Leona Maguire is targeting the majors, Olympic gold and more Solheim Cup success in 2024 but she admits she must solve her scheduling "puzzle" if she's to enjoy another banner season.
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Leona Maguire’s Solheim Cup heroics – in which she won four and a half points from a possible five in a standout performance that enabled Europe to win for only a second time in the United States – along with a very strong “rookie” season on the LPGA Tour has earned her the Professional Player of the Year award from the Irish Golf Writers’ Association.
Lowry, Sugrue, Wilson and Smyth honoured at Allianz Irish Golf Writers’ Awards
Shane Lowry with the The Irish Golf Writers Association Professional Player of the Year award for 2019, with, from left, Paul Kelly, Chairman of the Irish Golf Writer’s Association, Des Smyth with the award for Distinguished Services to Golf, James Sugrue with the Men’s Amateur of the Year Award for 2019 and Peter Kilcullen from Allianz during the 2019 Allianz Irish Golf Writers Association Awards at Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links in Dublin. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
Shane Lowry’s historic win in The 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush has earned the 32-year-old Offalyman the Professional Player of the Year for 2019 at the Irish Golf Writers’ Association awards, sponsored by Allianz, at Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links, Co Dublin.
In a quite extraordinary year for Irish professional golfers, with Rory McIlroy scooping the FedEx Cup title on the PGA Tour – in a season with four victories – and Leona Maguire impressively claiming a full LPGA Tour card for 2020, the standout achievement was that of Lowry’s breakthrough Major title in July where he was a six-strokes winner over Tommy Fleetwood in the Open on its return to the Causeway Coast for the first time since 1951.
Lowry also claimed the Abu Dhabi Championship earlier in the season, his first Rolex Series title, but it was his performance at Royal Portrush – where he became the first Irishman to lift the Claret Jug on Irish soil – that set him apart in earning a second IGWA Professional of the Year award, having first won in 2015.
James Sugrue, from Mallow in Co Cork, had paved the way in making for a unique double in Irish golf. The 22-year-old won the Amateur Championship at Portmarnock Golf Club in June, where he produced a resolute performance throughout the week – from surviving strokeplay qualifying at The Island, and then taking out all-comers in the matchplay phase at Portmarnock – to beat Scotland’s Euan Walker in the 36-holes final.
Lurgan’s Annabel Wilson, a two-time Irish girls’ champion, made the step-up in grade to claim the Irish Women’s Close championship on the final hole of a magnificent duel with Paula Grant at Woodbrook Golf Club. Wilson, currently in her first year of a golfing scholarship at UCLA in California, has been recognised as one of the up-and-coming stars of the women’s game here, having already represented Ireland in two World Amateur Team Championships.
Des Smyth has been recognised with the Distinguished Services to Golf award for his outstanding contribution to the sport in Ireland. A winner of eight PGA European Tour titles in a superb career which extended into a second lease on the seniors circuit where he won on the Champions Tour in the United States and what is now known as the Staysure Tour in Europe, he also played in two Ryder Cups and also served as vice-captain. In recent years has served as an ambassador for Team Ireland Golf in helping fledgling professionals and also as an ambassador for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
Paul Kelly, Chairman of the Irish Golf Writer’s Association, described the awards presentation as a “unique occasion in bringing together the Open champion Shane Lowry and Amateur champion James Sugrue to celebrate and reflect on what has been a remarkable year for Irish golf, on and off the course.”
He added: “I’m especially delighted to celebrate this wonderful year for Irish golf in the company of Des Smyth, a truly deserved recipient of the Distinguished Services Award and in congratulating Annabel Wilson who has her sights set on following Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire onto the LPGA Tour.”
Vincent Hogan wins Mary McKenna Trophy at PGA National at Slieve Russell
The second and eighth holes at PGA National at Slieve Russell
The Irish Independent’s Vincent Hogan won the Irish Golf Writers’ Championship at the first attempt when he scored a magnificent 41 points over the PGA National at Slieve Russell in the heart of Co Cavan.
Playing off 20, the Tipperary native birdied the 18th, hitting a six-iron to 10 feet, to edge out RTE’s Greg Allen by one-point.
The Irish Daily Mail’s Philip Quinn was third with 36 points over the magnificent, Patrick Merrigan design which is one of just eight PGA National designated resorts worldwide
Slieve Russell’s head professional Gordon Smyth and his team are justifiably proud of the 300-acre Co Cavan resort, which weaves its way around the lakes and drumlins of the County Cavan landscape.
