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Article: The cutest corporate investors are after the birdies.(BUSINESS)
- Article from:
- Sunday Independent (Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
- Article date:
- September 17, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Independent News & Media PLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Nick Webb
MICHAEL Smurfit and builder Gerry Gannon will be rigid with excitement as the Ryder Cup circus descends on their K Club hotel and golf club this week. The unlikely partners spent EU130m to buy the Straffan estate last year, a deal first revealed by the Sunday Independent. But Smurfit and Gannon are not the only wealthy Irish businessmen to have thrown millions at golf clubs. Some of the best known names in corporate Ireland have bagged trophy courses from Barbados to the Belfry in the last decade.
Three years ago, Savoy hotel owner and deal maker Derek Quinlan emerged as an investor in the upmarket Georgia Club, which was established ...