As it stands, Ireland will have two representatives on the LPGA Tour and three on the Ladies European Tour – this is before the final stage of LET Q-School concludes where hopes are high of clinching a further three cards for next year.
Looking around the room of the Anantara The Marker hotel at the Irish Golf Writers’ Awards on Tuesday it was clear that celebrating the success of our female professionals and amateurs took centre stage.
Dotted around the room were award winners Sara Byrne, Anna Dawson and Lauren Walsh all of whom are part of a golden generation of Irish women’s golf. All Irish underage internationals who have come through the ranks together since they were 14 years of age, add to that Anna Foster, Annabel Wilson, Áine Donegan, Canice Screene and Beth Coulter who were also part of that crop but not present on the day.
This crop of girls grew up idolising Leona Maguire who came through the same pathways that they did, played for Ireland, played in the same amateur events and has since had great success as a professional.
Maguire broke so many barriers for women’s golf in this country. She became the world number one amateur, played Junior Solheim Cup, played in the Women’s Irish Open as a kid, turned professional and has since won on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tour.
This year, the Cavan star went off the boil and in doing so provided a litmus test for where Irish women’s golf actually is in terms of how strong it is. The answer is very positive. It says it all that Maguire’s off year came at a time where we are no longer solely reliant on her to keep moving the dial for women’s golf here.
For a lot of the girls coming through they would have been admiring Maguire from afar. Now they can take direct inspiration from each other.
Kildare star Walsh is leading this current pool of players. Finishes of 18th and 10th in the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit was a clear indication that she quickly became one of Europe’s finest talents and the fact she has clinched her LPGA Tour card in the last week is a groundbreaking moment for Irish golf.
Sara Byrne has regularly spoken about the inspiration that Walsh has given her, the pair are very close friends while having five girls on the LET last season was fantastic to see from a growth perspective.
Our female golfers no longer have only Maguire to admire from a distance, they have their own peers to drive them forward and Walsh is in a position now to at least share the trailblazing mantle with the two-time LPGA Tour winner.
Irish golf fans often try to picture the post Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry era and it can appear a quite gloomy future with many wondering where and when the next crop of talent is going to emerge.
Maguire will still have some good days but if she has another poor season by her lofty standards, there is no reason to panic, a post Leona Maguire era looks pretty bright.
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