The estate's 50 acres of water are an integral part in the design. and its designation earlier this year as a PGA National venue will only enhance its value as a championship venue.
The PGA National Ireland designation follows a period of sustained strategic investment by Slieve Russell to grow its business not just on the island of Ireland but also internationally.
The strategy has seen the property carry out a major investment plan in recent years. These include on-going improvements to the greens, tees, fairways and bunkers as well as the development of the Golf Academy to include state of the art video equipment allowing for detailed swing analysis.
There has been a total overhaul of the now state of the art banqueting, conference and event facilities and a significant upgrade of the Ciuin Spa.
Further investment to upgrade all of the 220 hotel bedrooms is underway and will cement the Slieve Russell as the premier business and leisure tourism venue in the north-east of Ireland.
The course has hosted two European Tour events and was home to the Irish PGA Championship in 1996, when Des Smyth won the fifth of his six titles.
In addition, the venue also stages its annual PGA Pro-Am, with the popular event featuring a collective prize fund of €1.2million since it was first held in 1997, making it the most lucrative PGA pro-am tournament in Ireland.
"We believe our designation as PGA National Ireland is reflective of this work and to join a club of just eight PGA National designated resorts worldwide including, the likes of The Belfry and Gleneagles is a huge honour and reflective of the quality of Slieve Russell as a venue for golfers of all levels and abilities," Gordon said.
"The ultimate goal is to try and get a Solheim Cup here in the late 2020s and with Leona and Lisa Maguire attached here, it's a logical goal for us. The course measures just over 7,100 yards, and it would be perfect for a women's or seniors' event."
The Irish Golf Writers’ Association would like to thank Gordon and all the staff for a memorable day out.
2019 Irish Golf Writers’ Championship for the Mary McKenna Trophy
PGA National at Slieve Russell, 22 October 2019
Vincent Hogan 41 points
Greg Allen 40 points
Philip Quinn 36 points
Stephanie Meadow scoops Professional of the Year accolade
2018 Allianz Irish Golf Writers’ Association Awards, Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links, Dublin 13/12/2018. Damian O'Neill, (Allianz), Sara Byrne (Women's Amateur of the Year), Robin Dawson, (Men's Amateur Golfer of the Year), Miriam Hand who received the Distinguished Services to golf award in honour of her work with the "Play in Pink" breast cancer charity and Paul Kelly, Chairman of the Irish Golf Writers Association. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Oisin Keniry
Stephanie Meadow’s fortitude and resilience in returning from serious injury to regain her full LPGA Tour card for next season has earned her the Professional Player of the Year Award for 2018 from the Irish Golf Writers’ Association, sponsored by Allianz.
Stephanie Meadow with the IOA Championship trophy
Meadow, 26, is the first woman to win the award since its inception in 1976.
The Northern Irishwoman suffered a stress fracture (L5) in her spine during the 2017 season, but was unable to avail of a medical exemption on the LPGA Tour, underwent surgery and endured over four months of rehabilitation to resurface with renewed determination in the 2018.
Playing on the Symetra Tour, Meadow won the IOA Championship, had nine top-10s during the year and claimed a full LPGA Tour card for next season by finishing sixth on the order of merit.
“I am so honoured and so humbled to have won the Professional Golfer of the Year,” Meadow said. “I was knocked on my face a little bit last year and to come out and have such a great season and to top it off by being recognised as the Professional Golfer of the Year is truly remarkable.
.@StephMeadow20 made history yesterday when she came the first female winner of the @IGWAssociation Professional of the Year Award since its inception in 1976. Congratulations Stephanie on a great 2018. pic.twitter.com/M2BtKwcUiS
— Irish Golf Writers' Association (@IGWAssociation) December 14, 2018
“I have a lot of people to thank, because it is not just me who got me here. To the ILGU. Girls golf has come a long way in the last 10 years and to win this award on behalf of them is unbelievable. Their training programmes have made me the golfer I am today.
“I have a lot of people in my corner who I would like to thank. My coaches, my sports psychologist, my fitness trainer who made me healthy again and my family and close friends, who picked me up this past year and got me through it.”
Her award was accepted on her behalf at the awards dinner in Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links on Thursday night by Sinéad Heraty, chief executive of the Irish Ladies Golf Union.
