James Sugrue: A kick in the stomach not to be playing Irish Open but no point dwelling on it

James Sugrue at the 2020 Irish Open at Galgorm Castle. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

I’m disappointed not to be in Mount Juliet this week, but my hopes for an invitation fell through. It would have been a nice one to play in my first year as a professional, but it’s not the end of the world. We’ll move on.

I understand how these things work — last year I got a late invite after an intervention by Lee Westwood. We had played together for the first two rounds at the US Open and he was good enough to say to the media he was shocked I hadn’t got an invite for the Irish Open the following week. So I didn’t know I was playing at all, but a few hours later I got an invite.

And I had a great week at Galgorm as well, opened with a round of four-under and was top-five for a little while, it was lovely. But it’s still not what you know, it’s who you know.

So I’ll be practising this week at home in Mallow instead. The weather is unbelievable. I’ve played some holes with my coach Michael Collins and hit some balls, and that will be the way it goes for the rest of the week.

I’ll be working on a couple of things with Michael. I lost the strike in my driver a little bit, the ball wasn’t going as far as I would have liked. I wasn’t striking it out of the middle because I was actually standing too far away from it, so I’m trying to stand a little bit closer to the driver. It feels very awkward at the moment, but the results are speaking for themselves, and hopefully in a few days it will feel a lot better.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed my start to life in professional golf. I was away for five weeks at the start, Spain for two, Sweden for two, and then Dublin for the Irish Challenge at Portmarnock Links. I am enjoying it, although I thought I might be able to get more starts. But there’s a lot of season left, and just because I don’t have them immediately doesn’t mean I won’t get them.

Life on the Challenge Tour is not too different from playing for Ireland as an amateur. I’m meeting lots of familiar faces for the first time in a few years. It’s good to see them still playing golf, and it’s a nice reminder that things don’t necessarily happen overnight.

Guys like Ewen Ferguson of Scotland come to mind. I would have played a lot with Ewen a couple of years ago. He was a brilliant amateur player and he’s having a great season on the Challenge Tour, but it takes time. You have to persist with it and trust the process, as they say.

Mind you, it could happen overnight, and that’s why we love the game — a good week can kickstart everything, but nobody knows when that might happen, so you go out and give it your best, add up your shots, and see where it leaves you.

So I’m not going to worry about money any time soon, if I can help it, in my first years as a professional.

And I am so thankful to Sport Ireland for the grant I got from them this year. It has helped to put me in a good situation, and means I can afford to travel for the year.

That’s huge, because it’s not cheap to travel around, and certainly not during Covid times. You have to do two PCR tests per week at between €150-200 a time, so it is very expensive — but the rewards are there every week if you do well.

I’ve had a couple of good weeks so far. In Sweden in May I got my first prize money at the Dormy Open when I finished tied for 22nd and followed that with a T23 at Portmarnock.

One of the things I’m learning as a professional golfer is that you have to be always ready to play. I don’t have a schedule, and that can be a bit annoying because when I was an amateur and playing for Ireland, your year would be mapped out for you. Now I have to be ready to get a call and be asked to get on a flight tomorrow and go and play, or I could be doing nothing for a few weeks. You have to be match-fit, as it were, and ready for the call.

Of course, the flip side is this week — when you think you might be playing, but you end up practising instead. You have to roll with the punches as well. This was the highlight week of the year, playing in the Irish Open, but as much as it’s a kick in the stomach not to be playing, there’s no point dwelling on it. At the end of the day, it’s business, and hopefully my time will come for another chance to play.

And this week, hopefully one of the young Irish golfers who is playing will make the most of their opportunity. I’m sure it’s going to be a great week at Mount Juliet with a great field, led by Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy, and I just hope the Irish guys do well, especially my old amateur buddies who are also playing, Caolan Rafferty and Mark Power. They are quality players, and I’ve no doubt if they play well, they’ll be there or thereabouts.