Doonbeg, Ireland - If you are a father and you play golf and if you have a daughter who plays, you will have to put a very important tournament on your calendar next year. Not only does it feature the friendliest hosts on the planet - the Irish - it also takes place at one of the most spectacular golf settings in the world - Doonbeg Golf Club in southwest Ireland.

The Third Annual World Invitational Father & Daughter golf tournament, organized by Marty Carr and Carr Golf, golf travel and golf event specialists based in Dublin, featured 22 teams representing the United States, Ireland and Switzerland.

Approach shot into the first hole at Doonbeg.

The tournament consisted of two rounds of golf on the challenging Greg Norman designed links course. The format was Team Stableford - Net which means each team recorded their best net score and are awarded one point for bogie, two points for par, three for birdie and four for eagle. It's a fun format that is frequently used in Europe. The format is forgiving and allows teams or individuals to stay in the match if they experience a few bad holes.

The event kicked off this past Sunday evening with a welcome dinner in Darby's Pub in the Doonbeg Lodge. Monday evening the group was entertained by Irish musicians at Comerfords, one of the well known pubs in the Village of Doonbeg. The event concluded on Tuesday evening with an awards dinner in the Long Room, the elegant dining room in the Lodge. It was a classy event and the girls had a wonderful time making new friends and catching up with girls they met in previous years. The Dads enjoyed it as much as their daughters, not only commiserating with other 'Dads' but beaming with pride while bonding with their daughters in the golf competition.

Opening hole at Doonbeg.

The winning team was Randy Garris and Paige Lee Garris, who finished with 101 points, 10 points ahead of the second place team, Cliff Beirne and Ellen Beirne of Dublin, Ireland. Kieran Walshe and Orla Walshe, also of Dublin placed third. Paige Lee is only 11-years-old but she has been taking lessons from Martin Hall, the same teacher who taught LPGA star Morgan Pressel at Ibis Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida in her early years. With a 32 handicap, Page shot a 101 on the first day and carded an 88 on the second day. She and her Dad, who were in second place after the first round, were able to bring home the huge Tipperary Crystal vase for winning. Her father Randy spends a lot of time golfing and supporting his daughter's game. "From the time she was three-years-old, I knew she was athletic," said Randy. "She swung a golf club when she was three but just took up the game two years ago. Last year playing in nine U.S. Kid's Tournaments she came in second six times. This year playing in six tournaments so far, she has won twice. But this win here, after coming in fourth last year, is her most exciting achievement so far."

Our own Ann Liguori takes to the links.

Paige Lee added:"It feels great winning with my Dad. It was fun seeing him hit good shots and he likes to see me play well. It was a good bonding experience. We had a great time."

"It was another great year," added Carr, who has two daughters of his own and played with daughter Sophie. "We have had three American winners in three years in the father-daughter competition. And in our father-son tournament, we have had only three American winners in 20 years! Surely the American women golfers must be doing something right!"

18th green, view from the clubhouse.

Doonbeg Golf Club's General Manager Joe Russell played with his daughter Sarah. The fathers who played left their jobs for a few days as doctors and financial managers, Irish bankers and heads of American based companies to spend some quality time with their daughters. And the women's ages ranged from 11 to some who are in their 40s.

Beirne, a doctor from Dublin, plays in both the father-daughter tournament and the father-son event which will be held at Waterville Golf Links in mid-August. Former Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino plays with his son Joey every year. Buddy Darby plays with his son Charles. The tournament, in its 21st year, has been sold out for quite some time and now teams must be invited. Carr would like to see the father-daughter tournament reach that point. Says Beirne "The father-son started small like the father-daughter and grew into an event which now has a wait list. Traditionally, there have been a lot of father-son competitions. It's great for the girls to enjoy the camaraderie with the other girls, the competition and the connection with their fathers. And the girls enjoy the luxurious comfortable surroundings of Doonbeg, including the spa!

View of the Crescent formed beach.

Madison Horl from Garden City, NY, played with her father Larry Horl and raved about the event. "Marty put together a wonderful event. We enjoyed playing against an Irish team. We loved going to the pub in the village and the more formal dinner was wonderful. I go to Holy Cross and play golf there and played with another Holy Cross alum, Michael Foster, and his daughter Wendy from Connecticut. We collected many email addresses and plan to stay in touch with many of our new Irish friends." Larry Horl raved about the Irish (no attitude) hospitality, the welcoming attitude of the Irish people and how fun the caddies are. And Madison shared a story about a local woman who hugged her at Comerford's Pub, saying how excited they were to host them and encouraged her and her friends to dance and sing, which they did.

First place winners Paige Lee Garris and Randy Garris.

I must say, I was most impressed with the women and girls who played in the tournament. They certainly did make their fathers proud, with their golfing ability and the way they conducted themselves on and off the course - polite, classy and displaying excellent sportsmanship. The future of the game is truly in good hands if more girls and women like the group who played in this tournament continue to play.

Doonbeg Golf Club is one of my favorite places in the world. Yes, the Greg Norman designed golf links course is 'grand' as they say in Ireland and the clubhouse and rooms are spectacular but it is really the people who make the place special. It is truly my home away from home.

The signature hole, par 3, 14th.

