A great interview on the podcast this week as Stephen chats to Conor Purcell about his journey from playing tennis at a young age to becoming a professional, currently teeing it up on the Challenge Tour.
Conor talks about where his game is at, the mental aspect of golf, and the support he receives through the Golf Ireland Professional Scheme, which he is set to benefit from once again in 2024.
There’s also the usual news roundup, including a fantastic week for Roscommon starlet Olivia Costello and a memorable win for Irish duo Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry.
hello and welcome back to the golf Ireland pod I am your co-host step Murphy I’m joined by my other co-host Valerie wheeler we’re back with another episode of the golf Ireland pot another great guest coming up before that as always we’ll check in with Valerie Valerie how are you yeah I’m good enjoying the nice weather here in limr to be fair I think everyone’s form is top tier when the weather is a small bit nice there hasn’t been much rain which is really exciting for all the golfers that listen to the podcast yeah it’s getting that it was dark it’s dark not started like 20 9 half n now so it’s great uh 18 holes after work is even possible these days which is which makes me very happy Valerie I tell you that but how was your weekend you were watching some uh some good ga yeah I had hurling I had the small ball last weekend which was a nice change to be fair um I think I live in limr but I am a ckom so the hurling was very disappointing for me last Sunday if I’m I’m not going to lie I was watching the game and RT and I was roaring at the TV I was like come on car forgot say it’s another year and another early exit I’d say for a car at this stage um when it comes to losing like that are you good good letting it go or are you going to be annoyed now for would you be annoyed for a good couple hours after the game I’m not really a great loser Stephen I think anyone that’s involved in sport doesn’t like losing so um especially when you have a few clear people to shove it in your face but that was my weekend it’s all J from here on in how about yourself to do anything nice uh yeah I’m back home uh my nie is communion was on so start of the communion season I suppose uh We’ve another one in a few weeks as well I have uh eight nieces and nephews uh total so plenty of communions coming up in the next couple years was good hadn’t been home in a couple of weeks so it’s always good to get home and see family and yeah spend a nice day or two at home uh but then you’re always happy to get back to your home as well do you know what I mean get back up to to to goway uh but yeah it’s good weather was good still kind of cold but the weather was still brilliant you know nice bit of sun uh I didn’t get to watch any of the the guy unfortunately uh but I heard that like the harland’s always competitive so at least there’s always that I watched a bit of the olar football with Don go and Tyrone that was a pretty poor Affair so Alisa harland’s always definitely a bit more exciting than the the big ball it is a bit more exciting to be fair it is but as you mentioned with the nice weather we’re hopefully trying to get out and play a bit more golf um have you any plans coming up and getting out what’s the next venture for yourself yeah uh practice is starting soon for Jimmy Bruin and Junior Cup uh which is the two kind of events that I’d like to be involved with now I’m at I’m at a new club I played two or three years ago with a different club uh I joined a Ry then recently or the last year or two and trying out for the first time with them so it might be a bit harder to get onto this team than it was previously but um even if it don’t it’s still a great way of meeting people and a great way of kind of playing some golf uh so I’m excited for that but I hear Valerie you’re you might be gone practicing after this is that true you know what I have because I’ve done a big clean a big spring clean of the house and the clubs are out and I I even look the part now St right the golf gear has been washed it’s ready to go and my mother even embroidered my golf bag with Valerie wheeler oh you’re like a pro only Pros have their names on their bags Valerie well my mother was like I’m doing it I was like yeah I want that of course I want to look the part so I’m going to look like a right egit heading to um ban driving range there with my they like who do you think she is here’s a plus scratch handicapper coming up to the tea um that’s great though look at you look good feel good play good that’s the motto you’re going for here valer exactly and look come here if it makes me feel better and if it’s in my head it makes me play better I’m gonna embroider that bag Stephen embroider all of it get I I don’t have my name in my bag I need to get your I might get your mother on the case we’ll try uh speaking of Our Guest this week we are going to be joined by Connor pel professional golfer playing on the challenge tour I had a great conversation with him about his career so far and his goals uh to get on the DP World Tour but what the the big thing from the conversation I got was he’s got a fantastic mental attitude towards the game and that’s why you probably seen some good results lately but um Valerie we will throw over to that conversation now Delight is now to be joined by professional golfer Connor pel H joining us here on the golf isand pod thank you Connor for taking bit time out of your busy schedule how are you very good thanks Stephen cheers for having me on it’s uh it’s good to catch up yeah definitely um we get talking about