Tour card holders are awarded top grants

GOLF/ Irish Trust Grants: Nobody can debate against the success of the Team Ireland Golf Trust which, in the seven years since it was conceived, has handed out over €1.5 million to fledgling players as they embark on what can be a rocky road towards making careers as tour professionals.

Among those to reap the rewards in their time are Peter Lawrie, the first Irishman to be named European Tour rookie of the year, and Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy, all three now fully fledged and hardened tour players who no longer need to seek financial support.

But the cycle is ongoing and, yesterday, at an announcement in Dublin, the next generation of touring professionals were allocated a total of €270,000 with the top grants (of €20,000) going to current card holders Stephen Browne, Michael Hoey, David Higgins, Colm Moriarty and Rebecca Coakley.

Browne, Hoey and Higgins have all secured full cards for the European Tour this season, while Moriarty, a former Walker Cup player, is full time on the European Challenge Tour. Coakley, although born in Australia, is a former Irish women's amateur champion and is representing Ireland on the Ladies European Tour. In all, 22 aspiring professionals were awarded grants to assist them in their travel and preparations for the year ahead.

The financial aid is jointly funded by private and public partnership and, in this year of the Ryder Cup being played at The K Club in September, the Minister for Sport, John O'Donoghue, acknowledged the trust was a considerable aid in leading to "an increase in the presence of Irish golfers on the international tours".

In an important new development, the golfers supported by the Team Ireland Golf Trust will be able to avail of the new golf academy at Carton House free of charge.

The Golf Union of Ireland's National Coaching Academy will be available to the trust golfers from April. "The trust has been successful in two important objectives," added O'Dongohue. "Firstly, it enables talented young golfers to achieve their full potential.

"Secondly, the participation and success of Irish golfers in the international golf tours is an important advertisement of Ireland as a golf tourism destination."

Ossie Kilkenny, chairperson of the Irish Sports Council, commented: "The trust demonstrates the value of a partnership approach, with all agencies working together to support talented golfers with the shared aim of ensuring Ireland has a presence on the major tours."

In addition to those who received grants yesterday, funds will be kept in reserve for later in the year to assist golfers competing in the Qualifying Schools.