Sara Byrne and Lauren Walsh played their first amateur tournament together when they were twelve years old, now they will bid to earn LPGA Tour cards at December’s Q-School Final Stage.
Irish women’s golf has a conveyor belt of young talent coming through and Byrne and Walsh have been the nucleus of that having enjoyed excellent amateur careers and bright starts to their professional journeys.
Dromoland Castle’s Byrne turned professional after September’s Curtis Cup and since then it has been a whirlwind for her and she is loving every second of it.
The 23-year-old has been dreaming of playing on the LPGA Tour since she was a child and after she breezed through the penultimate stage of the Q-Series, she is just four rounds away from achieving her dream in double quick time.
“This is something I have dreamt of since I was eight or nine years of age so getting to live it out is pretty cool,” said Byrne after finishing in a share of 6th place at the Q-Series tournament. “It is definitely living up to expectations that’s for sure. It’s been a hectic few weeks since turning pro straight after Curtis Cup, haven’t had a minute to take it all in and notice what’s going on.
“Have a break now between stage three of LPGA Q-School. Loving every second of it, been taken to the most random parts of the world but I am enjoying every second of it and hoping it gets better from here.”
Byrne’s progression to the Final Stage was never in doubt after an opening round of 67 set her on her way and after a rollercoaster 73 on day two she eased through with final rounds of 69 and 68.
“The week was very solid. I got off to a flying start which I knew I needed a low one like that and to be solid for the rest of the week. I knew -5 or better would get through and it did in the end,” Byrne added.
“Once I had that first round under my belt it was plain sailing other than a rollercoaster second round but honestly to get one over on a day like that was really solid, I was really happy with that and it kept me in it. To back it up over the last two days was great, I sailed through the week which was really nice, the 20 birdies and an eagle helped! I just felt really comfortable all week which was really nice.”
The Cork star treated herself to an ice cream on day one for rolling in six birdies and it was all scream for ice cream on Friday after two birdies in her last three holes saw her finish in style and make sure she earned a well deserved treat.
“Six birdies on the last day, I was fighting for that. I missed an eagle putt on 16 to get me on that six birdie marker but made a nice 15-footer on 17, me and my caddy Harry (Ewing) said it would be all scream for ice cream.”
