Olivia sets up her spot as Ireland’s next golfing sensation

‘A superstar is born.’
Olivia Mehaffey shows off her Welsh Ladies Open Strokeplay trophy.Olivia Mehaffey shows off her Welsh Ladies Open Strokeplay trophy.
Olivia Mehaffey shows off her Welsh Ladies Open Strokeplay trophy.

That was the reaction of an Irish golfing fitness coach after local girl Olivia Mehaffey sealed her third victory in consecutive weeks.

After victory in the Welsh Ladies Open Strokeplay, the Scarva girl has certainly set herself up as the next Irish golfing sensation.

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That win came after victories in the Irish U18 Girls Strokeplay and the Helen Holm Scottish ladies Open Strokeplay competitions - a history-making treble that has never before been achieved.

“It’s totally mad,” she said. “I don’t think it has all sunk in at all because it’s been happening so fast.

“It’s been such a busy three weeks that it’s all been such a blur so it will be nice to take a few weeks now to let everything settle down and sink in.”

Olivia has proved unbeatable so far this season and led the Welsh Championship from the off at Southerndown GC. Carrying a three shot lead over England’s Olivia Winning, the 17 year-old scarcely looked like loosening her grip on the title. Not even six three-putts in a disappointing display on the greens could prevent Olivia from continuing her unbelievable winning streak.

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“I didn’t realise that I had such a big lead coming down the last few holes,” she confessed. “I thought it was going to be a play-off after the way I had putted on the back nine in particular. I played very well tee to green and hit the ball nicely but my putting was poor. I know where I’ll be going this afternoon - the putting green!”

The win in Wales will see Olivia break well inside the top 200 in the World Amateur Rankings. Improvements there could open more doors for the girl who is bound for a scholarship at Arizona State University in autumn 2016.

She said: “Because I did well in Scotland last year too, I didn’t move up all that much after that but this victory should bring me up quite a bit. It all helps with sponsorships and that sort of thing so the further up those ranking I can get, the better.”

This weekend, Olivia is in club action for Royal County Down in the Senior Cup and will then begin preparations for the Irish Women’s Open Strokeplay at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club on May 23.

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“It would be great to compete at the Irish Amateur and the British Amateur comeptitions coming up now,” she said. “Then I have the European Individuals in July so I’ll have plenty of big competitions to play for.”

If Olivia can keep up her current form, she will be among the fancied names to lift those coveted titles.

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