Here is 20x20’s first Ambassador film with @StephMeadow20, who last night became the first woman to win IGW Professional of the Year. The encouragement she got from her Dad has played a huge role in her success. Here's to the parents who have supported us.#20x20 #CantSeeCantBe pic.twitter.com/JsIbSxB9ui
— 20x20 (@20x20_ie) December 14, 2018
Robin Dawson received the Men’s Amateur Player of the Year award following a standout final season as an amateur in which the 22-year-old Waterfordman captured the FloGas Irish Amateur Open Championship at Royal Co Down in May, finished runner-up in the British Amateur Championship and was second in the European Amateur Championship.
Sara Byrne, 17, won the Irish Ladies’ Close Championship at Enniscrone and also finished runner-up in the Leinster Women’s Open Championship. The Douglas, Co Cork, teenager represented Ireland in the World Junior Championship, the European Girls’ Team Championship, the Home International Girls’ Championship and topped the ILGU Girls’ Order of Merit.
The Distinguished Services to Golf award was presented to Miriam Hand, who is the driving force behind the “Play in Pink” charitable initiative to raise funds in aid of Breast Cancer Research. The initiative has gone from strength to strength in recent years, raising more than €600,000 since 2011. In 2018 alone, in excess of €160,000 was raised at events throughout the country.
Delgany’s Eamonn Darcy, who won the inaugural Professional of the Year Award in 1976, was also present at the dinner and presented with a special memento to mark his career achievements following his recent retirement from the competitive scene.
Farewell Smithy, sportsman and scribe
Colm Smith (centre) celebrating Ireland’s win in the Home Internationals at The European Club with team mates (left to right) Seamus Smith, Denis O’Hara, Pat Ruddy and kneeling, Peter O’Neill and Charlie Mulqueen,
Rory McIlroy loves his tennis but it's hard to imagine the Holywood tyro playing a few sets with a member of the press corp the day after a Ryder Cup.
And yet that kind of camaraderie and sporting 'brio' was par for the course for the Irish Independent's form rugby and golf correspondent Colm Smith, who passed away last Friday and will be sorely missed by the sportsmen and women he covered from his arrival in Abbey Street as a cub reporter in 1958 until his retirement in 2001.
"Colm was one of the great characters," recalled Des Smyth of those more innocent days when Smith, a former interprovincial tennis player, was a regular on the golf circuit.
"We spent a lot of time together over the years and he was a hell of a character and a great tennis player too.
"When I played my first Ryder Cup in the Greenbrier in 1979, we were free on the Monday and I fancied myself as a bit of a tennis player.
"Of course, I thought it would be no problem to take Colm out. But no, he beat the bejaysus out of me. He had me running around the court. He was great fun and I enjoyed his company for years."
Eamonn Darcy, Paul McGinley and Pádraig Harrington all look back fondly on those days when "Smithy" roamed the fairways from Rosses Point to Muirfield Village — a fellow sportman and kindred spirit.
"I was only thinking of Colm today and how he was doing," Darcy said just a few hours after calling time on his 50-year career last weekend. "I thought about him this week.
"How can I describe it? It was a thing of the past the way things were dealing with Colm. He was old school. He was the best."
Harrington went from promising boy to Ryder Cup star under his watch, describing the late scribe as "such a positive influence on my career and a good friend."
He added: "He will be great missed but not forgotten. RIP Smithy."
So sorry to hear of the passing of Colm Smith. He was such a positive influence on my career and a good friend. He will be great missed but not forgotten. RIP Smithy. https://t.co/ej3EogN7z6
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) November 30, 2018
For McGinley, he was part of the Irish golfing family that made the good days better and eased the pain on the bad days.
"Colm was just part of that great Irish entourage with Dermot Gilleece (read Dermot’s tribute to Colm here) and Charlie Mulqueen that covered all the amateur golf when I was coming up," McGinley said. "Then when we went on tour they would regularly come to events.
"He was always a friendly face, always very fair and good company. We'd see him and his wife Helen too and he was part of the fabric of Irish golf — that bigger Irish family we all benefited from over the years. Colm was part of that."
The great amateur Mary McKenna said: "He was so much a part of our tournaments. He knew everything about the game and was always a happy face and good craic. He was probably there for most of my wins — just a great pal. Every time you'd meet him, you'd just pick up where you left off.
