IRISH OPEN COUNTDOWN: Philip Reidon how the GUI and the efforts of our top professionals has shaped a golden generation of players

“The GUI have got to grips with the fact they will train young amateur golfers to leave them. This was very awkward for them for a while but, now, they understand the better they produce amateur golfers, the more likely they are to have less amateurs when they get to 22 or 23

TO BORROW a term used frequently to immortalise those rugby players in green jerseys, there’s also something of a “golden generation” about this current crop of Ireland’s international tour golfers. Indeed, things have never, ever been so healthy, with four Majors between them – three to Pádraig Harrington and one to Graeme McDowell – and three of them ranked inside the world’s Top-20, with Rory McIlroy – in eighth position – setting the pace.

For sure, Ireland’s golfers are not only punching above their weight, but the conveyor belt is – at this moment – seemingly a never-ending one. You only have to cast your mind back to a little more than 12 months ago at rainy Baltray for one of sport’s most inspiring and unpredictable triumphs when Shane Lowry – an amateur at the time – had the audacity to win the 3 Irish Open, out-duelling Robert Rock in sudden death to take the prized crown.

Lowry’s transition since then into the professional ranks has been a seamless one, the 23-year-old Offaly man maintaining an upward graph on the world rankings which has seen him rise to 82nd in the most recent listing. The only way for Lowry is up, and that seems to be what Irish players nowadays expect. You won’t find any inferiority complex in the Irish contingent on the professional circuit.

So, is it by accident or design that Ireland has managed to be a powerhouse of golf? Darren Clarke, for one, makes it clear that while there may be an element of good fortune that so many good players have come along at the one time, it is more by design – with huge kudos to the GUI for developing young talent – that this has happened.

Clarke, who has helped identify young golfing talent through his Darren Clarke Foundation which takes the leading boys and girls for residential clinics, claims Harrington’s Major wins acted as a spur for his fellow tour players.

“Pádraig has won three Majors in very recent succession. That’s pushed all of the rest of the guys on tour. No disrespect to Pádraig, but if Pádraig can do it, others feel they can do it. That is the scenario that’s happened.

“Pádraig’s led the way for us in winning Majors, and then we have all come along behind. G-Mac’s won the US Open. Rory’s going to be there for many years and, touch wood, will win Majors,” said Clarke.

He added: “In the whole process of golf in Ireland, we are unbelievably lucky to have so many talented players as we do at the moment. For a very small country in terms of golf, and golfing talent, we are almost at the top of that league. And because our pool is so small, compared to places like America, we’ve got some of the very best players in the world. We’re very fortunate.”

McIlroy, one of the new breed to come through the ranks, where he proved his capacity to win big amateur championships including the Irish Close and the European Individual titles when still in his mid-teens, gives a lot of the credit to the Golfing Union of Ireland and their foresight in establishing the National Academy at Carton House.

“The GUI have been a big part of it. I don’t know if any other golf union in the world has a set-up like Carton House. The GUI has produced so many players. Obviously, with myself and Shane (Lowry) now and Alan Dunbar, who is doing great in the amateur ranks, they just keep producing players,” said McIlroy.

Harrington, who along with Paul McGinley gave advice to the GUI in the planning stages of the National Academy’s construction, points to a change in attitude among the sport’s amateur governing body. “I think professional (tour) golfers now, and the GUI has got much more to grips with this, and come from the amateur ranks, whereas the ones before us tended to come from the PGA ranks, from the PGA shops. There’s great stories of, say, David Feherty who was a four-handicapper in the pro shop . . . whereas, and this is the big step that has been taken, the GUI have got to grips with the fact they will train young amateur golfers to leave them. This was very awkward for them for a while but, now, they understand the better they produce amateur golfers, the more likely they are going to have less amateurs when they get to 22 or 23 (years old). But they are comfortable with that.”

In expanding his argument, Harrington added: “Our conditions in Ireland obviously produce players, guys who can work their way around the golf course. But you do also have to give credit to the golf clubs who consistently run tournaments all the time. Yes, we’ve the likes of the West of Ireland at Rosses Point and the North at Portrush but you’ve also got Scratch Cups, real competitive golf. As a kid, I could travel the length and breadth of the country. When there wasn’t school, there was always a golf tournament on, a Scratch Cup or something, to go to. Outside of Ireland, I don’t think there is a country that offers that.”

Clarke also makes the point that the current tour professionals are very much open to the top amateurs. “We want to give them a helping hand, whether that be advice or spending time working with them . . . I know Pádraig goes to the GUI and sees some of the top amateurs coming through and, the bit I do with my Foundation, I have a bit more access to the top amateurs in the country. When I was coming up, we didn’t really know the pros. We knew a few of them, but didn’t get to spend time with them and ask questions. Whereas now, the top amateurs, they could sit down and ask us stuff.”

If ever the point was hammered home, it was at Baltray last year when Lowry – a talent honed on the drumlins of Esker Hills but who was given a broader education by being literally sent all over the world by the GUI to gain competitive experience – won the Irish Open as an amateur. It simply confirmed that the GUI conveyor belt is forever moving on. It doesn’t stand still.

FIELD OF DREAMS: THE GUI'S ACADEMY

Some frequently asked questions

Q: Can anyone use the facilities?

A: Yes. The academy – at Carton House in Maynooth, Co Kildare – is open to all. There is no requirement to be a member, although GUI cardholders receive a discounted rate.

Q: Is national coach Neil Manchip available for lessons?

A: Yes. There is a wide selection of professionals to chose from, including Manchip along with GUI national academy teaching professional Louise D'Arcy, director of golf at Carton House Francis Howley, former Irish PGA champion David Mortimer, Titleist staff professional Bryan Harris and assistant professional at Carton House, Bernard Quigley.

Q: Can children get lessons?

A: The successful Junior Golf Ireland Academy is the largest of its kind in Ireland, with over 200 children a week having lessons in group settings.

Louise D'Arcy is the main tutor and advance booking is advisable.