"A new era in Ladies golf" is coming to Ireland next year as the Ladies Irish Open returns to these shores in the hope of rivalling the Women's British Open and building towards our Solheim Cup in 2011.

Roddy Carr, director of Killeen Castle, knows a thing or two about staging major events, having co-staged the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama alongside Seve Ballesteros as well as 32 European Tour events.

His unparalleled experience and success in the world of sport is destined to play a huge part in not only bringing the largest event in ladies golf to Ireland in 2011, but also in attracting some of the biggest names in world golf when a new and improved Ladies Irish Open returns next year.

"Our goal over the next four years is to bring in the best players in the world, like we used to do with the men's Irish Open.

"I'll make no bones about it, it's players like Lorena Ochoa and Paula Creamer that are our target. It's serious play, we're not looking at anything less than that.

"We're very spoilt in Ireland in that it's really the only thing we've never seen. We've had people play in pro-ams alongside Monty and big men's players, but they've never played with Annika Sorenstam or Creamer.

"Everything has been set up to suit the big players, we've looked at the schedule in the States, when we're liable to get people -- and our prize money will be in and around the top five in the Ladies European Tour."

Carr, the son of Irish golfing legend Joe and formerly a successful player in his own right, has big plans for golf in this country and particularly for ladies golf.

His plans for golf amongst the amateurs in Ireland are just as exuberant as his 2007 Solheim Cup and Ladies Irish Open plans, and he hopes to begin "a movement to bring women's golf forward to the level of the men's golf with our own players."

"This is not just a bid for the Solheim Cup," he says, "There's a five year strategy involved in this bid, we know we have to build awareness of the ladies game.

"We know we have to get into the grass roots.

"There are five or six young Irish girls out there that are going to be very good and we're going to invest money in them for the Junior Solheim."

They are exciting prospects that Carr proposes for the country's young lady golfers and the man who has managed some of Ireland's biggest sporting legends, including cyclists Stephen Roche, Sean Kelly and boxer Barry McGuigan, has obviously spotted the future of Irish sport in the realm of ladies golf.

"I was astounded at how the ladies game has grown, especially in America," he said.

"It's the fastest growing segment in golf worldwide and in terms of the graph for television viewership, it's growing faster than anything else.

"There was a picture of Paula Creamer before the Solheim Cup doing a cartwheel and I thought that was just the epitome of the youth of ladies golf at the moment.

"It's different to what people remember of the old game such as in the old Irish Ladies Open, where it was dowdy and it was an older persons game.

"I did a study for the post-Ryder Cup strategy for tourism and it demonstrated that we've done most of what we could do in terms of men's golf and that, in terms of the 'new Ireland', the image of women's golf really suits that."

It's all about "stepping out of the box" for Carr, as he puts it himself, and moving away from the old stereotype of low-key golf events.

"I've been to so many golf events, like the Seve last week and I'm thinking 'This is boring'. The players are further away, you can't get near them.

"The Walker Cup last month was the best event I've been to in the last five years. We want to touch into that vein of really presenting something both visually grabbing and highly experiential in a tournament, where families can go, women can go and enjoy themselves."

Roddy Carr's credentials in the business of golf are matched only by his infectious enthusiasm for development of the game and the projects to which he commits.

Meanwhile Milltown lady captain Bernadette Griffith capped an incredible centenary year for the Dublin Southside club by making it a personal double with a win at the Lancome Scotch Foursomes Trophy at Killarney last weekend.

Alongside partner Judith O'Sullivan, Griffith claimed the title with a stunning 42 points. They won on a countback from Kilkee's Joan Dinneen and Deirdre Burns and Enniscorthy's Eimear McGrath and Jennifer King who also scored 42 points each.

It caps off an incredible double for the Milltown lady captain, who claimed the Volkswagen/Irish Independent Lady Captain's Golf Classic trophy last week, and which you can also read about in this week's Tee to Green.

Former internationals Kate MacCann and Eavan Higgins from Douglas fired a two under par 38 points to win the prize for best gross score of the day.

- Neil Ahern