Douglas golfer Sara Byrne said her confidence was sky high before she took on Round 1 of the World Amateur Team Championship and raced into the lead in Abu Dhabi.
It was a phenomenal opening round of 68 at the Espirito Santo Trophy and she lay on -4 early on Wednesday morning, looking for an unprecedented success alongside Beth Coulter (Kirkistown Castle) and Áine Donegan (Lahinch).
Byrne’s outstanding 2023 continued with a win at the Pat Bradley Invitational in Lakewood Ranch recently. Her first collegiate success came after victory at the AIG Irish Women’s Close and the leading amateur title in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
“The whole year has been very good for me,” said Byrne.
“It’s a really good feeling winning, so having the Close and getting my first collegiate win, which was a massive goal for me coming into college golf, getting that under my belt is a really good feeling and getting low-amateur at the Irish Open, all the goals that I have I am ticking off.
“Then coming into this week, just building off the last couple of weeks, going into the World Amateur it’s great confidence boost and great momentum. It’s a bit like I’m in cruise control.
“We’re definitely going to take confidence from the lads too, especially after them fighting back for the last three rounds. We actually got to go out and watch them play their last nine holes which was really good to see.”
But even as her own game continues to improve Byrne knows how essential it is to have a strong team around her and this week she is teaming up with two of her best friends.
“We’ve been talking about all of the trips we have been on since we have been 12, 13 or 14,” said Byrne.
“We’ve grown up playing golf together and we’re all really good friends. That is really important coming into this week, we all build off each other and support each other.
“That’s going to be massive, especially in this kind of tournament where this tournament is so big and it’s a long draining week especially in the heat.
“We’re all great pals and it’s actually really nice just to experience this whole week together. It’s really important, the best teams you see are all pushing each other on.
“They are good friends of mine and that’s really important.”
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