. Underlining a fine record in the Irish national championship, he came within an ace of ousting Padraig Harrington in last year's championship at the European Club, taking the Open Champion to a sudden-death play-off after 72 closely fought holes.
McGovern has twice played on the PGA Cup team in the biennial Ryder Cup-style match against the USA, and was non-playing assistant team captain at The K club in 2005, when GB&I won. He would love to play a more active role for next year's match, at Carrick-on-Loch-Lomond.
Among the 20 others at County Louth likeliest to succeed chasing probably no more than eight places for the final are Liam Bowler (Wexford), who has represented Ireland in the Gulf Air International Pro-Captain Challenge in Bahrain, and Ray Ryan (Athenry), who with his club captain, Pat Coen, finished fifth in this year's final.
The Leeds course at Moortown, the first in the UK to host a Ryder Cup, in 1929, will be offering all sorts of incentives to the Glenmuir winner - not just £10,000 and the use of a top-of-the-range Peugeot car for a year for the winner, but also a five-year exemption from Glenmuir qualifying, a place in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, no need to go through regional qualifying for The Open, and a place on the PGA Europro Tour.
One added plus: the winner at Moortown is almost certain to line up against the Americans in Scotland next year - even if he fails to make the cut in the 2009 Glenmuir championship.
This will be the 16th year of sponsorship by the Scottish-based golfwear manufacturers, for whom Marketing Director Andy Bough, commented, "We've been working closely with the PGA to make this year's championship the best ever, an event that the competitors really enjoy on and off the course, and I am confident professionals will respond by taking part and creating a truly memorable championship," he said.