Important confidence boosting win for Offaly professional golfer

AN Offaly professional golfer has taken an important, confidence boosting win in Spain on Thursday.

Tullamore man Stuart Grehan emerged as a run away winner of the Toro Tour's event this week on Atalaya's new course, near Marbella, in Spain.

Professional for nearly six years, Grehan, a former star amateur at Tullamore Golf Club, was in sensational form as he stormed to victory by a whopping twelve shots in the three round tournament.

He finished on -26 after rounds of 63, 62 an 62 with England's Harvey Byers second on -14: another Irish man, Karl McCormack was third on -13.

Grehan played as close to flawless golf as you can over the three rounds. He got off to a flying start with an eight under par 63 on the 71 par course. And he continued his blistering run of form with two -9 62s in rounds 2 and 3, showing a clean pair of heels to the field.

Wednesday's 63 included two eagles and five birdies. Thursday's had two more eagles and six birdies along with his only blemish of the week, a four on the par three 12^th. He had four eagles on Wednesday and Thursday and the interesting feature of these was that three of them came in par four holes and only one was on a par 5, the 14^th on Thursday. At 258, 231 and 240 metres, the par four holes he eagled were within ranged for big hitters but he had to play very well to get them and they put him on the road to victory.

Another huge positive was the way he finished the last five holes each day: He played 14 to 18 fifteen times, registering two eagles and ten birdies with just three pars and no bogeys. That was quite remarkable golf and enabled him to pull away from the field.

The Toro Tour is very much a subsidiary one, ran in Andalucia over the Winter months from the end of November through to the end up February. There is a maximum prize fund of up to €10,000 for each event and with this divided among the first ten ranked players in the overall class, the winnings will be a help but won't change the life of Stuart Grehan.

However, there are huge positives for Grehan as he enters make or break time for his career as a professional golfer. He turned professional after winning three of Ireland's blue ribband amateur events, the East and South of Ireland Championships but the world he lives in is on a different planet compared to the glamour and riches that his fellow Offaly man Shane Lowry inhabits.

He is ranked 1342^nd in the world and his highest ranking was 1197^th.He was one of Ireland's top golfers during a very successful amateur career and also won the prestigious Mullingar Scratch Cup in 2017.

He turned professional after that and won his first tournament as a paid player in 2018 at the Palmares Classic VI on the Algarve Pro Golf Tour. He had a big €20,000 win when he won the K Club Pro-Am in Kildare in 2022 and has had various significant results over the past few years.

His dream is to qualify for the European Tour while he has also competed on the second tier Challenge Tour as well as in various subsidiary tours such as the latest one. Life not simple for golfers on these tours but Grehan has been giving it his very best shot – leaving no stone unturned on all aspects as he strives for a big breakthrough.

Now 31 years of age and married last year, Grehan, however, is approaching the stage where he will have to make a big call on whether to continue pursuing his professional career or go down a different path, and perhaps return to amateur golf.

He won't be able to continue indefinitely in the subsidiary tours but will continue to chase his dreams in the short term at least. This win will give him a big shot in the arm, really help his confidence for the season ahead and he will continue to give it everything he had as he chases the break that would change everything for him.