your fantastic season so far on the challenge tour Connor a little bit but I want to learn a bit more about your past how you ended up actually getting into golf I feel like everyone has a great story of how to get into golf because it’s uh growing up on Ireland we tend to play team sports more uh but some of us obviously ve off to the golf so how did you get into golf in the first place yeah I would say I was quite fortunate growing up I uh I had access to All Sports um playing on football teams and everything in primary skill um played a lot of tennis growing up just my two brothers were tennis coaches and that was kind of my first uh passion and I was trying to become a pro a tennis uh from a young age and then as it went on at the age of about 13 um I got an injury in my wrist that kind of stopped me from playing tennis um and I picked up a golf club and it wasn’t hurting me Swinging a golf club so I said I’ll play golf while the wrist is sore and then after a year or two I ended up becoming quite decent at golf and I was like maybe this is the path I want to go on and again fortunate enough my dad was a pro um so I had someone to teach me very close and um yeah it just kind of went from there and I never really looked back I didn’t uh pick up tennis rocket after that H do you see a lot of similarities between the two sports obviously individual sports can of no one to blame but yourself uh when it comes to that I’m very very focused uh do you ever do you ever compare the two sports yeah yeah I would think uh there’s a lot of similarities obviously you’re not not really part of a team and either one um tennis kind of teaches you a lot of discipline when it comes to training you have to put in a lot of hours even back when I was young I was training before school at six o’clock in the morning um so it kind of instilled a bit of a a work ethic that I carried forward into golf you have to put in a lot of time yourself um you can’t really rely on too many other people and yeah just just fell in love with the game just as you said in Ireland there’s so many good courses to play we did some family trips up to Rosa Pena and D um that’s kind of where I I grew up playing on the golf course and I I just fell in love with it so very lucky as well I got into Port marck from a young age and it’s um it’s not a bad place to me I remember definitely no definitely not the worst place to uh cut your teeth as they say in the golfing game um that’s great though obviously let’s talk about your fantastic season so far you’re in a great on a form in your last two events alone top five finishes in Abu Dhabi and the UAE challenge uh I think it’s fair to say the heat isn’t an issue for you obviously when it comes to playing golf no definitely not it’s always been probably my favorite time of year to play golf early in the season because we travel quite far away and as you said the weather is very hot and the courses are good um and my body seems to move well when it’s nice and warm and you just enjoy it a bit more but yeah it’s been been a nice start to the season I was kind of I was I was playing lovely golf early in the year just not piecing it together for four days and um the two weeks in in the UAE I managed to piece it together for four days which was nice and just hopefully build on this momentum and Carry It Forward into the European summer I say it takes less time to warm up in maybe Abu Dhabi than it does maybe back here in Ireland uh go I think once you walk out at the hotel room you’re ready to stand you’re warm yeah you’re loose um talk to me about the courses there compared to here because I think from an outsider point of view uh you would imagine they’re a lot different but is there similarities as well um they are quite different I think they’re a lot less treelined obviously they’re out in the desert um visually they’re quite appealing off the tea it there’s no crazy long roof you kind of either hit the Fairway or you’re in a bunker or Wasteland um and it suits my eye very well I think it’s been a tricky transition putting on the greens the greens get very quick some of them are slopey but um I’ve put in a lot of work over the last few years and managed to to make that a strength of mine and I um I used it to my advantage over the last two weeks which was great and and tailoring your game towards playing those kind of courses do you have to sort of uh head your bets and play one type of golf you know compared to maybe uh being more of a jack of all trades yeah it’s I would say it’s very it’s an aggressive form of golf I don’t think uh you know everyone’s going to go out there and make a lot of birdies so I think that frees you up in some sense because you’re not trying to avoid making mistakes because they’re inevitably going to come you’re going to make a bogey here and there and you just need to know that every time you step on the tea you’re trying to put the best score on the card um yeah just go as low as possible and it was nice to have two weeks where I was making plenty of birdies um it’s always a nice feeling do you get a lot of time to explore these players when you’re there or is it more just there for for Strictly Business yeah I mean you can you can pick and choose how you do it I’ve I’ve been out there a couple of times now so I’ve kind of seen where I need to see um kind of treat it a bit more serious when I go out there I just I stick to going to the golf course and and doing the bits I need to do off the course to get me in a a good head space for playing and um I enjoyed it there’s there’s plenty to do you you’ve every choice of what you need to eat and all