As it stands, Sara Byrne is pencilled in to compete in the opening event of the Ladies European Tour season in Morocco next week but she has no idea if she will be boarding the plane to Rabat.
Byrne is itching to get back playing having not hit a competitive shot in anger since December’s LET Q-School but she may have to wait a little longer with her passport still in the US Embassy while she awaits visa approval to travel to the United States for the Epson Tour season.
The Dromoland Castle star will be prioritising the Epson Tour in the US as she views it as a better path to the LPGA Tour but she still plans to play a significant number of events on the LET and hopes she can join Lauren Walsh, Annabel Wilson and Anna Foster in Morocco next week.
“I’m very much looking forward to starting,” says Byrne who hopes she doesn’t have to wait until the end of February to get her first full season as a professional underway.
“There always seems to be challenges! I’m obviously hoping to play Morocco but my passport is at the US Embassy getting my visa to play on the Epson Tour so everything is a little up in the air when I can actually start my season and leave this country to go and play.
“I would love to play Morocco and if I could start today I would. Hopefully I will have my passport back tomorrow, who knows when it will come back and play Morocco and hopefully get an invite to Saudi but if not I will be starting my season on the Epson Tour at the end of February.”
Byrne and Walsh earned Epson Tour status at LPGA Tour Q-School last month. The Epson Tour is the feeder tour for the LGPA with the top-10 players at the end of the season earning full status at the top level while the top-10 on the LET only earn an exemption through to the final stage of LPGA Q-School.
For this reason, the 23-year-old views the second tier in America as a better pathway to joining Leona Maguire on the LPGA Tour and understands that some short term visa pain may lead to long term gain.
“It’s not ideal but has to be done because I am going to prioritise Epson over LET so I have to get my visa and this is the only way. We did everything as quick as possible but just things made it slow with the inauguration and the red warning here so that backed things up a little, so there is that!”
The Cork native turned professional after the Curtis Cup last September and with starts on the LET Access Series and two tour qualifying schools squeezed in, it was a hectic end to a dramatic 2024.
2025 has begun in its own whirlwind fashion and Byrne has everything booked for Morocco next week, but understands that life as a professional athlete can bring up anything.
“I have everything booked for Morocco, flights, accommodation, caddie sorted. I have come to learn that with being a professional athlete or professional golfer there is a life of uncertainty so things never go as smoothly as you think but I know this time next month I won’t remember not having my passport, I will be on the Epson Tour and it won’t really matter.
“It’s just a bit disheartening because obviously I have been waiting and waiting. I played Q-School to be able to play these kinds of events on the LET. You never know, my passport might come back and I would be really excited to play.”
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