Helping to focus on game at hand

If you go down a rung or two from the top of the golfing ladder, life as a touring professional can become an extremely expensive business.

"It costs about £1,000 a week to survive, and that's doing it as cheaply as you can," estimates Peter Lawrie, who'll be playing on the Challenge Tour - the PGA European Tour's developmental circuit - for much of the upcoming season.

So, in the main, yesterday's largess from the Team Ireland Golf Trust to aspiring professionals was a bit like manna from the heavens.

In all, 14 selected professionals shared £175,000. Five of them - Aideen Rogers, Keith Nolan, Gary Murphy, David Higgins and Lawrie - received the top allocations of £20,000 each. A further 11 players will share £15,000 to finance their attempts to qualify from the various tours later this season. A total of £190,000 was distributed.

All of which means that the likes of Damian Mooney, who is a fully-qualified PGA club professional, can finally chase his dream to become a tour pro.

A professional at the Laganview driving range near Belfast for the past number of years, Mooney was awarded £10,000 in the grant allocations and intends to drive around the continent from venue to venue to play as many tournaments as he can on the Challenge Tour.

Team Ireland Golf is a partnership between statutory agencies and private corporations, chaired by Padraig O hUiginn.

The Irish Sports Council (£60,000 in 2001) and Bord Failte (£50,000) each provide financial backing while an anonymous benefactor contributes £50,000 a year through Bryan Phelan Accountants. Ryanair, O'Callaghan Hotels and the PGA Tour also provide £10,000 annually.

Indeed, Lawrie's recent schedule - which featured a seven-week stint on the South African Tour - and his upcoming plans demonstrates the expense involved in being a full-time tour player.

Coughlan is the only player on the full US Tour, but Keith Nolan, who lost his tour card last season, intends to play on the Buy.Com Tour and the Canadian Tour. Sean Quinlivan, Bryan Omelia and Connor Mallon intend to play mainly in the US while Eamonn Brady plans to play in Canada.

Team Ireland Golf Grant allocation for 2001 - £20,000: A Rogers, K Nolan, G Murphy, P Lawrie, D Higgins. £15,000: R Coughlan. £10,000: D McGrane, P Gribben, S Quinlivan, D Mooney. £5,000: C Mallon, B Omelia, F Howley, E Brady.

Richie Coughlan has withdrawn from the Nissan Open in Los Angeles due to injury. Coughlan was advised by the tournament doctor not to compete.