that stuff so so um it’s a nice place to go uh you mentioned earlier on that your game sort of clicked the two weeks over in Abu dhab in the UAE um what part of your game has sort of clicked what was that missing kind of Link the last couple of weeks and and what part of it has just sort of you know H hit all the hit the ground running I would say mentality has switched just a little bit um the start of the year like I said I was I was playing lovely golf for probably three of the four days and and having one blip and it was kind of nagging me a bit it tended to show up on a Saturday or a Sunday when I felt it mattered more and just kind of getting into that mental shift of not really overemphasizing what day it was or where you were in the tournament so I kind of made I’ve made a conscious effort now the last two weeks I I I didn’t look at a leaderboard once when I was away from the course I had no idea what anyone was doing and um it freed me up big time it just made me focus on on what I was trying to do and not really concerned about what ERS were down around me yeah that actually ties in perfectly I heard you say that you know the less golfers try the better they do um that makes total sense obviously in theory and it makes total sense to kind of all golfers we’ve all went out with no expectations and played well that day and then the day you really want to play well you you know you shank it all over the place how hard is that to actually Implement though into your game especially with you where it’s your livelihood at the moment your results are totally dependent on your golf game yeah it’s very difficult and I think in in this uh in this day and age when when technology is so prominent in everyone’s lives and social media is huge everyone is kind of looking at what other people are doing it’s really easy to get sidetracked and go down these rabbit holes where you’re you’re thinking what if I try what he’s doing he’s playing well I should try what he’s doing um and look I’ve I’ve been guilty of that at times I’ve I’ve taken more notice of what other people are doing rather than just focusing on what I need need to do and I feel like I have a good grasp on what what makes me tick and what gets the best out of myself so I’m just trying to push into that a little bit like I said not looking at leaderboards switching off when I get away from the course and doing stuff that’s non- golf related and trying to take my mind off it and just uh show up to the course and try to put the best score on the card is there a blend to that though of obviously sticking to your own and not worrying what anyone else is doing but then trying to there’s also the aspect of trying to learn from other people as well talk to me about that blend of taking the good stuff and ignoring the maybe Pointless Stuff yeah I think everyone has to have some form of filter obviously you’re GNA have conversations where you hear what other people are doing but I think it’s just important to have a good group of people around you I’m very fortunate with the coaches and family and stuff I have around me that I’m not listening to to stuff that I don’t really want to hear and I think you have to be a little bit selective with who you spend time with and who you listen to um obviously there’s great advice out there but you just need to be very careful that with what you listen to and what you actually try to implement in your game because everyone is just so different there’s so many ways of doing it I think everyone can see now with the way Scott plays golf it’s just it’s different to the way anyone does it and if if we try do what he’s doing we just we’d have no chance of replicating what he’s doing so you’re not trying the the two foot Shuffle on the definitely not I think my ankles would uh would snap in a heartbeat so I it way I know yeah I showed my uh I showed my wife that video she’s not familiar with golf and I said uh what do you hang of this swing and she’s like that guy can’t be any good I was like actually he’s one of the best players of the of his generation so uh that’s that’s one of the best parts about golf but uh um you’ve you’ve already touched on a couple of other things that about the mental side of the game and it’s obviously that you take it very seriously I find this stuff uh utterly fascinating when it comes to the side how much time are you taking out of your week just dedicated to the mental side or is it all interlop with your with your with your golf practice I would say it’s all it’s all kind of I would say it’s more of a a lifestyle Choice rather than just focusing on when it comes to golf um I try just really ground myself again the less technology I kind of I consume I I feel like I have a bit of a quieter mind and I can go out there and just be myself on the course um I’ve I’ve tried to up the amount I’m reading which which seems to help as well with concentration obviously when you when you haven’t read in a while and you start reading a book you’re a couple sentences in and you you lose concentration so I think that’s that’s been helping the concentration side of things and yeah I just I I try not take it uh too seriously because the times I’m I’m focusing too much or trying too hard like you said it just uh it becomes a bit of a grind and that enjoyment inside a golf of why you got into it um it seems to go away so just trying to keep that engagement enjoyment High and um and really really enjoy what I’m trying to do and it must be incredibly rewarding then when you do that and Implement that and then you see the results on the course as you have in the last couple of