"He was very knowledgeable about the game but there was also lots of banter with all those boys, like Dermot, Charlie and John Redmond and Edmund Van Esbeck. The reporters were so much of our golf back then and made our events feel all the more important, at home or abroad."
His sense of humour and bonhomie made him popular with his colleagues across the Irish Sea, as the Daily Mail's former golf correspondent Michael McDonnell — a frequent house guest and regular "foe" in the golf writers' Home Internationals — recalled after Monday's requiem mass.
"I remember being in Dublin with him once, walking along by the Liffey and saying to him, 'Which side of the Liffey are we on now Colm?', to which he replied, 'Well this side, obviously.' That's the kind of guy he was and typical of his dry wit.
"He was always great company and a terrific competitor when it came to playing golf."
Colm, whose father Billy was the chief reporter for the Irish Independent when he joined the paper in 1958, was the first man the golf writer and golf course designer Pat Ruddy called upon when he dreamt up the Golf Writers' Home International matches in 1992.
"Colm was one of those men with ink for blood," Ruddy recalled fondly of a man who would become an eye-witness to so many historic sporting moments, just as his father (a keen member of Clontarf) had chronicled epoch-making events in the history of the State, such as the harnessing of the Shannon at Ardnacrusha or our first tentative strides in civil aviation.
"He was second generation Independent House and very welcoming to those of us who came from the country but needed marking as he would still seek the scoop from under your nose. Professional!
"He was shy, hidden behind gentle brusque, but gregarious and responsive to a sporting challenge. When I conceived the Home Internationals for Golf Writers, he was the first man called because he knew everyone in the profession in UK & Ireland having spent many hours on the road and 'at the bar' with them.
"His particular pals Michael McDonnell of the Daily Mail and Richard Dodd of the Yorkshire Post, who holidayed in the Smith home very often, were quick to respond to his call and the event took-off in style with flag raising, the Artane Boy's band and R&A captain Joe Carr setting hearts thumping at the newly opened St. Margaret's.
“He was admirable in every way and not least because of his steadfast devotion to story gathering and telling”
"He loved to play golf and was good from a medium handicap, and his choice of fourball partner was Charlie Mulqueen of the Cork Examiner. They became inseparable as they remained undefeated for about a decade and revelled in repeat wins over Dodd and McDonnell as 'the auld enemy'.
"His most joyous week of golf happened when he and Charlie gained the deciding point for Ireland in the Home Internationals at The European Club despite a mid-round crisis when the pair landed in a water hazard in a golf car!
"When the win was secured there was no time for the modern jump in the lake. No question of spraying the champagne... just put the bottles to the head and rejoice.
"He was admirable in every way and not least because of his steadfast devotion to story gathering and telling, even staying up until dawn in hotel and clubhouse bars seeking inspiration. He was one of a great generation of hardened newsmen.
"As time went by came the glamour days at British Opens, US Masters and Ryder Cups. But he never forgot his happy start with, for example, many years of attendance at the West of Ireland at Rosses Point.
"With the story filed and after a few drinks with his friends, he would drift into the darkness across the Greenlands towards his wee rented caravan for a short rest before getting back into the middle of the action.
"He'll be in the action, waiting for his pals, when we follow him out-of-bounds. We will miss him greatly and express sympathy to his family on their loss."
According to Forgive Us Our Press Passes, which chronicles the history of the Association of Golf Writers, his old headmaster, upon hearing of Colm's appointment, declared, "lt must be nepotism." And it was.
"There was no formal training," Colin recalled in those pages. "Just a five-year apprenticeship learning the trade. It was tough, but it was thorough. Not a bit of glamour.
"You were glad to get out of the office even if it was to cover the dog racing and then pick up the table tennis or badminton results later, but l graduated to higher-profile sports like currach racing in Galway Bay and lacrosse in Alexandra College."
When he protested that he knew nothing about these sports he was told: "Just ask. You’ll learn."
Rugby was another great love and he never forgot how the Lions beat the Springboks in the 1974 series in South Africa, where the celebrations (as much as the rugby itself) were to become the stuff of legend.
He recalled later how the noise from the celebration party reached such a deafening height, the hotel manager warned that he was bringing in the police:
"Willie John McBride, the massive Lions captain asked him, 'Excuse me sir, how many will there be?' The manager stared for a moment, then burst out laughing. So did the Big Man."
That trip to South Africa took place at the height of apartheid and it left its mark on "Smithy" who arranged with Fergus Slattery to take a clandestine tour of the townships in a taxi.
