GOLF:GRANTS TOTALLING €157,000 were awarded to 15 Irish professionals by the Team Ireland Golf Trust yesterday in an effort ease the financial burden of competing in faraway places and often away from the lucrative main tours.
The scheme, in its 12th year, has provided €2.75 million to date but this year’s allocation is down from 2010 when €199,834 was awarded to 17 golfers and the top grant of €20,000 compared to €15,000 this year.
Team Ireland received 24 applications from players (men and women), with representatives from the PGA, GUI and ILGU on the Team Ireland Trust committee.
Five top grants of €15,000 were awarded to Rebecca Coakley and Martina Gillen, both competing on the Ladies European Tour, Jonathan Caldwell and Niall Kearney (Challenge Tour) and Niall Turner (Asian Tour).
“My plan is to secure a European Tour card,” said Kearney. “I will concentrate mainly on the Challenge Tour and play up to 23 events. The financial support I receive will go a long way towards covering my expenses for the season.”
Coakley, who is competing in Agadir, Morocco, this week and has enjoyed the backing of the Golf Trust over the years, observed: “The grant this year will have a huge impact on me not only financially but mentally. It allows me to focus on my goals for the year . . . and hopefully make the Solheim Cup team.”
Four €10,000 grants were awarded to four players, including Simon Thornton, who lost his main European Tour card in 2010, plus a further six grants of €7,000 for players competing on the Europro and Alps Tours.
Payments are made quarterly with expenses submitted to the Irish Sports Council (ISC).
A men’s Satellite Tour was introduced in 1986 when Sweden, France and Italy opened their national events to foreign players quickly evolved and became known as the European Challenge Tour in 1990.
A decade later a third tier of more regional divisions emerged. The Europro Tour in Britain and Ireland, Nordic League (Scandinavia), EPD Tour (Central Europe) and Alps Tour (Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland). The top five on each of the order of merits win cards to the Challenge Tour.
Dara Lernihan and Richard Kilpatrick will compete mainly on the Alps Tour, which now spans eight countries with 16 events on the 2011 schedule.
2011 Team Ireland grant allocations
€15,000 – Martina Gillen (Ladies European Tour); Rebecca Coakley (Ladies European Tour); Jonathan Caldwell (Challenge Tour); Niall Kearney (Challenge Tour); Niall Turner (Asian Tour).
€10,000 – Simon Thornton (Challenge Tour); Tara Delaney (LET Access Tour); Gareth Shaw (Challenge Tour); Séamus Power (E Golf Tour, United States).
€7,000 – Michael McGeady (Challenge Tour); Richard Kilpatrick (Alps Tour); Paul O'Hanlon (Europro Tour); Brendan McCarroll (Europro Tour); Dara Lernihan (Alps Tour); Cian Curley (Europro Tour).
Total: €157,000
