Over the last three seasons we have seen some of Ireland’s brightest prospects earn success. But not at the level they would have thought when they were coming through the ranks.
Since returning to the amateur ranks last year, Stuart Grehan has won the Irish Amateur and Close titles, the Amateur Championship and by the end of September will have been a member of two Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup teams.
Cormac Sharvin stepped away from competitive golf after being worn down by the pressures of tour golf. The former DP World Tour card holder has enjoyed great success on the PGA in Ireland region winning two K Club Pro-Am titles where the prize fund is €100,000 before the clinched his first Irish PGA Championship title on Wednesday in Limerick. Former Irish international and Challenge Tour professional Conor O’Rourke has also been a force in his first year on the PGA in Ireland region.
Wednesday’s final round of the 116th TouchStore Irish PGA Championship was an absolute thriller. Many of the spectators that gathered to watch returned to their cars pleasantly surprised by the standard of golf on show. They were treated to power hitting, delicate short games and a barrage of putts holed, particularly in a barnstorming six hole stretch to the finish where Sharvin and O’Rourke threw punch after punch at each other.
It was as good a standard of golf as you will find anywhere under pressure. These guys are by no means any sort of has beens. In their early thirties you’d wonder why they aren’t on tour somewhere after showing what they are capable of producing but golf doesn’t often work like that. It’s more to the gain of the PGA in Ireland. This year’s Irish PGA was a great advert.
The standard on the PGA in Ireland region is in general, high. In the one day pro-am events players will often have to shoot upwards of four and five-under-par to have a chance of claiming victory while some of the two to three day pro-am or pro only events are played to a very high standard on both links and parkland venues. Players know they have to go low in a tournament setting.
Stuart Grehan has proven that if the professional game doesn’t work out, a return to the amateur ranks can still give you some of the best days of your career while the likes of Sharvin, O’Rourke, Niall Kearney, Simon Thornton and Colm Moriarty to name a few are enjoying excellent careers on the PGA circuit after stepping off the main tours.
But rather than have something to fall back on wouldn’t it be great to have something to help propel you forwards? At next week’s K Club Pro-Am there will be a handful of professionals who are playing mini tour golf that have been given places in the field. A one and done but surely there could be scope for them to make regular appearances in PGA in Ireland events?
These days so many of our young players press the turn pro button and off they go into the unknown. It’s goodbye to the fluffy world of amateur golf where everything is done for you and all you have to do is show up on time. Hello to rental cars, dodgy Airbnb’s and late night drives to remote locations, often alone.
Ireland’s talent drain on the DP World Tour has been well documented by Irish Golfer Magazine as well as other leading publications in this country. It is clear to see that we are great at producing top amateur golfers – proven by our Walker Cup representation over the last twenty years and our success at international team level – however, many of our aspiring professionals are falling by the wayside. Maybe giving them €30k and waving them on their way isn’t the answer.
Perhaps it is time for some joined up thinking. Our younger professionals looking to make their way through the smaller tours towards the big time should be afforded opportunities to compete at PGA level. Our Irish amateur circuit is amazing and is the envy of countries all around us but the one criticism is that gale force winds with rain coming in sideways on a links course isn’t conducive for moulding professional golfers who need to be shooting in the mid to high 60s to make cuts.
This is where the opportunity for some of our up and coming pros to play in PGA pro-ams, or multiple day events, to put them into an environment where they can learn to go low in a tournament setting as well as learning from former tour winners is worth exploring.
The prospect of an Irish version of the Clutch Tour or Tartan Tour doesn’t seem like it will ever get off the ground so perhaps a PGA initiative to support recently turned professionals in a scheme over 3-5 years could be the way forward.
The PGA has rejuvenated the career of Cormac Sharvin, why not use it to elevate the career of an up and comer? We have had zero regular players on the DP World Tour this season and at the moment you wouldn’t be confident in that changing. It’s time to try something new.
Leave a comment