11-year-old O’Shea on course to be future star

THE remarkable 15-year-old Cavan twins Lisa and Leona Maguire have been all the rage in Irish ladies golf for several years and will represent Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup against the United States next month.

However, another outstanding youngster is making the news in Munster, where 11-year-old Lisa O’Shea has turned in a series of superb performances in recent months for Shannon Golf Club.

Lisa is a fifth class student at St Senan’s Primary School in Shannon who has brought her handicap down to 15. She has been playing golf since she was four and her father, Don, has ensured she received excellent tuition from her club pro Artie Pyke, Ian Stafford with the Munster Branch and Barbara Hackett at Coonagh Driving Range.

In Killarney last week Lisa shot 33 points on her own card as a Shannon team completed by Laura Hogan and Nancy Parry totalled 76 points to finish fifth in the Munster qualifier for the 3 Irish Open pro-am over the Killeen Course in August. The achievement demonstrated the natural aptitude Lisa has for the game, a point reinforced on Sunday when she shot a net 69 in a club competition at Shannon. She qualified for the pro-am team by also returning a 69 in Artie Pyke’s professional’s prize. Lisa picked up two prizes at the Scottish U16 championship in Strathmore last month. Faithlegg and Killarney claimed the two pro-am prizes.

Men’s Winner: Faithlegg, Waterford: Rory Murphy (9), Robert Murphy (13), Charles Collins (17). Women’s Winners: Killarney: Ailish Mulcahy (6), Winnie Ryan (26), Kathleen Wren (33).