Sara Byrne’s whirlwind 2024 is continuing, the Douglas star passed the latest test last week in Florida when she qualified for the final stage of the LPGA qualifying school.

Byrne was in a field of close to 200 golfers having made the cut at the initial stage in California back in August.  Sara needed to finish the 72 hole qualifier inside the top 35 to reach final qualifying, and the 22 years old came through in impressive form.

She opened with a five under par 67 that had her at the top of the leaderboard for most of the first day.  A second round 73 saw her drop back a few places but she bounced back in the third would with a three under par 69.  That had Sara in twelfth place going into the final round, with high hopes of finishing inside the cut mark.

Byrne went through the first nine on the final day in -1, but the best was yet to come as she dropped in another four birdies to finish on 68 (-4).  That took her to -11 for the tournament and up to sixth place.

“The week was very solid.  I got off to a flying start which I knew I needed a low one like that and to be solid for the rest of the week” said Byrne.  “I knew -5 or better would get through and it did in the end.”

“Once I had that first round under my belt it was plain sailing other than a rollercoaster second round but honestly to get one over on a day like that was really solid, I was really happy with that and it kept me in it. To back it up over the last two days was great, I sailed through the week which was really nice, the 20 birdies and an eagle helped! I just felt really comfortable all week which was really nice.”

The Cork golfer treated herself to an ice cream on day one for rolling in six birdies and it was all scream for ice cream on Friday after two birdies in her last three holes saw her finish in style and make sure she earned a well deserved treat.

“Six birdies on the last day, I was fighting for that. I missed an eagle putt on 16 to get me on that six birdie marker but made a nice 15-footer on 17, me and my caddy Harry (Ewing) said it would be all scream for ice cream.”

Byrne has had a year to remember.  She reached the top 50 in the Amateur rankings in the first half of the year following some really solid golf.  She won several honours with University of Miami, including back to back tournament wins, best female student and best female scholar, and she was also named on the WCGA All American team.  She also set a 54 hole scoring record at Miami.

She made the matchplay stage of the Women’s Amateur and played in the Arnold Palmer Cup in Lahinch before going on to help GB&I win the Curtis Cup for the first time in 8 years are Sunningdale.

Byrne turned professional in September after the Curtis Cup and went on to have a few good performances on the LET and LET Access tours.  The Douglas Golf Club honorary member is a touring professional for Dromoland Castle, and she is delighted with the start to her professional career.

“This is something I have dreamt of since I was eight or nine years of age so getting to live it out is pretty cool,” said Byrne after finishing in a share of 6th place at the Q-Series tournament. “It is definitely living up to expectations that’s for sure. It’s been a hectic few weeks since turning pro straight after Curtis Cup, haven’t had a minute to take it all in and notice what’s going on.”

“Have a break now between stage three of LPGA Q-School. Loving every second of it, been taken to the most random parts of the world but I am enjoying every second of it and hoping it gets better from here.”

Sara has jumped over 200 places on the Rolex Women’s rankings over the past three months.  She will head back to Florida in December for the final time this year.  ON this occasion she will be targeting tour status in the US.  The top 25 golfers after final qualifying will receive full LPGA cards for 2025, with the next ten golfers getting status on the Epson Tour, the LPGA’s secondary tour.