Perhaps head golf professional Brian Shaw said it best when he described Doonbeg as "a place with a lot of soul." It's a combination of the Irish easy going-ness and their love for having fun combined with the beauty of the setting that is tough to match.

Doonbeg overlooks the Atlantic Ocean on a crescent shaped beach with natural grassy sand dunes and wild flowers dotting the landscape. Doonbeg is approximately a 40 minute drive from Shannon Airport in the southwest of Ireland. The country roads you will drive to get here are half the fun, especially maneuvering your car in the left lane, sitting on the right side of the car and shifting gears with your left hand. The design of the lodge, completed in 2004, has the look of a traditional Irish manor house. The Long Room, named after co-owner Leonard Long, is more of a formal restaurant for the Members and Darby's Pub, named after partner Buddy Darby, more casual. And the White Horses Spa offers treatments that will relax your spirit and calm your soul, although just being at Doonbeg seems to do the trick.

The picturesque town of Ennis, about 30 minutes from Doonbeg Golf Club.

Through the years, Tourism Ireland has sponsored many Sports Innerview with Ann Liguori shows that air on regional sports cable networks throughout the country and showcase golf courses – both links and parkland courses – in Ireland and northern Ireland. In 2001, they sent me on another glorious trip to Ireland to tape a television show promoting links courses in the Southwest of Ireland. The plan was to visit six golf courses in six days and tape segments on each course for my half hour Sports Innerview with Ann Liguori show.

Another view, par 4, fifth hole.

Doonbeg was one of those six courses. Ed Tovey, the Director of Membership at the time, took me around the course and showed me the lay-out before it was even opened for play. Nine years later, Tovey continues to promote Doonbeg and has been selling the beautiful Links Cottages and units in the Lodge that were built several years ago. There are now around 400 members and counting.

Ninth hole, par 3.

On my first trip to Doonbeg, Tovey took my camera crew and me around the golf course so we could shoot some of the signature holes. Of course we got out of the cart often to hit balls from various positions. There is an extraordinarily deep bunker hugging the green to the right of the par three, 11th hole. Tovey displayed the various ways one could hit out of that monstrosity. In fact, during my second round in the father-daughter this week, (I played with long-time friend Michael Water who runs Doonbeg Golf Club's golf operations) and adhering to his advice, I actually used my putter to smack a ball out of the deepest bunker you're likely to see anywhere. Looking up approximately 30 feet, with no view of the green, I lined myself up and used my putter to hit the ball which ran right up the dirt wall in front of me, out the deep bunker. I was quite proud of the effort, I must say. Too bad my TV camera guys were not there!

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Second place winners Ellen Beirne and Cliff Beirne with Marty Carr of Carr Golf and organizer of the The Third Annual World Invitational Father & Daughter golf tournament.

Ironically, one week after being introduced to the course back in 2001, I returned to interview Greg Norman, the designer of the course, for my cable series, walking with him and interviewing him as he discussed his design philosophy and success story. I was then asked to be on the Advisory Board and became a founding member and have enjoyed my association with the club ever since!

Entrance to the Doonbeg Lodge.

Doonbeg offers an exciting variety of holes which of course play differently all the time, depending on the wind and weather. The opening hole, a stunning par five, is relatively open with mounds and several bunkers strategically placed to catch any uncalculated shot. The green is surrounded by a huge dune that creates an amphitheater - like backdrop. The stunning par four, fifth hole, forces golfers to lay up off the tee to a deep and huge grass bunker that you definitely need to stay clear of. So the trick is – what club do I hit? With varying wind conditions, your decision making regarding club selection gets pretty complicated. From the women's tee, a 180 shot did the trick. And once you placed your tee shot up there nicely, you then had to decide what to use to get over the giant abyss and land the ball on the green which is guarded by high dunes on both sides. Many a ball have gone too far and found the beach with the white caps of the Atlantic Ocean making a picturesque backdrop.

The par five, 13th hole.

The par three, 14th 'signature' hole, is guarded by the ocean on the right, a large dune on the left and a giant grassy abyss in front. Any shot that does not land on the green is almost impossible to recover from. It is absolutely one of my favorite holes in all of golf. Depending on the wind, it plays between 80 yards and 180 yards from the white and blue tees.

The fifteen hole has a green tucked within another dune. And you must hit the ball over a public access road where you will often see surfers heading back and forth to the beach. And the finishing hole offers another spectacular view of the beach on the right, with high dunes on the left, making for a narrow space to hit your tee shot. Once you get through that challenge, the green awaits with a few bunkers guarding it, just to continue to test you after a challenging but exhilarating round. Your walk up to the green overlooks the sea on the right and the stunning Lodge on the left.

Yes, Doonbeg Golf Club and Lodge are well worth the trip. And if you're a Dad and have a daughter who plays golf, sign up for the tournament scheduled for next July by going to www.carrgolf.com, or by writing info@carrgolf.com. And if you are a Dad who plays golf and you have a daughter who doesn't play, why don't you introduce her to the game? You'll be so happy you did! It's a game you can play for a life-time and a bonding experience like no other!

Editor's Note: Ireland is also hosting the Solheim Cup competition in September 2011, the most prestigious women's golf competition between top American professionals and European pros. It will be held at Killeen Castle in Co Meath. Go to www.discoverireland.com for more information or email info@carrgolf.com.