But the annual torture-fest, otherwise known as the DP World Tour Qualifying School, continues to pose questions about where Irish golf is going wrong. And right.
Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia never had to hear someone talk about someone stamping on their guitars because they cruised seamlessly onto the tour after just a handful of professional starts.
As for Ireland’s superstars, Rory McIlroy — a player who has won 36 times so far, finished in the top 10 in 207 of his 410 pro starts (50 pc) and earned $122 million — he needed only three professional starts to secure his card.
Shane Lowry? He won the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur in his first professional event.
On the flip side, Séamus Power had to toil on the mini-tours in the US to make his way onto the second-tier tour, where he won to earn his PGA Tour stripes and has since made $14.2 million, winning twice.
There are still two more stages of the DP World Tour’s Qualifying School to go this year but of the 31 Irish players who paid their £2,750 (€3,280) entry fee, just nine have made it to the Second Stage in Spain at the end of this month, where they will be joined by the likes of Paul Dunne, a former British Masters winner currently battling to regain even modest tour status.
The successful First Stagers include five former Walker Cup players in Niall Kearney, Paul McBride, Mark Power, Cormac Sharvin and Liam Nolan, as well as two current amateurs in Max Kennedy and David Kitt and former Irish amateur championship winners Rowan Lester and Ronan Mullarney.
Of those nine, five qualified with nothing to spare and the painful numbers game that is professional golf will likely dictate that no more than a third of them will make the Final Stage in Spain next month.
The survivors will be battling hardened pros over six rounds, which means that it would be an exceptional year if one or two made it all the way to the DP World Tour.
Nobody understands their plight better than former Ryder Cup player and eight-time European Tour winner Des Smyth, who came through the Monday qualifying era, playing amateurs on the card at Alliance outings in winter to scrape together the money to cover his expenses.
The Bettystown man has been a sounding board to many of those who have received grant subsidies from Sport Ireland (via the Golf Ireland Professional Scheme) over the past 20 years.
However, his key to success remains the same should an eager parent ask about their son or daughter’s prospects of making it.
“I say, how good are they?” he explained in this newspaper seven years ago.
“Could they make a living out of golf on their own without support?
“Can they shoot 69 every day. . . and I don’t care what golf course they play, whether it’s easy or it’s hard. If I shoot 69 every day, I’m making a barrow-load of money. Shoot 72-73, and you’re an also-ran.”
The 2024 Golf Ireland Professional Scheme gave ten golfers grants worth more than €325,000 and players such as Conor Purcell and Lauren Walsh look well on their way to becoming successful touring pros.
How the others fare remains to be seen, but it’s sobering to look back at that popular barometer of amateur golfing excellence, the World Amateur Golf Ranking, to see how many players are falling through the cracks.
The ranking was only introduced in 2007 and while it currently features 87 Irish men and 31 Irish women, it also has a section showing the list of formerly ranked players who have since turned professional.
While a small number went directly into the PGA training scheme, 90 Irish men and nine Irish women have turned professional over the past 17 years.
Of those 90, just 15 made it into the top 100 in the world as amateur golfers, and only six made the top 10.
Those who made the top 10 include Rory McIlroy (1st), Leona Maguire (1st), Shane Lowry (3rd), Olivia Mehaffey (3rd), Stephanie Meadow (3rd), teaching pro Gareth Shaw (9th) and Lisa Maguire, now a dental student (10th).
Douglas’ Sara Byrne (44th) recently came close to winning in the LET Access Series and will tee it up in the LPGA Qualifying School once the Hurricane passes through Florida.
Castlerock’s Annabel Wilson (48th) has also shown signs of the form she produced when helping Leon and Olivia win Ireland’s first bronze medal in the World Amateur Team Championship in 2016.
Elm Park’s Anna Foster, who rose as high as 85th, didn’t make it through pre-qualifying for the LPGA Q-School but she earned her first cheque last week when she finished birdie-birdie to win the 25th Maryland Women’s Open last weekend.
Her final round? 69.
That bodes well for her trip to December’s Ladies European Tour Qualifying School but in the circle of life that is professional golf, last week also meant the end of the road for former Irish Men’s Close champion Stuart Grehan.
The Tullamore man (31) and his wife Carla became parents for the first time this summer — a dream come true that has nothing to do with getting a small white ball into an infuriatingly small hole.