Róisín Scanlon prepares for a week of opportunity

Róisín Scanlon will hope to make the cut at Carton House this week. 

One of 16 Irish players playing in this week’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open, this will be making her second appearance in the main event.

Róisín Scanlon is coming into this in red hot form, one sensational week in April illuminated her calendar and the reigning Helen Holm champion will take plenty of confidence into Carton House.

The 17-year-old shot back-to-back rounds of 74 for a +2 total last year and despite missing the cut she learned plenty after her time on course with eventual champion Annabel Dimmock.

“It was amazing last year. It was really surreal. It was my first time playing in an LET event ever and for it to be in Ireland as well was special, especially because my grandparents got to come and watch me play at my tournament,” said Scanlon.

“I played with Annabel, which she obviously won it last year so just to see the standard of golf that was winning the tournament was amazing and to see all the other Irish women that I look up to, it was very special to be in that environment and to be inside the ropes instead of outside for the first time.

“The way that she carried herself on the golf course and then obviously she hit some amazing shots, but one of the things that I noticed mainly was that her putting was unbelievable.

“You can't win a tournament without putting well, but she did that really well.”

Scanlon was always destined to be an athlete, her parents Taneisha and Anthony were both stars of the track and field.

Her mother represented Ireland in the triple and long jump and competed at a Commonwealth Games while her father attended East Tennessee State University on a scholarship.

Scanlon played a number of sports when she was younger but backed by a father who was interested in the game, and her own burning intrigue, saw her focus on golf.

She was four when she began to attend group sessions at her local club in Bedfordshire every Sunday and they soon became individual lessons before she got her first handicap as an eight-year-old.

Scanlon was playing off 24 at that stage and over the years she whittled that down to a point where she has become one of the elite Irish amateurs competing at Carton House this week.

She hooked up with NBA star Steph Curry’s Underrated Golf project, which was set up to help provide equity, access, and opportunity to student-athletes from every community by balancing participation in the sport to reflect society.

Scanlon, who attends boarding school in Albany in The Bahamas, began playing on the tour two years ago. After a slow start she burst onto the scene with a win at Chambers Bay, another victory soon followed in the final in Las Vegas.

“I hadn't had a good season in Europe, and I reached out on a limb and was like, okay, let me try a little bit of golf in America,” said Scanlon.

“Winning there gave me a lot more confidence going to the next year and I've been playing it since.”

And more than just sharpening her skills and winning two events, Scanlon also got the opportunity to mix with some of the most famous sportspeople, and others, with stories to tell and inspire.

Underrated is founded by Curry and even though she isn’t a huge basketball fan, Scanlon knew she was rubbing shoulders with an inspirational figure.

“It was very surreal the whole experience, it’s difficult to explain how impactful it is, not only meeting Steph and him passing down his wisdom to us, but also the opportunities that it’s given us,” said Scanlon.

“Him and his team set up these panel sessions where there’ll usually be one or two per event, and they’ll have about four or five people from different professions, but they’re all at the top of their profession and he’ll ask them questions, and we’ll get to ask them questions, they’ll basically pass down their experience, their struggles, their highlights, what’s gotten them over bumps.

“They’re all at the top of their game, or they all have things in common with us, the kids, as well. It’s really impactful the work that he's doing and the representation as well is really important.”

Scanlon has also heard from legendary golf coach Buth Harmon, NFL star Darren Waller and the world renowned DJ Khalid, as part of the programme.

“It is amazing. It's like a mentorship and being able to ask people for advice, asking someone who has what you want is really important because you can learn from people’s mistakes,” said Scanlon.

“You can learn from people’s achievements, the way that they do things, and also other people’s mindsets as well so it’s really important. I've learned so much from it and it’s really impactful.

“Steph is the best at what he does. He’s amazing but getting to know him, I have a more special outlook on it because I didn’t meet Steph through basketball, I met him first as a person and then learned about his basketball.

“That helped me to see that a lot of the time we see athletes as just people on a pedestal, but it's important to know that we’re more than the sport that we play. He’s more than just basketball and I'm more than just golf.

“We’re people as well and the things that we have to endure and the sacrifices we have to make are also, they’re important.”

Back on the home front, Scanlon has had an outstanding year already, and her performance at former Open venue Royal Troon, which resulted in a sensational five-shot victory at the Helen Holm, was the highlight.

“Since Christmas I actually had some issues with my muscles just because of the weather in England,” said Scanlon.

“I played when there was ice on the ground, and I shouldn't have, so I had a very small injury, I only did isolated things within my game so I didn't have much confidence going into the event.

“I learned a lot about myself during that time, which was really helpful, and I really needed that but obviously, to do well at the Scottish U-18s, even though I actually didn’t think that I played that well, but I was happy with my result.

“And then to win the Helen Holm, it was unbelievable because I felt like I'd been waiting a really long time for a result that I thought that I had worked really hard for because previous years, I knew I always had my game and I could do it, but it never clicked. It was nice for it to finally come together and see all my hard work pay off.

“Just to have a title, and obviously it’s a special one. I got to play at Troon on the Sunday, so that was incredibly memorable and to get silverware as well, it was special to come home with something tangible to represent how much hard work I put in.”

But now her attentions are firmly fixed on the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, where she hopes to make it through to the weekend before a tilt at potentially finishing as the lowest amateur.

“Last year I missed the cut by two shots, so this year I want to make the cut,” said Scanlon.

“Being the leading amateur would be one of my goals but for me just to play the best golf that I can and then wherever that leaves me, as long as I know that I've tried my best, I'm okay with it.”