Having ended the year with a gutsy performance to earn an LPGA card for 2026, Lauren Walsh is dreaming big.
In early December, Walsh carded a bogey-free, five-under-par 67 in the final round of the LPGA Tour qualifying school in Alabama to leap into a tie for 17th (she needed to finish inside the top 25 to gain her card).
It sets her up for a year jam-packed with opportunities to elevate her profile and status.
Speaking to Greg Allen at Blackbush Golf Club in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath for RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport, the Wake Forest graduate reflected on a crucial winter.
"It was very exciting and dramatic the way I was able to secure my card and to be able to have Christmas at home, spend time with my family and soak in all the congratulations," said the Kildare woman.
"Yeah, positive vibes after because, you know, the whole country was following along.
"I also gave myself time to process what this means going forward... be able to put some sort of schedule in place heading into the new year. Thankfully, I've secured pretty good status and a good category, so I will have a pretty full-on year on the LPGA next year."
Walsh, 25, already has a strong career behind her.
She represented Ireland at the 2018 Youth Olympics, then went to Wake Forest - one of the top universities in America - playing herself into the top 10 of the world amateur golf rankings.
Walsh turned pro soon after graduating from Wake College in May 2023 (she studied mathematical business), and has been a solid presence on the Ladies European Tour since.
"I felt like throughout my amateur career I was always kind of steadily progressing throughout the different ranks, and I think that just continued when I turned pro," she said.
"I felt very prepared. I was going out there competing against a lot of girls I'd competed with at college and, yeah, I just had a lot of confidence in myself and my own ability. I learned a lot in the last two years on the LET, trying to travel the world and play four tournaments, five tournaments in a row.
"It can be a lot to manage in the beginning but I think a lot of great lessons were learned throughout all those experiences that led me to here. Hopefully I can bring some of them lessons onto the LPGA next year."
Making it on to the LPGA tour is a serious milestone. Cavan's Leona Maguire, who has won twice on the LPGA Tour, and Antrim native Stephanie Meadow are the other Irish players to have achieved the feat, but Walsh has more ambitions to tick off the list.
"Definitely playing a Solheim Cup is up there," she admitted. "I'd would love to represent Ireland in the Olympics. You mentioned there that I had the amazing opportunity to play in the Youth Olympics in 2018 so I would love to be able to go back.
"I've had a couple close calls on the LET (in terms of winning a tournament) so getting one over the line is definitely something that I look forward to doing in the future, and major championships as well. I'm really excited to have the opportunity to play against the best in the world week in, week out. Hopefully I can just do that for a few more years."
Walsh was fine-tuning a few things with renowned coach Shane O'Grady at Blackbush GC. It was a bit of precious time to get some specific work in before the globetrotting starts again from February.
"I think we found something technically in my swing towards the end of the year that really made a big difference, especially in Alabama," Walsh said.
"I guess the other part of it as well is a little bit of equipment testing. I don't like to change too much during the year. I've the set of clubs I've had for two years now and they've done me very, very well but it's nice to be able to test one or two new Ping clubs that have come out in the last year or so and just see if there's any more gains to be had there.
"I'll start my season out in Saudi in February on the LET and then it'll be straight over to China for my first LPGA start. There's only ever been three Irish women on the LPGA, so very, very happy to be one of them.
"For me growing up, I saw Leona go out on the LPGA and I just think it's great for little girls now to see there's talent coming up and to be able to have someone there to look up to is really important."
