Aideen Walsh has burst on to the amateur scenes in the past few years winning Championships, Several Scratch Cups, Playing at The KPMG Ladies Irish Open and more recently represented Ireland in Scotland and she was part of the winning Irish team in the Irish Home Internationals. I chatted to Aideen about her journey playing over the years.
1). How did you originally get into the game of golf :
It nearly happened accidentally that my dad brought Cormac, my brother, up to Woodstock and he joined, and I used to go up as well, but I didn’t play initially. Then just kind of seeing him play then I wanted to give it a go, and that was kind of it. I played all sports growing up, so I suppose it was natural enough for me to give it a go, I wanted to try everything.
2). Your full-time job is a teacher, how do you juggle a full-time job teaching and fit in your golf schedule :
So, because I’m not a permanent teacher, it makes it a little bit easier. I am a substitute teacher. So, for example, during the winter, I might work full time, so I might work five days, and then during the season, I might bring it back to, like, three or four days a week. So that makes a bit easier to balance. If I was in a full-time role, which I’m not by choice, it would be very difficult to balance.
3). You won so many events over the years at Lahinch GC. Which one stands out as the highlight to winning at your home club :
Like, in terms of club competitions, maybe they are kind of gross and things like that, but the last two years I was runner up in the scratch cup, and then this year I won it. That was nice, so the scratch cup, obviously, people come from all over the place, so it’s like, it’s pretty competitive. You kind of get all the girls from Dublin, Northern Ireland, they come down and play like the top players in the country at the time. There’s naturally a little bit, probably extra pressure I put on myself when playing at Lahinch.
4). You always were a talented player, but you have definitely brought your game to another level over the past few years. When do you feel was the turning point to getting your game to another level where you started to win more often :
I was always, like, a pretty decent junior, but, like, never played for Ireland at underage level or anything like that. I was kind of very focused on, you know, getting a good Leaving Cert and then, getting my degree and becoming a teacher. After qualifying as a teacher, I then focussed more on my golf. I would say I started working with Ian Kearney around then. I would say he definitely played a big part in that because he kind of brought me to the level where I was focused on all aspects of, like, golf performance and not just, like, the actual golf swing. Then I got really interested in, like, high performance and how you can play internationally and all this sort of stuff and how, like, all the different aspects that go into being a really good golfer, not just having a good golf swing and ball striking. Ian helped me to focus on every aspect from good nutrition, to better decision making on the course and he introduced me to coaches in all aspects which really helped bring my game to a whole different level.
5). Ian Kearney is your coach. How often do you and Ian need to catch up during the season and how important is it to have a trained pair of eyes that knows your swing so well :
I would say the catch ups with Ian, like, definitely we’re catching up at least once a month, but it is definitely depending on what’s happening. It depends on know if I need something to work on how things are going.
Even sometimes when things are going well, I’ll go in for a catch up anyways. I think it’s really important to have a training pair of eyes 100% like, Ian knows my swing very well, and to be honest, I know my swing very well now also. When I hit certain types of shots, I know what is causing it so I can rectify it myself at a tournament.
6). To win you need mental toughness as well as having a solid golf game. How do you work on the mental side of the game and do you have a coach to help with it :
I work with Mark Campbell my sports psychologist. It’s actually an area that I’m really interested in and that I enjoy seeing the progress that I’ve made over the years. So, I would catch up with him pretty regularly. I kind of know now when things are maybe not going so well or going well, I know what to do to get myself back on track.
7). I watched you play at Dromoland at The KPMG Ladies Irish Open. To see a local play in such a big event was so cool to watch. How did you find it playing in front of so many people you know and did you enjoy the experience :
To be honest, I had two very different experiences both years. So, the first year, I kind of just went first, you know, I didn’t think too much about it. I really enjoyed it. The first year, obviously, I was kind of in or around the cut for the second round, so there was a bit of excitement, and I just really enjoyed it all. The second year, I probably put too much pressure on myself, and it’s very hard to perform when you’re putting pressure on yourself like that. So, yeah, it was kind of hard to enjoy the second year, but I’m looking forward to teeing it up in this year’s Ladies Irish Open at Carton House. Hopefully I can free myself up and play well and see what happens.
8). You have had so many highlights this year recently winning the Irish Home Internationals not to mention the three scratch cup wins, for you personally which of them means the most to you this year :
I have had a great year. Really enjoyable. I’ve had three scratch cup wins and I’ve been involved in two team wins so we won Interpro’s with Munster which doesn’t happen very often. Munster don’t win it too often so it’s nice to be part of a team to do that and then part of the men’s and women’s home international team that won a couple of weeks ago. I think I would say home internationals is probably one of the most enjoyable weeks I’ve had at a golf tournament and like that has nothing to do with the outcome. It was great to be back in an Ireland top playing for Ireland and like me and Anya played foursomes together. Like we literally grew up playing golf together in Woodstock when we were kids so it is a bit mad to think that we were playing together on the winning team.
9). I have two young daughters Emilie & Isabel that I hope one day will play the wonderful game of golf. Playing golf at a young age leaves you with so many fond memories. What are your favourite memories from playing golf as a kid around Woodstock where you took up the game :
I mean, I loved junior golf and Woodstock GC. James Meade used to run the junior program every Tuesday and Thursday. Myself and Cormac would have been heading up to Woodstock to play, for sure. We would spend the whole day up there. We would play golf, head in for the Gougons afterwards and then go to the putting green for two hours. I loved it. I just loved the whole thing.
10). I recall doing a summer camp in Woodstock years ago and you and Cormac your older brother were there. I remember we did a bunker lesson on the 18th green and you were by far the best bunker player that day. How is your bunker play nowadays :
I went for a bunker lesson with a guy called Johnny Foster a couple of years ago. He is the bunker king. He gets you hitting shots, crazy shots, like, out of, shoe prints, like, with the ball way below your feet up at the edge of the bunker face. Practicing difficult bunker shots helps prepare you for all eventualities.
11). You have achieved so much in your career already as an amateur, what are your dreams and aspirations for the future of your golfing career or have you achieved most of them already :
I would definitely say I’m the type of person that is always moving on to the next thing, so might achieve one thing and I’m like, what’s next ? Playing home internationals, a couple of weeks ago has definitely given me the bug to play for Ireland again, so that’s definitely something that I’d like to do. The last twelve months have definitely taught me though, that while these outcome goals are really important, I will write them down at the start of the year and then I’ll park them, and then during the season I’m fully focused on maybe four or five work ons or process goals at each tournament, and I know that if I do them, it’ll lead to usually achieving my main goals.
12). I have overheard you don’t have any interest in every turning professional. Is this true and if so, why would you not give it a go when you have so much talent :
I don’t have any interest in turning professional right now. I would say my goal and my focus in golf is to get the very best out of myself. I think I still have a lot more to achieve at an amateur level. So, at the moment, my focus is very much on achieving what I’d like to achieve in the amateur game and focus on that for now.
