Sean Reddy got 2024 off to a bright start last week when he finished on top of the leaderboard in Spain.  The 17 year old was playing in the final event of the Toro Tour Andalucia series and he put together 3 great rounds to finish joint first and win the amateur category.

Reddy was playing in Villa Padierna Golf Club just outside Marbella and he led from start to finish in a field which featured several professionals and elite amateurs.  The Douglas golfer was in fine form, firing in 10 birdies over the three rounds.  More importantly he kept the big numbers off his card over the 54 hole event, limiting any mistakes to a single bogey.

Playing in a field of elite amateurs and professionals, Sean wasn’t shaken by his lofty position on the leaderboard.  “I shot a one under par 70 first round to put me sitting at the top and then in the second round I got to play with 2 professionals.  I had some small nerves but good ones and was ready to go after a good moving day.  I had a one shot lead going into final round was definitely a bit pressure going into final day but just tried to be in my own zone and worrying about one shot at a time staying in the present.”

Having worked hard on his game over the Winter, Sean was happy going into the event.  “My game felt very good and I was very good form playing well in practice.  The course was nice and was in great condition, and the level was differently a bit different to what you would be used to, with lots of young professionals playing for practice.”

Reddy who is in fourth year in Presentation Brothers College has been putting a lot of effort into his practice.  “The main reason for playing in Spain was get the competitive juices going, I was in Portugal for a couple of weeks before Spain.  I am 4th year this year in school so I decided to play as much as I can, so decided go out to Spain about two weeks before the competition.  I had a good winter programme in the gym with Golf Strong and working on my swing with Noel Fox.  I have been doing loads of work on my short game, chipping and putting and working on stats with my Golf Ireland Coach Ian Stafford.”

Like most other young golfers at this level, Sean is looking forward to a busy 2024.  “My schedule this year is very busy, the next event is junior triple A tournament in Spain to just sharpen everything up before playing the West of Ireland.  Then it all starts with Irish events and few international ones during the summer including the Scottish and English Boys.”

Sara Byrne racked up another top ten finish in an NCAA Division One event last week, the Douglas golfer recorded her fifth straight top ten finish, and was also named on the Annika Award watch list on Monday.  Sara was in action in the Gator Invitational in Gainsville Florida, and while Miami could only record a 9th place team finish, Byrne shot rounds of 66, 71 and 73 in a level par final score.  Byrne shot her 10th sub-70 round of the season with a first-round score of 66.

Byrne has put on a dominant performance on the golf course since she returned to Miami in Spetember, and with two wins and five top-10 finishes she won ACC Golfer of the Month honours twice.  The Miami Senior has not only etched her name into the Miami record books, but also the NCAA women’s golf record books as her 54-hole score of 197 (-19) at the Hurricane Invitational ranks first in programme history and is currently tied for third for lowest individual 54-hole score in NCAA women’s golf history.  Byrne’s season stroke average currently sits at 69.78, which would shatter the Miami programme record of 71 and rank fifth in the NCAA record book.

In a nod to her impressive consistency over five months, she shot par-or-better in 17 of 23 rounds played this season, including 13 straight from October 14 to March 3.  The 22 year old, who plans to turn professional at some stage later this year has a one week break before her team return to action on March 11-12 w in the Battle at Briar’s Creek in Charleston, S.C.