Cork golfers Sara Byrne and James Sugrue awarded Golf Ireland Professional Grants

This is Sara Byrne’s second year to be included in the scheme, and she knows the importance of the support. 

“The Golf Ireland Pro Scheme has been a massive help with the transition from amateur to pro,” said Byrne. 

“The financial aid has been a massive part, as that is the number one thing to have to take care of with travelling expenses. The availability of coaching is also great for whatever sort of help we need.”

In the time since the scheme was established, more than €5m in grants has been allocated to almost 120 aspiring young golfers. Other Cork golfers to benefit from the scheme in the past include John Murphy and Niall Turner.

Sport Ireland has provided funding to the Golf Ireland Professional Scheme since 1999. 

The scheme also gives players direct funding, assistance with tournament invitations, access to support staff, and access to the state-of-the-art facilities at the Golf Ireland Academy.

Golf Ireland Pro Scheme members can also avail of warm weather training facilities, mentoring from current or former tour professionals and sports medical support through Sport Ireland.

Golf Ireland High Performance Director Neil Manchip said: “We are delighted to receive the funding from Sport Ireland to support our professional programme. 

"It goes a long way to help the development of our professionals making their way on the various tours.”

With the Ryder Cup returning to Ireland next year, the Government has committed €8.5m in financial support for key professional golf tournaments, including the Amgen Irish Open, KPMG Women’s Irish Open, HotelPlanner Tour, and OFX Irish Legends Tour events, enhancing Ireland’s profile on the international stage.

Byrne had a slow start to the season after injuring her elbow in January. 

She bounced back in her third event when she finished in a tie for second place at the Ladies Open de France two weeks ago. Sara is in action in Holland this week in the Dutch Ladies Open.

James Sugrue is in action in England this week at the HotelPlanner English Open. 

The Mallow man missed the cut in Austria last week and will be hoping for four rounds in Worcestershire this week.

The first and second rounds of the AIG Women’s Junior Cup took place in East Cork on Saturday, and there were wins for Monkstown, Cork and hosts East Cork in the opening round. 

There were two all-Cork matches in the second round, with Fota Island getting the better of Cork Golf Club. 

Monkstown had an impressive win over East Cork, while Douglas lost out to Tipperary in the other second-round match. 

The semi-finals take place in Muskerry on 5 July. Fota will face Monkstown, while Tipperary take on Mallow, who received a walkover last weekend.

The Men’s Junior Cup also takes place in Muskerry that weekend, with four rounds of the competition scheduled. 

After one first-round match in May, there were 16 second-round matches in June. There are nine Cork clubs still involved in the competition, including the Munster and All-Ireland champions Monkstown. 

They will be up against Gold Coast in the round-of-16 match, while Cork face Mallow, Macroom face Kinsale and Bandon take on Fermoy in the all-Cork clashes.

The launch for the South of Ireland took place last week, with Lahinch hosting the Walker Cup in September. Interest in the event is already growing, with Walker Cup captain Dean Robertson set to name his team soon after the South. 

With less than a week to go to the closing date for entries, there are just over 200 entries already in for the 150 places in the Championship. Interest from Cork will be strong as usual, but given the demand, it remains to be seen how many will tee it up.

Dave Prendergast, Chairman of the Munster Region of Golf Ireland, said: “The South of Ireland Championship is one of the oldest and most prestigious championships in the world, and we wish all the competitors well when the tournament commences in a few weeks.”

John Gleeson, captain of Lahinch Golf Club, added: “The members of Lahinch, and the entire local community, always look forward to the week of the South. 

"Last year’s championship was one of the most memorable ever, with our own Jonathan Keane becoming the first homegrown player to win the South in 57 years.”

“With the Walker Cup following fast on the heels of the South, this year’s championship field promises to be one of the best ever assembled.” 

The closing date for entries is midnight on Wednesday, June 24.