Back to school on the road forward

AT 15, Damian McGrane had the good sense to plan his life. Around Navan hinterland options for teenagers were limited, so he cast his mind beyond, but finally found the answer in his back garden golf. McGrane decided then and there he would become a professional golfer.

He decided firstly that he would play and become competent at the game. He then elected to do his PGA exams to qualify as a club professional. It was never a chore.

"When I was 20 I played golf every day of the year. Everyday. Exams, PGA training, was a piece of cake. I didn't hat an eye lid because that's what I wanted."

McGrane then chanced his hand at the pre-qualifying school in Manchester. It didn't work out. No problem. He was only 23. He tried again. It didn't happen. No sweat. He was still just 24. So he planned another route. He won the Irish Order of Merit, which put him straight to qualifying school as Irish champion.

McGrane is nothing if not a pragmatist.

Next week he will see I he is good enough for the next step. He will see if his goal setting for the latter segment of this century is on course. Ten years in the making in Ireland six rounds of golf in Spain. Good sense paying off?

"I'm young now," he says. "It's my chance. It's all I ever wanted, I reckon. And, if I don't make it this year then I'll come back next year.

Two rounds of golf at the San Rogue club, two more at the Soto Grande club and then he hopes, if he makes the final cut of 75 players two more rounds at San Rogue could be the making of McGrane.

At the end of it all he hopes to follow the others Eamon Darcy, Phillip Walton, Christy O'Connor jnr, David Feherty, Raymond Burns and Padraig Harrington into European bliss and into part two of the professional career of McGrane.

There are no fairy tales surrounding the Headfort player. No dreams or vagaries. McGrane is no romantic, has no fantasies. He is not deluded in his efforts now to strike out. The bank of golfing dreams, ruthlessly burgled by Harrington this season, is a long way from where McGrane is rooted.

"If I qualified I'd be happy to grind it out for a couple of years. I feel that once you're on the European Tour it's like an apprentice ship. You start at the bottom and hopefully, hopefully you move up. It doesn't matter how good a player you are. Being good doesn't mean you're going to make it on the European Tour.

"Who wants to sit in an air plane for four or five hours, get off, play a practice round, play a tournament and then get on a plane again? It doesn't make sense and it would certainly take a long time to get used to. They're great men who do that. But they're used to it.

"I mean for the Eamonn Darey's and Christy O'Connors ... for those boys the grind is over. They want to do their best, play their best and enjoy all the angles of it."

The professional at Headfort, Brendan McGovern, who was beaten into second place in this year's Irish Order of Merit by his assistant, advises McGrane that "a Tour card is a good opportunity to spend £30,000". A golfer's dream, really. Thirty grand to play some of the best courses in the world. That's how much it will cost McGrane to play next year if it all goes well. That's how he sees it too. That's the investment.

Two weeks ago he travelled out to Spain and was smitten. "If you want to die," says McGrane, "you want to die at Soto Grande." Small chance when economies determine that you hit the balls and your girlfriend bumps the bag around. But over the few days he got a feel for the courses and the beauty didn't cloud his vision. At Headfort the balls were falling out of the sky and on the greens putts laboured to make the hole. It was cold and windy. In Spain the climate was benign. The greens were lively and willing, the long holes very long and the fairways generous. Adaptation will play its part.

It will take me a while to get used to the conditions of the course. But I think it was worth the investment. It will cost me £4,000 next week. But I've won a few quid in the Irish region. I don't mind spending it on going to tour school, because at the end of the day that's where I want to go. That's where the rewards are. I look at it like a student going to college for a few years."

In McGrane's two visits to the pre-qualifying schools in England he missed out by two shots and never made it to Spain. When he reflected on his performance he thought that two shots was very little But in two shots there could have been 50 golfers between himself and qualifying for Spain, and there would have been 10 more players a shot better. He realised that although it was a small distance, he was still a mile away.

"If it works out, great. If I don't make it because I'm not a good enough player, then I don't want to be out there spending £1,000 a week on the European Tour when I've no sponsor. But I'll try again next year and hopefully I'll be a better standard."

John McHenry has told him to keep it around par you don't need to shoot 65s or 66s. McGrane heard that Jimmy Heggarty shot an 80 last year in his first round and still got his card. He doesn't want to do that. That's real pressure. McHenry tells him that once he has his card the opportunities are there. Everything is laid on. Good practice facilities. People running around looking after things. You just have to hit the ball.

"Get on the tour," says McGrane, and "God knows what will happen."

His last proper tournament was played in the summer and for knows that will go against him. Everything since have been pro-ams. He played well, but pro-ams are not tournaments.

"It's different because you're not intimidated. With amateurs you just stand up and hit the ball. With the top pros you think to your self, Can I match up, can I play like I want to play. There's no laughing and chatting. The pros just hit their ball and walk after it. They don't look to see where you are. It's business."

McGrane cannot afford to learn tournament play as he goes He has to hit the round running. He knows the theory, but that's not enough. If he had been able to play as many tournaments as he wanted, he feels, he'd be a shot better over every round. Over four rounds that could be the difference. But if he'd played the tournaments he wouldn't have won the Order of Merit and would not be going to Spain.

"You've got to play your own game and hopefully that will be enough. What else can you do? My average might be 70. Bernard Langer's might be 67. If he plays his average then he's three shots better than I am. It doesn't make sense to me to go out and try to beat Langer's average," he says.

He's one of six Irish players travelling and in his heart he knows his own standard. He doesn't yet know if that's good enough. He knows that last year Harrington, Heggarty, McHenry Francis Howley and David Higgins won cards only Harrington and Higgins have retained theirs.

But that's another challenge, a different mind set. Retaining his card isn't yet in the plans of the planner.