At the beginning of July the three participants from this year’s First Tee will take to the course for the KPMG Women’s Irish Open Pro-Am and Ellen Keane has finally found her caddie.
Ireland international Cian Arthurs is another one-armed golfer and this week he is in his native Roganstown for the ISPS Handa Irish Open for Golfers with a Disability.
Keane hooked up with Arthurs early in her golfing journey and found him a massive source of inspiration, who will be key to her progress on 2 July.
“After the Women in Sport Scramble, I was like, I need a caddie who knows what they’re talking about,” said Keane.
“I need all the support I can get so I reached out to Cian and he’s on board now so I’m looking forward to it even more.
“I got to go to Kinsealy and do a bit of the driving range with him so I have seen that side of him, but I’ve actually not seen him on a golf course. I’ve been watching his Instagrams and socials a lot, but I’ve not had the privilege of being on the golf course with him yet.
“Having one arm playing golf, it’s nice having someone who will be able to spot things probably a lot easier than another caddie with two hands. He’ll just notice something about me that will help on the day a little bit more, so that’s why I asked Cian.
“He’s the reason I ended up doing it. I wasn’t going to do it because I was a bit overwhelmed by all the questions. How do I do it? Do I need a prosthetic? What’s involved? It hasn’t been done before.
“Then just meeting Cian, he just kind of completely put all of my questions at ease. He had all the answers and was so encouraging and that’s what I like. He’s 100% the reason why I ended up doing it.”
Keane hails from Clontarf but is now living along Grand Canal, she is a retired swimmer who was Ireland youngest ever athlete when she swam in Beijing in the 2008 Paralympic Games.
The 30-year-old also represented Ireland in London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro four years later, Tokyo in 2021 and finally in Paris last year.
She subsequently retired from the sport and earlier this summer decided to join Golf Ireland’s latest edition of The First Tee, where she is taking part alongside Nathalie Lennon and Stephanie Zambra.
Keane was born with an under-developed left arm (dysmelia) and initially feared that her disability might hold her back in the game but she has enjoyed the challenge over the last two months.
“I’m in the love-hate relationship side of it,” joked Keane.
“When I first started, when you start something new, it’s very promising and you’re very optimistic. I had a lot more time and what I’m finding at the moment is because I came from a sport where it’s literally, show up, race, you’re done, I struggle a lot with the mental fatigue so when I’m getting mentally tired, I’m just getting frustrated at myself.
“That’s because I’m more busy now so I’m more fatigued than I was in the beginning. But I’ve learned a few things from the Chip and Chat, which was really helpful, just women who have been doing golf a little bit longer than me and have given me little tips.
“I think it was Fruit Pastilles that I have to carry, I’m getting tired, just pop a Fruit Pastille and that should help with my mental fatigue.
“I’m optimistic, but I am aware that it is mentally harder than I thought it was.”
It’s a whole new world for Keane, who grew up competing in the swimming pool. And the vast expanses of the golf course and driving range provide their own unique twist.
“Being out on the golf course, it’s so beautiful and it nearly makes up for the frustration that you feel because I don’t think I’ve ever been on grass that has been so well kept in my life,” said Keane.
“It’s one of the things as well, because I came from a sport where the environment was always the same and it was always really muggy and so predictable and the pools are all beautiful, but the environment isn’t that nice so to be in this atmosphere, it’s always different, weather depending. But also it’s really cool to see the different golf courses and the lay of the land.
“There’s been a few highlights too, it’s always really satisfying when you do end up hitting the ball so that’s a really simple highlight, but it’s just the people. Everyone who plays golf is so encouraging and no one’s judging you, that’s a big thing.
“No one’s judging you if you hit a bad shot. They’re just encouraging you to move on with it and try something else so the people have definitely been a highlight.”
It’s just over nine months since Keane finished up swimming competitively and she has never been as busy.
A couple of weeks ago she was running in the VHI Women’s Mini-Marathon while she recently began an internship with RTE. That coupled with a gruelling seven-day challenge she shot in Bolivia with Ray Goggins and Ashling Thompson, and this initiative with Golf Ireland, has kept her mind and body active.
“I kind of miss being an athlete in the sense that I never really have to worry about being strong and being fit because it was part of my job and now I really have to think, oh, I need to do a bit of exercise here,” said Keane.
“But I don’t miss it being so all-consuming. I’m really enjoying the flexibility and the freedom to try something new and that’s why I’m doing golf because I would never have been able to do it before, being on my feet for that long, that just would have completely gotten in the way of my recovery and my training.
“I started the internship which is really exciting. I’m a sport intern. I’ve only just started because I was in training for three weeks, so learning all the basics of what is needed and the safety side of things in terms of protecting yourself with defamation law and lots of e-learning.
“I’m busier than ever and I’m really loving having a schedule again. It’s just trying to fit other things in there that is the difficult thing but I’ll figure it out.
“I’m just really going to throw myself into the internship now. I’ll be at matches. I’ll be in background and I’m going to really lean into that.”
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