Ciara McDonnell gets into the swing of things before the Irish Open

She always thought of golf clubs as a place for the boys. So when the team behind the Irish Open offered Ciara McDonnell a crash course, she accepted – to see if the boys’ club was no more.

My Dad played a lot of golf while I was growing up.

To me, it was synonymous with whole Saturdays spent off on a golf course with his friends while my siblings and I were shepherded around to sports, speech and drama and ballet.