Most dramatic Solheim Cup in history set to pay off for county in spades

Great golf, mighty crowds, a sunny Saturday and a European win to brighten up a soggy Sunday all combined to ensure that the 2011 Solheim Cup held at Killeen Castle last week was a tremendous success. The European ladies golfing team's first victory in a Solheim Cup since 2003 came at the close of a tension-filled and dramatic day in the singles competition which saw the Europeans leap from what looked like an ominous defeat to an unpredicted win. Europe has historically not done well in singles whereas the Americans had been victorious in eight of the 11 Solheim tournaments played previously. There were wild celebrations on the 18th green as the European players realised that victory was within their grasp even before the final pairing of Spain's Azahara Munoz and America's Angela Stanford completed their match. The major international golfing event at the Dunsany venue is being hailed a marvellous success by the organisers, tourism agencies and politicians who visited the event, with the win by the European team on home soil capping it all off. Attendance figures for competition days were estimated at 17,000 on Friday, 25,000 on Saturday and 28,000 on Sunday, with attendance at practice days since Tuesday bringing the total spectator figures up to 80,000. The chairman of Meath Tourism, Cllr John V Farrelly, paid tribute to all involved, saying that the tourism industry had been very well prepared for the event in the area, and that the organisation that had gone into the event by everybody was unprecedented. He said that Killeen Castle had looked magnificent as it was being broadcast across the world and that this can only augur well for the future of the tourism industry in Meath and the jobs that can be developed from that. He paid tribute to Kevin Stewart of Meath County Council, and all the staff at Meath Tourism, for the tremendous amount of work they had put into getting ready for the event. All the accommodation providers and the local communities who went to great efforts to put on festivals and welcoming events were to be commended, too, he added. He said he had spoken to many people over the three days of the event who had nothing but good things to say about their experience in Meath.