POPULAR Ireland AM (Virgin Media) presenter Muireann O’Connell, of Dooradoyle, is among those who will partake in the Pro-Am at the Women’s Irish Open, taking place at Carton House in County Kildare.
Under the tutorship of Hazel Kavanagh, she along with internet personalities Kayleigh Trappe and Ailbhe Garrihy who have spent the past couple of months receiving a crash course on the sport.
On the eve of the high-profile outing, O’Connell confessed: “I’m dreading it.”
In an interview with irishgolfdesk.com, she admitted: “I absolutely love doing new things and this is something I always would have done anyway.”
“A lot of friends are kind of like, let’s start doing this now because it is such fun and it’s a great way to go out and spend time with your friends and I’m hoping that it will be something that I will keep on doing, it certainly feels like it would be.”
O’Connell, also a broadcaster on Today FM, added: “There’s a few of them that have collected their golf clubs from home and are ready to go and then I am terrible at being a joiner, but I have talked to a few gangs that kind of get together and golf, so I’d hope that it’s not too late to make some new golf friends.”
“I think I will keep it up.”
The Open will be staged on the Mark O’Meara designed course, and carries an overall prize purse of a whopping €400,000.
Meanwhile, Newcastle West GC will host its STL (Shannon Transport Logistics) Pro-Am on Saturday next.
The event has attracted a full complement of 50 teams.
The prize fund for the professionals is an impressive €15,000.
Limerick’s Tim Rice, who continues to lead the Irish PGA Order of Merit, heads a significant local interest.
