Quentin Carew birdied the last hole on Friday evening to come through a qualifier and secure his place in the Amateur Championship field on Monday in Ballyliffin.
It will be the first time the 2022 Irish Close winner has played in an Amateur Championship and it’s another step up the ladder for the Tallaght based Garda who has enjoyed a rapid rise in Irish amateur golf in recent years.
The Castleknock golfer has endured a slow start to the 2024 campaign, missing the cut at the Irish Amateur and the East meaning his World Amateur Golf Ranking was not high enough to earn an automatic place in the field this week, but now that he has come through the qualifier he is buzzing to be involved in a maiden Amateur Championship.
“This is my first time ever to play the Amateur so to get the experience will be great. The fact it’s in Ireland will be cool and I’m really looking forward to it. It should be a good week ahead,” said Carew.
“There was a good few out there for the qualifier. The course is in great order, the greens were fast, rolling really well and there was already a good atmosphere around the place. It feels different, it feels like a professional event with the setup. It’s very cool.”
The Amateur Championship returns to Ireland for the first time since 2019, where James Sugrue won it in Portmarnock and Carew will be one of 26 Irish players hoping to embark on a similar run.
“It’s really special. I always wanted to play in it. The last few years have been going well and thankfully I’ve gotten to the level where I’m good enough to get into one of these so I’m really looking forward to it. The Amateur is one of the biggest events in amateur golf. It will be nice to look back and say I played in one and hopefully get a good run in one and it will be enjoyable no matter what happens from here.
“Hopefully I can get through the two rounds and get into the matchplay and give it a run from there, that’s where the fun starts.”