weeks that has to be at least you’re going in the right direction yeah for sure it’s obviously the start of the year I was doing virtually the same things I’m doing now and I wasn’t getting the results and you just kind of have to be patient with yourself and and know that it can click at any moment and when it does click it it feels great but I think it’s important for me to know that you haven’t really completed completed anything you’ve you’ve obviously had a a too great too great results in a row but it’s just back to the draw board and continue what I’ve been doing and and try push on from there are you still enjoying the golf as much as you always have I think a lot of am golfers think that the pro life is easy and it’s you know private jets and all that and that’s obviously not the case um are you enjoying the grind enjoying the the week in week out of the pro lifee yeah there’s definitely like I said there’s spells where you go through if if you’re playing poorly and your head’s not in a great space it can just can feel like the world is coming down on you and you’re obviously not enjoying it as much as you are when you’re you’re playing well and results are flowing but I would say this year as a whole I’ve I’ve just I’ve found the love for it again I’ve I’ve really had the bug for practicing and trying trying to get better and I think that constant pursuit of just getting the best out of yourself is uh it’s a nice feeling just knowing that you’re you’re getting a little bit better every day even if the results aren’t coming immediately and out at some point down the road it it should click and um it should all fall in place absolutely patience is the key and that’s sometimes the toughest part uh you’re part of the golf irland pro scheme which is fantastic can you tell us a little bit about that and how you got involved with it yeah very fortunate um obviously I I grew up playing as part of the GUI back in the day um on all the teams and I managed to get myself a nice ranking in the amateur world rankings when I was turning pro which gave me um an exemption onto this golf irland professional scheme um and without them obviously it would be really difficult to to get up onto the challenge tour they were very crucial and giving me financial aid and biggest thing of all was invites onto the challenge tour I think exposure out on on these big stages is is key when you’re starting out your career and and just mixing in with the guys that you think that are a little bit further ahead of you obviously when I started what’s it now four or five years ago I felt a little bit out of my depth but thankfully with all these invites and and picking the brains like you said of the people you want to you seem to um you seem to realize that everyone’s everyone’s on the similar path and no one’s really too different no matter what stage you’re on so it’s just been a huge help just now that you’ve um you’ve people to bounce off you’ve you’ve coaches you’ve you’ve different facilities you can use and um yeah without them you’d you’d really struggle to keep moving forward brilliant yeah it’s great that that support is there uh for God prot like yourself uh the goal obviously Connor eventually is the DP World hor um the last couple results is a great stepping stone towards that what would that mean to get to that that DP World hor yeah it would be huge obviously that is that’s an immediate goal of mine to to graduate from The Challenge tour get inside the top 20 and get out onto the DP tour um but again I think the less I kind of focus on on getting out there and the more I I get into every day and just trying to get my systems in place that are trying to get me better each day I feel like it’s it’s more a case of when rather than if um and I feel like I’m on a good path at the moment and hopefully I can keep the the head on my shoulders and and keep uh climbing the those rankings and when you when you compare your game to the guys on the DP World Tour is it a case of yeah I can I can hang with these guys or is it a case of well these guys are just a little bit extra no I think I think that’s what you realize the more you spend time around these people and the more event you play everyone’s the same everyone fights the same demons um when anyone’s on they’re very impressive but everyone has their bad days and I think I’ve I’ve found a lot of belief in the last few years of just again exposure in these events managing to play Irish open last year for the first time fortunate I got to play Australian Open I played the weekend with Cam Smith which was a cool experience and you kind of again you realize that they’re they’re not too dissimilar to you they have all these great accolades associated with them but um I feel like I’m getting closer which is great is there that barrier when you like when you’re tee up with Cam SM you’re like this guy’s going to just be a different level and then is it just like a couple holes in you’re like oh yeah he’s he’s human yeah it’s it’s funny you do build that up in your head you’re kind of anticipate what he’s going to be like and you think he’s a different person and then you’re walking off the first te and he’s just chatting about normal stuff that anyone would so I think that’s the cool side of golf I think um when you see them on TV you probably don’t think that they’re the same as you but when you just have a conversation with anyone they’re all all normal people they’re not um not super human and anyway were you asking for any haircut advice or were you just sticking to golf no I was happy enough with my um with my standard cut I think I’ll I’ll