THE professional game beckons for James Sugrue after a stellar 2019, but the Mallow golfer will not rush into the paying ranks on anything but his own terms.

December in Ireland and the promise of golf seems a distant land. But all is not quiet for Mallow’s James Sugrue, the British Amateur champion. The rewards from that amazing win keep on coming and this past month has taken him on a circuit of award ceremonies.

There was another night to remember at the end of a remarkable year as the Irish Golf Writers’ Association crowned Open champion Shane Lowry its Professional Player of the Year at its annual Allianz-sponsored awards.

Ireland’s trio of Walker Cup stars left Royal Liverpool with mixed emotions as the United Stages ran riot in the singles and romped to a 15½-10½ victory.

Sean Desmond has hardly had time to fully take in the magnitude of his victory in the South of Ireland Championship last Sunday before gearing himself up for the AIG Irish Close Championship beginning at Ballybunion on Saturday.

Irish golf clubs have had plenty to celebrate in 2019.

Jason Sugrue (Mallow), Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), Mark Power (Kilkenny), and Conor Purcell (Portmarnock), all of whom began the week at Hoylake, Royal Liverpool, preparing for the Walker Cup match against the United States in September, were all eliminated from the Pierse Motors sponsored South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch yesterday.

Peter O’Keeffe is desperate to end his run of near-misses at the Pierse Motors-sponsored South of Ireland Championship which begins in Lahinch this morning.

Pádraig Harrington believes Shane Lowry’s nightmare finish to the 2016 US Open at Oakmont can act as a help rather than a hindrance as the Offaly man chases a first major win at Portrush this weekend.

Lowry, who won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, holed from 35 feet for another birdie on the 10th to move two shots clear of the field.

Leave it to Maureen Madill to put into perspective how big a deal hosting the 148th Open Championship is to the membership at Royal Portrush and all of her native land.

Mission accomplished. At least for one day. James Sugrue achieved what he set out to do on his maiden round at The Open Championship by not shooting himself out of it after 18 holes.

History seems to hang from every lamppost along the Causeway Coast. Drive through the villages and town lands dotted around Portrush this week and there’s scarcely a pole devoid of a Union Jack or an Ulster Banner.

His wayward first ball hit a fan and cracked the screen of her mobile phone in her pocket before ending up five feet inside the out of bounds posts.

There is something uniquely British about the tennis at Wimbledon. Where else do you still see players playing in “all whites” and on grass courts to wildly enthusiastically patrons, who nostalgically talk as much in the past as the present, while sipping their Pimm’s and eating their strawberries and cream.

This week’s 148th Open at Royal Portrush is officially the most attended Championship staged outside St Andrews with the R&A announcing on Wednesday that there will be a record-breaking crowd of 237,750 for the tournament starting on Thursday.

When Darren Clarke hits the British Open’s first tee shot at Royal Portrush at 6.35am tomorrow an ambition many years in the making — and many, many days of heartfelt persuasion too — will come to fruition.

The whirlwind continues for James Sugrue as the newly-minted amateur champion starts to reap the rewards of his Portmarnock triumph with a major debut on home soil at the 148th Open.

Clarke has had life-threatening first-hand experience of The Troubles.

James Sugrue is battling an infected bite on his calf to be fit to tee off at the Open Championship on Thursday.

Darren Clarke will have the honour of striking the first ball at The 148th Open on Thursday as major championship golf returns to Royal Portrush for the first time since 1951.

It’s a big few days for golfer Robbie Cannon, and his life could look much different by next weekend, if results go his way.

Charlie Mulqueen Tickets to the Masters tournament at Augusta are as precious as gold dust and usually available only to long-standing patrons and the very privileged.

James Sugrue’s magnificent achievement in winning the 124th British Amateur Championship at Portmarnock has not gone unnoticed by a quartet of famous Irish professionals.

Mallow’s James Sugrue achieved the ambition of a lifetime at Portmarnock today when he won the British Amateur Championship and with it, an appearance in next month’s British Open at Royal Portrush followed by next year’s US Masters and Open.

Mallow’s James Sugrue takes a healthy three-hole advantage into the final 18 holes of his British Amateur Championship final clash with Scotland’s Euan Walker at Portmarnock this afternoon.

Mallow’s James Sugrue is 36 holes away from an invite to the Open Championship after securing a spot in the final of British Amateur Championship at Portmarnock.

Wondrous dreams aren’t always realised and Mallow’s James Sugrue and Ronan Mullarney from Galway scarcely harboured thoughts of playing in the British and US Opens and the US Masters when they entered this week’s British Amateur Championship at Portmarnock.

Charlie Mulqueen Mallow’s James Sugrue and Ronan Mullarney from Galway produced outstanding performances at Portmarnock yesterday to keep Irish interest very much alive into this morning’s third round of the British Amateur Championship.

James Sugrue from Mallow defied incredible pressure over the closing holes at The Island links yesterday to clinch his place in today’s matchplay stages of the 124th British Amateur Championship at Portmarnock.

A week that could herald the beginning of the demise of Portmarnock Golf Club as the natural home for some of the game’s most prestigious events got under way yesterday with the first of two qualifying rounds for the 124th Amateur Championship.

Galway’s Ronan Mullarney will take a healthy four-shot lead into today’s second round at the Flogas Irish Amateur Open Championship after setting the pace with a course-record and career-low 62 in Sligo.

Conor Purcell leads the Irish charge on home turf at Co Sligo as the Flogas Irish Amateur Open gets underway at Rosses Point tomorrow.

Ireland international James Sugrue will fly to England on Saturday confident he is in the best possible shape to impress Walker Cup selectors and kick-start a special season amongst the game’s amateur elite.

A delighted James Sugrue was one of five leading Irish amateur golfers celebrating call-ups to an extended Great Britain & Ireland squad ahead of the 47th Walker Cup match against the United States at Royal Liverpool this September.

Mallow’s James Sugrue is lurking just four strokes off the lead in the Radisson Blu sponsored West of Ireland Championship at a sun-kissed County Sligo.

Mallow’s James Sugrue and Tiarnan McLarnon of Massereene finished runners-up behind Argentina in the 47th Copa Juan Carlos Tailhade at Los Lagartos Country Club in Buenos Aires.

Peter O’Keeffe can become the first man since Pádraig Harrington to complete a famous double after he saw off Kinsale’s John Murphy to reach the last 16 of the AIG Irish Amateur Close at the European Club.

Caolan Rafferty pushed aside disappointment and made a little piece of history with a 20th-green victory over Rowan Lester, in yesterday’s final of the 117th South of Ireland Championship, in Lahinch.

Robin Dawson and John Murphy go head-to-head at Royal Aberdeen this morning in an all-Irish showdown for a place in the semi-finals of the 123rd Amateur Championship.

All five Irish qualifiers remain in contention at the 123rd Amateur Championship after they all secured their place in this morning’s round of 32 at Royal Aberdeen.

Kinsale teenager John Murphy led a quintet of Irishmen safely through to the matchplay stages of the 123rd Amateur Championship at Royal Aberdeen and Murcar Links.

Mallow’s James Sugrue and Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas) have been nominated by the Golfing Union of Ireland to compete in the 36-hole Dubai Duty Free Irish Open qualifier.