Alex Maguire has learned the hard way; in fact, he is still learning how to cut his teeth in professional golf. But he feels the tough experiences of last year will help him in 2025 as he gets his season underway later this month.
His dream was to become a professional golfer, but after bowing out at the top of amateur golf with a win at St Andrews and appearances at the Open and Walker Cup under his belt in 2023, life at the bottom rung of professional golf came as a culture shock, and he admits it gave him a fright.
After years of travelling with teammates, family, and coaches, he was on his own.
“It was a difficult adjustment for me,” says the Laytown & Bettystown man who took in stints in India, Tunisia, Egypt, Spain and several places in England last season.
“I was very lucky that in 2023 I was playing the best events that you could play in. World Teams, European Teams, playing for Europe, Walker Cup, the Open. A lot of these things are being done for me and even if it was me doing them, I was still going to the best places like St Andrews, Abu Dhabi, all these easy access places where you get shuttle services to the hotel.
“Now you get a three-hour flight and are like right where’s the golf course, but you have to pick up a rental car in a different terminal and it’s late at night with a three hour drive up the mountains through the night and you are alone. It can feel quite scary. It was a difficult adjustment to go from the best of the best at amateur level where now you feel so much responsibility to organise yourself.
“Start of last year you started off really confident telling people at the golf club and media that it’s going to be great and you’re really looking forward to it, but I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know how difficult the adjustment was going to be. I had no idea that you had to get these rental cars, and you are always spending more money than you think.”
Red-eye flights, late-night drives, obscure locations, loneliness, and late-night meals. It was a baptism of fire for Maguire, but not for one minute has it diminished his love for the game.
The 24-year-old has made just two competitive appearances this year, making one of his two cuts in India on the HotelPlanner Tour.
This has meant he has had plenty of time at home in Laytown & Bettystown, and there is no doubt that he has been putting in the hours.
The life of an aspiring professional is a tough grind, but Maguire knows that he is in a fortunate position, and golf doesn’t feel like work. “That gets easier the more you do it, but it was very uncomfortable last year, there were times where I didn’t want to be driving three hours up a mountain on my own to sleep for four hours and play a practice round. Now I relish those opportunities because it will get easier for me. I don’t fear it as much so it should be easier to play golf.
“Going to mad places and getting a three-hour flight followed by a six-hour drive is not something you get at amateur level. It’s been a big adjustment, but it won’t diminish my love for the game; if you still love the game, it’s pretty easy to get up and practise in the morning.
“My job isn’t really that stressful compared to what others do so I can’t complain, my girlfriend has a full-time job whereas I don’t feel like that.”
Maguire hopes he can kick-start his professional career this month with three successive starts on the HotelPlanner Tour.
Given that he has little to no status on that tour, while the Alps Tour doesn’t play week in, week out, these opportunities, at least on paper, seem priceless. But Maguire is making sure he doesn’t view it that way and pile any unnecessary pressure on his shoulders.
After learning to cope with some of the harsh realities of life on tour, Maguire feels more settled heading into what will hopefully be a big season for him.
“My swing is in a great place,” he adds. “I think to get my best golf it’s about my mental approach and feeling secure about my game. It’s competence not confidence because confidence fluctuates based on results. I feel like my game is all trending in the right direction.
“I have three consecutive events on the HotelPlanner Tour in May which is great because I tend to play my way into form so the first time out you might not be tournament ready, but the more I play, the more comfortable I feel.
“The year has begun, and I feel that I am in a good position now so if I can get better then it will hopefully be a good 2025 for me.”
Maguire hopes that feeling settled will allow him to play the golf that helped him enjoy a sensational final year as an amateur and begin his ascent up the golfing ladder.
“You are trying to be tight with your money because you know how long you can go without winning money. This year I know what to expect though after getting a taste for some difficult aspects last year. I feel way more settled.
“Even though it has only been one year, and I haven’t cracked the code, I don’t feel under pressure to perform certain weeks of the year.”
The Open Championship returns to Irish shores this July, and with it comes a return to Royal Portrush, where Shane Lowry clinched the Claret Jug in 2019.
The celebrations on the 18th hole will go down in Irish sporting folklore.
Lowry, one of Maguire’s heroes growing up, will surely return to a hero’s welcome when he defends his title this summer.
Lowry’s win was one of those moments where you remember where you were. For Maguire, he was in the clubhouse in a very emotional Laytown & Bettystown. After all, Lowry made his name just up the road in Baltray, where he won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009.
“I was in Laytown & Bettystown crying my eyes out! It was mad because I didn’t really get emotional and I guess when he was on the last green, he had lived out his dream, seeing what it meant to him and his family it motivated me to go out and play a few holes before the sun went down,” Maguire reflects.
“I watched that final round a million times. It was so cool to see an Irish guy win at home. I just couldn’t fathom how big it was for him and the whole island of Ireland it felt like everybody who you passed on the street was talking about nothing else but golf.”
Maguire and Lowry rubbed shoulders at the 2023 Open Championship in Royal Liverpool after the Mornington native qualified via the R&A Open Amateur Series, a qualifying period during which he won the St Andrews Links Trophy.
The Open is Maguire’s favourite major championship, and he would dearly love to tee it up on Irish soil and bid for the Claret Jug again.
“Pride as an Irish person was the overriding emotion. I felt proud to be Irish watching someone from this country winning the Open on this island. I would love to be back there this year again and give it a run!”
Maguire’s name is also alongside Lowry’s in the Royal Portrush history books after he captured the 2021 North of Ireland Championship.
His first amateur championship victory, which set him on his way to back-to-back East of Ireland titles in Baltray, and the St Andrews Links Trophy.
“Portrush is the best course in the country. There isn’t a bad hole on the course. I wasn’t worried about winning or losing because I was just really enjoying the golf course. Every hole is different; there are no repetitive holes. It’s such a difficult yet enjoyable golf course.”
Maguire has always been a talented sportsman. Once with aspirations of playing for Liverpool Football Club, in a parallel universe, he could be lifting his first Premier League title under Arne Slot.
But golf has been his life since he was sixteen years old, and he comes from a huge golfing family.
Doing his parents proud is of paramount importance, not just for the sacrifices they have made ever since he was a child, but also to live out his father Sean’s dream, who was also a talented basketball player himself.
“I have a big golfing family. My dad started me out in the game, football and playing for Liverpool was my passion but golf was what I was best at as a kid, and I think sticking with it was a good choice.
“I just want to make them proud. I think my dad feels like he is along with me for the ride and I’m trying to fulfil his dream and do well for Ireland. He played basketball for Ireland, and he lives his dreams through me.
“Golf has been my career since I was 16 and I took it on full time, took a year off in TY to play golf and it has been my whole life since then.”
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