Laytown & Bettystown star Alex Maguire is relishing the chance to tee it up as a professional for the first time on the Challenge Tour on Thursday at the Delhi Challenge in India.
Maguire, turned professional in December following a trophy-laden final year as an amateur that saw him defend his East of Ireland title, win the St Andrews Links Trophy and play in the Open Championship, Walker Cup and Irish Open.
After tuning up in the States in some mini tour events, the 23-year-old is ready to make the step up this week.
“Massively excited, it’s the start of my pro career, played a few mini events in the States but to start my pro career in India on the Challenge Tour, I’m very thankful for the invite and looking forward to getting started and see how my game compares to great players on this tour so very excited to get going,” said Maguire.
“We got here early Sunday morning so we could adjust to the same time zone for Thursday. Practice has gone well, playing 9, 18 and 9 to make sure I know the course as well as I can then trust my game on Thursday.”
The Mornington native has been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the golf course at Classic Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, and knows he will have to be on song around the greens if he is to at least make the cut and who knows beyond that.
“I didn’t know what to expect, I don’t know much about golf in India but the greens are great, they are running very through, Bermuda grass as well which is something I’m used to. I’m blown away by how good the course is and the setup of everything. Hopefully I can play well.
“Scrambling will be key, it’s not too tough off the tee and into the green, you need to take advantage of good positions off the tee, take advantage with the scoring clubs. Make sure the short game is on point so you can get yourself out of trouble, pro players short games are so good so whenever I’m in trouble off the tee it’s about getting it around the green and getting up and down. The course sets up well for me visually off the tee and if I get the putter going I should be in good shape.”
Maguire is joined by a stacked Irish contingent that includes Conor Purcell, Gary Hurley and John Murphy.
Leave a comment