"The segregation he saw, shocked him an affect him deeply," his friend, Fr David Tuohy, told the congregation at his funeral on Monday.
"A number of years later he was asked to speak at an ecumenical service for sports people at St Patrick's Cathedral. His address included a moving account of that secret tour and his reaction to it.
"When he told me this story — indeed, every time he told me this story — he would then turn to me with that twinkle in his eye and say, 'David, have you ever preached at St Patrick's Cathedral?'
"Behind that gentle piece of gamesmanship, Colm was happy to have done some political journalism and built awareness of a serious injustice."
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
Brian Keogh
Irish Golf Writers’ Awards for Paul Dunne, Leona Maguire and Paul McBride
Paul Dunne. Picture: Getty Images
Greystones' Paul Dunne crowned a magnificent 2017 when he received the “Professional of the Year” award from the Irish Golf Writers’ Association at the Allianz sponsored annual awards at Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links last night.
The former Walker Cup star (25) enjoyed a breakthrough year in just his second full season on tour, memorably chipping in at the 72nd hole for a closing 61 to win the British Masters by three shots on 20-under-par from a charging Rory McIlroy at Close House in Newcastle in October.
In a season where he jumped from 275th to 76th in the world rankings, Dunne – who was also runner-up to Edoardo Molinari after a playoff for the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco in April — finished 16th in the final Race to Dubai standings with prize money of €1.7 million.
Slieve Russell’s Leona Maguire (23), the world number one ranked amateur player, earned the “Women’s Amateur of the Year” award while The Island’s Paul McBride (22) was voted “Men’s Amateur of the Year."
It was another standout season for Maguire, who won the British Ladies Amateur Championship at Pyle & Kenfig in Wales, beating Spain’s Ainhoa Olarra 3 and 2 in the final.
A final year student at Duke University in the United States, she was also the dominant player on the US collegiate circuit with five victories in the calendar year – the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, the LSU Tiger Classic, the ACC Championship, the Jim West Challenge and the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invite – where she was named WGCA Player of the Year.
A final year student at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, McBride was the sole Irish representative on the Great Britain and Ireland Walker team which was defeated by the United States at Los Angeles Country Club in September.
He reached the quarter-final of the British Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s and made the cut in the Porsche European Open on the PGA European Tour on his debut in a professional event.
Paul McBride during the 2017 Walker Cup. Picture © USGA
The top-ranked Irish men’s player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking – currently ranked 41st – he also played a critical role in Ireland winning the Home Internationals for the fourth year running when he remained unbeaten, winning four and a half points from five matches at Moortown Golf Club in Leeds.
Gavin Caldwell, the former captain of the R&A, and Michael Moss, the retired general manager of Portstewart Golf Club which played host to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, received “Distinguished Services to Golf” awards.
Greg Allen wins Mary McKenna Trophy
Greg Allen poses with some vanquish IGWA members and our generous hosts from Bunclody Golf & Fishing Club
RTE's Greg Allen doesn't just talk a good game, he plays it very nicely too. Perhaps it was the quality of the track that brought out the best in him as he captured the Mary McKenna Trophy awarded to the winner of the Irish Golf Writers' Association Championship at Bunclody Golf & Fishing Club.
It wasn't the first time that Greg has lifted the lovely little claret jug either but his fourth victory. Congratulations Greg and our sincerest thanks to General Manager Caroline Dunne, President Michael Cowman, Captain James Conway and all the staff at Bunclody for their magnificent hospitality on October 26.
L-R, Tony Ensor, Michael Cowman (President), Greg Allen (winner), Caroline Dunne (General Manager) and James Conway (Captain) following the Irish Golf Writers' Championship at Bunclody Golf &Fishing Club
Greg Allen
Portmarnock win annual match
Dermot Gilleece, chairman of the IGWA, presents the Carr Cup to Dougie Heather of Portmarnock GC.
Portmarnock continued their winning streak in the annual match with the Irish Golf Writers' Association. The host club won 3 1/2 to 2 1/2 to remain unbeaten in their joust with the scribes.
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Graeme McDowell, who enjoyed a spectacular season on tour which saw him anchor Europe to victory in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and claim a breakthrough win in the Majors when winning the US Open at Pebble Beach, has been voted the ‘Professional of the Year’ in the AIB Irish Golf Writers’ Awards for 2010.
