Seeing really is believing.
Leona Maguire is rightfully the star of the show at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open. With every selfie taken, or autograph signed is another dream made for a young fan. A trailblazer for Irish women’s golf, Maguire’s success has inspired a conveyor belt of young talent looking up at someone who has climbed the ladder they are on, hoping that they are on the same path she took.
When the Women’s Irish Open was pulled in 2012, just three professionals played while the Maguire sisters competed as amateurs. Yesterday, a record thirteen Irish players teed it up including eight amateurs, five of whom are teenagers including Anna Abom and Olivia Costello who walked the walk at Carton House Fairmont.
Ireland’s three top ranked amateurs Sara Byrne, Aine Donegan and Beth Coulter are away in Curtis Cup action this week but with their absence has come an opportunity for a deeper glimpse into the future.
Abom has just turned eighteen while Costello is the youngest player in the field at 16 despite this being her third appearance in the event.
It’s been a busy few weeks for Edmondstown Golf Club who celebrated their first national championship title when Thomas Abom won the AIG Irish Close in Dun Laoghaire. His brother Liam won the Intervarsities last year.
This week it is the turn of Anna, who caddied for Thomas in the Close, but has made the spotlight her own so far.
Only invited to the tournament last week, the teenager fired a very impressive one-under 72. She may be short in size and driving distance but she packed a punch with her putter.
“I only got an invite maybe last week, so it came as a shock, and I was just, yeah, like, really happy just even have the experience to play, and obviously to played well is, like, just a bonus. But I’m really just here to enjoy the experience and learn as much as I can.”
Abom (-1) and Costello (-2) lead the way from an amateur perspective but other Irish underage internationals also stood up to be counted on the big stage with Kate Dillon (18) and Roisin Scanlon (16) shooting one-over rounds of 74 which is only six shots off the lead in difficult conditions.
All of them inspired by Maguire, worshiping the ground she walks on and revelling in the arena they share with her this week.
“I think she definitely has, like, a big part to play in that, like, you know, a few years ago, seeing her win on the LPGA, and, you know, someone who came off in the same like amateur ranks as us, and seeing, you know, like a player do so well, you know, playing Solheim cuffs like she definitely does, I think, inspire us all,” said Abom who has yet to play a World Amateur Golf Ranking counting event but boasts the Royal County Down and Dun Laoghaire Scratch Cups on her CV.
Roscommon star Costello has long been tipped for big things and despite being the youngest player in the field she has been a part of this event since she was 14.
“The amount of Irish playing in this is unreal, Leona being out there is definitely, knowing that I am on the same golf course as her is really cool to see,” said the teen who helped GB&I to their first ever Junior Vagliano Trophy win last week.
It was only the first round of hopefully four for this pair but as it stands Costello is ahead of Solheim Cup player Anne Van Dam while they both beat major winner Georgia Hall, Kildare’s Lauren Walsh and 2022 winner Klara Davidson Spilkova.
The O’Meara course has been playing long, it’s soft, it’s windy, but Abom rose to the occasion and now she has a realistic chance of making the cut on her debut in a professional event if she can hold her nerve in a situation she is a complete rookie to.
“Like the girls were driving me, probably on every hole. But so that is actually something, even before this week that I knew, like, I need to, you know, work on my distance and like, I’m definitely, like, one of the shorter hitters, even out of, like, the amateur golfers. But, I mean, it kind of just goes to show today that even if you hit a short like, you can still shoot a score.
“I think I’ll definitely be nervous, and it’ll be hard to, you know, not try think about that. But my coach always says, like, it’s not for, it’s not what it’s for, it’s what it is. So just, you know, go out, take each shot as a comms and, yeah, try not to overly think about that too much.”
Two years ago when this event made a triumphant return to the Ladies European Tour in Dromoland Castle, Costello was joined outside the ropes by Rebekah Gardner (who is back in Miami University this week) after their rounds just to catch a glimpse of their hero, Maguire.
Making the cut was a bit too soon for Costello on her previous two starts but she believes she has learned enough to get over the line into the weekend and roared on by the Roscommon faithful who have dotted the sidelines with red.
“The experience is huge, it’s definitely helped, the back nine coming in the experience helped to keep me going and finish off until the end.
“The experience is huge, it’s definitely helped, the back nine coming in the experience helped to keep me going and finish off until the end.”