keep cutting the back of my hair yeah it hasn’t the mullet hasn’t made its way to the Northern Hemisphere but maybe who knows who knows uh Connor it’s been an absolute pleasure to talk to you appreciate you coming on uh we’ll all be cheering you on and hoping uh you get to that DP World Tour this year uh best of luck in the future thanks very much J cheers and now it is time for some news up updates we will start on the PJ tour fantastic news Rory maer and Shane Larry won the Zurich Classic after a playoff on Sunday night uh a fantastic win for both Rory and Shane I know there’s a lot of excitement about them teeing up um and then there they go and get the job done on a Sunday in a dramatic playoff so a huge congrats to Rory and Shane uh Sheamus power is playing the CJ Cup this week uh kicks off today the CJ cup byr Nelson from the 2 to 5th of May so kicking off today best luck to Sheamus there h on the lp GA tied 47 finish for Stephanie Meadow at the JM Eagle La Championship the next event will be the cognizant Founders cup with both Leon and Maguire and Stephanie will be competing uh from the 9th to the 12th of May on the DP World Tour a closing 65 meant a tide 7th finish for Tom McKibben at the isps Handa championship in Japan lifting Tom from 20th to or lifting Tom to 20th on the race to Dubai fantastic last round there for Tom H and Tom is competing H kicking off today at the Volvo China open so best Lu to Tom on the latest European tour it was a tied 44 finished for Olivia mfy at the investex said Africa Women’s Open and Lauren Walsh unfortunately missed the cut H Lauren will compete at the aramco team series presented by the piff uh in Korea from the 12 10th to the 12th of May uh so best of luck to learn h on the challenge tour a tied six this week for back-to-back top 10 for this week’s guest Conor PC he puts him put that puts him inside the all important top 20 on the challenge Tour rankings for the first time the season uh some great form recently from Connor H der mroy finished tied 25th and Gary Hardley tied 36th uh the challenge tour is off this week before returning for the challenge the espia from the 9th to the 12th of May uh some great news coming from the Alps tour Alex Maguire had a second place finish at the Tunisian Gulf open a fantastic week there for Alex uh on to better things um the next event on the AL store is from the 8th to the 10th of May so keep an eye out for that on the clutch Pro Tour there was an event this week at hey trop Park from the April 30th to May so that’s actually ongoing now uh it be finishing today with a number of Irish players in action there so you can check out all the results uh on the gulf Ireland page uh in the amateur World Olivia costelo H finished third at the O girls under 16 amateur Championship there was scam and gford finished five under for the tournament three shots behind the winner Louise langra who had to get past Charlotte nton in the playoff so great week there for Olivia uh the monster men’s stroke Championship teas off in core Golf Club this weekend 75 players taking to the course on Saturday with the top 30 plus ties making it true to Sunday uh best of luck there to everyone at the men’s monster Str play Championship H the men then head to SLO for the Flow gas Irish men’s amateur Open Championship four days of Top Class golf starts next Thursday the 9th of May uh uh we’ll uh have all the action there covered as well should be a great weekend uh in the Lim trophy that takes place this week weekend uh the third fourth fifth of M that kicks off tomorrow in Royal Lim and St an’s golf club uh 15 Irish will te up at the event so best of luck to all 15 uh involved also some great news coming out of golf Ireland this week so golf Ireland sport Ireland have launched a 2024 golf Island professional scheme with 10 golfers set to benefit from the grants worth more than €325,000 so Conor personel Lauren Walsh Mark power Olivia mfy Gary Hurley der maroy Rona malne Connor oror John Murphy and Alex Maguire will each receive 33,000 in funding to help them compete on the world stage so a huge huge boost there in a lift for all involved uh well deserved and best of luck to all of them in their Pro careers uh on the all Ireland schools has kicked off as well fresh off the third place finish at the or under 16 Championship on Sunday Olivia Costo claim the senior girls all Ireland schools individual title at miltown a great few days for Olivia uh comment of Mercy retained their senior girls title from rcin while Rockport school and down took home the senior boys Crown uh the junior boys Was Won by glenstal ABY School in limmerick and the junior girls title went all the way to glenola Collegiate in down so well done to everyone there H and then finally the Bridgestone order of Meritt is back in the women’s aen Wall’s lead at the top of the Bridgestone order of May has narrowed following a second win h of the season for mered Martin and a runner-up finish from Anna abam H seeing the gaps the Gap closed to the linch golfer there so very tight at the top already and then in the men’s order of Merit they wait for the men to get back and the course is over as they head to C golf club for the already mentioned monsters men stroke play Championship uh that kicks off this Saturday uh so uh fifth 75 players will te up looking to catch Kei Egan who sits currently at the top of the order of Merit uh so that wraps up all the news it’s getting good and busy this time of year which is great to see means with plenty of golf on uh thank you so much for listening once again uh myself and Valerie will be back next week for another episode
