It’s less than a month since Sara Byrne signed off from amateur golf with an undefeated performance at the Curtis Cup, helping Great Britain and Ireland get their first victory since Dun Laoghaire in 2016, and this week she makes her first LET start as a professional at the La Sella Open in Spain.
The LET Access Series’ Rose Ladies Open at the Melbourne Club in England the following week was her first actual start as a professional, and coming off the energy-sapping week and the celebrations that followed, a 13th-placed finish overall was an excellent return. But though it’s a big step up in class from the feeder tour to the main event, she’s already shown that she has more than enough ability to hang with the established pros.
Byrne’s last LET start came at Dromoland Castle in 2023 where her tie for 36th finish also saw her taking leading amateur honours, but she’s in line for a paycheck should she see weekend action this week.
Having played her way through to LPGA Tour Q-School Second Stage, valuable experience is also up for grabs as she takes her first few steps among the professional ranks.
Lauren Walsh and Olivia Mehaffey will provide some familiar faces, both of whom are making their first starts since this year’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open where both missed the cut.
It’s been a tough season for Mehaffey thus far, making just four cuts in 11 starts and lying 144th in the Order of Merit and she will likely have just three more starts in order to secure her playing rights for 2025.
Walsh, by contrast, has had an excellent rookie season, but after back-to-back top-three finishes in June, has gone off the boil a little and arrives in Alicante hoping to reignite her charge up the Order of Merit.
Currently ranked 15th, a strong finish to the season could yet see her climb into the top four at the end of the season, thereby earning herself an LPGA Tour card for 2025.
Byrne will be the first of the trio to get in action on day one, with a 10:20 am Thursday tee time alongside Carolin Kaufmann of Germany and Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen.
Mehaffey begins her round at 13:37 with Kirsten Rudgeley of Australia and Katherine Muzo of the United States, while Walsh is among the last starters on day one and will be among the marquee groups alongside Austrian Emma Spitz and American Lee Ann Pace.