Golf

Olivia Mehaffey rediscovers the pep in her step and plays Carton House with a smile

An Italian, a Finn and a Spaniard navigate their way to the top of the field with opening rounds of five-under-par 68

Olivia Mehaffey putting on the 4th green during the Women's Irish Open at Carton House, Co Kildare. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Philip Reid at Carton House in Maynooth
Thu Aug 29 2024 - 21:40

The rebirth of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open into one of the flagship events on the Ladies European Tour should perhaps act as a kind of inspiration to those chasing their own dreams. Indeed, the trio of players – an Italian, a Finn and a Spaniard – who navigated their way from tee-to-green around the O’Meara course at Carton House went about doing just that in compiling opening rounds of five-under-par 68.

For Alessandra Fanali, Ursula Wikstrom and Luna Sobron Galmes – all chasing breakthrough career wins on the LET – the wonderfully-presented course, even with some tricky pin placements, provided an opportunity to showcase their shot-making and to make that dream of victory a viable one.

If they were to look over their shoulders, however, others also hold such ambitions. The two European Solheim Cup players in the field, a fortnight out from the match against the United States in Virginia, showed their own abilities as Leona Maguire had a bogey-free 70, while England’s Georgia Hall recovered from being two-over through eight holes of her round to ultimately sign for a level par 73.

Yet of all the subplots and themes one emerged as arguably the most heart-warming of them all as Olivia Mehaffey opened with a one-under-par 72 that held more substance than the simple row of digits on her scorecard. Playing on the LET for the first time in 10 weeks after taking time out to deal with anxiety issues that had affected her early season, the 26-year-old Co Down player rediscovered a pep to her step and played with a smile on her face.

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“I said to my caddie [Seb], ‘I haven’t had as much fun on the golf course in a long time’, so it was really enjoyable,” said Mehaffey, a former Curtis Cup star (featuring on the winning GB&I team at Dún Laoghaire in 2016).

Mehaffey had not played competitively since withdrawing from the Italian Open in June and, for the most part has played social golf with friends in her attempt to fall back in love with golf again. Of returning to the LET, Mehaffey – with a scorecard in hand – explained her thought process.

“Yeah, I was trying not to think about it, like, just don’t think that you haven’t competed in two and a half months. I didn’t even think about that, just go and play golf. I’ve been trying to do a lot of that in my time off. I’ve just being playing rounds and I’ve never played as much golf and not on the range as much, and just trying to, like, fall in love with the game and enjoy just playing and competing and scoring, and not worrying about making perfect swings or hitting perfect shots.”

Olivia Mehaffey teeing off on the 4th hole. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho

So it was that Mehaffey succeeded in doing just that, playing with a freedom of spirited and mostly with a smile and an obvious contentment. Maybe the acquisition of getting Coldplay tickets for Monday night’s concert in Croke Park – which she plans to attend with Maguire – provided a little extra feel-good factor.

“I’ve really enjoyed being back and seeing everybody. It’s been a busy week, and it’s weird having a scorecard in your hand again, you know, it’s fine when you’re going out with your mates and you’re playing for a tenner and you think that’s a big thing but that obviously is a different factor but it’s nice to feel that again,” said Mehaffey:

“I feel like I’ve been playing nicely the last couple of weeks, it’s been trending nicely but you never know until you’re in the competitive environment. That’s what I saw this year, where I feel like I’ve been playing well in practice and hitting it good on the range and then struggling mentally and with anxiety on the golf course.

“It was like a different Olivia shows up in competition so it was nice to feel like my fiery, competitive self, enjoying it out there and smiling again out there.”

Mehaffey was one of four Irish players to shoot under-par rounds, with Maguire’s 70 – for three under – positioning the Solheim Cup player nicely to challenge, while teenage amateurs Olivia Costello and Anna Abom again showed their rich promise.

Costello, from Co Roscommon, and fresh off playing her part in the GB&I’s Junior Vagliano Trophy victory over the Continent of Europe last weekend, shot a superb two-under-par 71, while Abom, from Edmonstown, south Dublin, shot a 72.

For the trio at the top of affairs after the first round the challenge is to kick on as each of them looks for a breakthrough win on the LET. And, as Spaniard Sobron remarked, “these greens are the best we’ve played this year”. Which is the area of the game which ultimately will decide the champion.

One round down. Three to go.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times