Hero's welcome for Sara Byrne in Douglas after her win in the national golf championship

THERE was an amazing welcome for Sara Byrne in Douglas on Sunday night when she returned home as a national champion for the second time. 

The 21 year-old University of Miami golfer won the AIG Irish Women’s Close Championship at Connemara. 

Although it took her over four hours to get back to Cork after the win, it was straight to Douglas Golf Club for an impromptu celebration. A huge crowd had gathered to welcome the winner home.

“It was amazing to be honest,” said Sara. 

“Coming in and seeing amount of people in the club, it was packed. When I came in I got a standing ovation for a few minutes and it nearly made me tear up, it was amazing. 

"To bring back the cup the second time is even better.”

It was her second time winning the prestigious national title. A beaten finalist last year, Byrne ended up as winner after beating the defending champion Beth Coulter. 

Byrne got off to the perfect start in the final, the Douglas golfer won the opening two holes and held the lead for most of the front nine. Despite the good start, the match was all square with one to play. 

A par on the last was enough to secure the win and the title.

Speaking after the win, Sara was over the moon to capture another senior national title. 

“Absolutely over the moon, like absolutely delighted. Me and Beth had a great match out there, over and back the whole time, some great golf played. 

"I had five birdies, I was hoping for six but got five under the bag anyways." 

In a change from having her Dad Derek on the bag, Byrne had Irish International and Connemara local Luke O’Neill on the bag for the final day and his local knowledge was a help when it came to reading tricky putts.

Byrne won the competition as a 16 year old in 2018. 

Winning for a second time was made that little more enjoyable as she at last got a victory over Coulter when it mattered most. 

"Yeah it's a bit surreal, I'm a bit lost for words at the minute. But honestly just absolutely over the moon, finally got it done. 

"This is my fourth time playing Beth in a final so, first time getting over the line."

It was a week of quality golf from the Douglas golfer. 

She finished at the top of the leaderboard after the 36 hole Strokeplay qualifying on Thursday and Friday. 

She finished on eight under thanks to rounds of 69 and 67. The plus six handicapper avoided the tournament favourite and holder Coulter, but she did have some tough competition in her side of the draw.

On Saturday she beat Jan Browne from Killarney and Kanturk’s Mairead Martin to advance to Sunday’s semi-final. 

It did take Byrne an extra four holes to beat Martin, with Byrne edging it on the 22nd. 

In the semi-final she had a more straightforward 3&2 win over Libby Fleming. From there it was onto the final where she came out on the right side.

The good performance in Connemara follows a good finish to Byrne’s third year in Miami. 

As well as a couple of top ten finishes, Sara also qualified from the NCAA national finals following a third place finish at the Palm Beach Regional in May. 

After that it was to Kent in England for the Women’s Amateur where Sara qualified for the matchplay stages, getting through to the second round.

Sara, who received honorary membership of the club in 2018 following her first win was extremely proud to return home as the champion, it’s the sixth national title captured by Douglas golfers since 2017. 

She now faces a busy few weeks. On Tuesday she headed off to Sweden to compete in the LET Access events. 

The development tour events will keep Sara to keep her game sharp, as well as providing a new challenge in a professional event. 

After the two events in Sweden, it’s likely that she’ll be part of the Irish Women’s team to play at the European Team Championships in Finland. 

The Home Internationals are scheduled for Wales in August and Sara is also hoping to make the Irish team for that event.

One date that is in Sara’s diary is the KMPG Irish Women’s Open in Dromoland in late August. 

After the success of the 2022 staging, the organisers are looking at an even bigger event for 2023. 

The invite means that Sara will have to delay her return to Miami by a few weeks. 

Byrne will be heading into her Senior year in September where she is majoring in finance and accounting but will no doubt be hoping for more success before then.