Team Europe Junior Ryder Cup captain Stephen Gallacher hopes to have an Irish presence on his team in next year\u2019s contest at Ballyneety Golf Club but it is a former player he currently as his eye on and is backing John Doyle for a spot on the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team in Lahinch this September.<\/p>\n
Doyle has recently returned to competitive action following the Leaving Certificate exams and has played a key role in helping Ireland reach the final of today\u2019s European Amateur Team Championship where they fill face hosts Estonia. The 18-year-old earned the crucial point to defeat England in the quarter final.<\/p>\n
A victory for Ireland would be their first since 2008 and boost the prospects of a few looking to join Stuart Grehan on the Walker Cup team. Gallacher who captained Doyle in last year\u2019s Junior Ryder Cup in Bethpage and Se\u00e1n Keeling in 2023 in Rome, feels the Fota Island teenager is a real contender for Lahinch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think John has a chance if he has a good summer. I know Dean Robertson well and know he is watching him because he is a good links player and he\u2019s hit some form so that would be great to see if he made the team,\u201d said the 2014 Ryder Cup winner at the OFX Irish Legends.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a great big kid John, his heart is unbelievable, he\u2019s a warrior. I\u2019ve watched his form and I\u2019ve got a lot of friends in Cork around Middleton. Se\u00e1n Keeling the year before. They are two great kids, great team players, fantastic golfers but more than that just lovely people, great human beings and that\u2019s all you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next year\u2019s Junior Ryder Cup in Ballyneety will see the best male and female golfers aged 18 and under from Europe and USA go head to head. The final day will be played in Adare Manor on the final practice day of the Ryder Cup and Gallacher is relishing his third term in charge of Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to be honest. It was an honour for me to get the job again, I met the lads from Ballyneety last year and they are so enthusiastic and they are so proud of what they achieved at the club. I\u2019m going down for a visit in September to play and get a feel for the place and I know it\u2019s going to be an amazing event with 5-10,000 fans there so the kids are going to have an absolute ball,\u201d said the Scot who will be stepping down from his role at the end of the contest and doesn\u2019t see himself going on to have a stint as a Ryder Cup captain in the future.<\/p>\n
The story of Ballyneety Golf Club is well known now. After a devastating closure in 2011, former members and locals banded together to purchase and resurrect the course, transforming it into an award-winning parkland and now host of a major event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was done and dusted and it took a proper community effort to get it back up and running,\u201d Gallagher added. To host the Junior Ryder Cup in its centenary year with Adare Manor close by they are so proud of what they have done. I\u2019m going to go down and we will work with them, it will be a huge team effort from us all and hopefully we can bring the cup home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has always been an Irish presence in the years I have done, so hopefully an Irish boy or girl makes the team and that would amplify it a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The four-time European Tour winner feels the Junior Ryder Cup provides a great platform for the future stars of the game to perform in a pressurised environment and gives a great sample of what the big stage in the professional ranks could feel like.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honour. It\u2019s nice to give back, you have a front row seat watching the world\u2019s finest really, the best from Europe playing the best in America. The history says there are future world number ones, Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup winners, everything to go through. To see them compete against each other and the spirit of the game that they play it in is a great event. Hopefully we will play Adare Manor on the Thursday and what an experience that will be for the kids, they\u2019ll understand that this is the pressure they need to get used to because they are going to be playing in stuff like that for the rest of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former European heroes coming back down the ladder to lead some amateur teams is not unheard of with Gallacher\u2019s fellow Scot Catriona Matthew having two stints as GB&I Curtis Cup captain. He won\u2019t get quite the preparation time of a Curtis Cup or a Walker Cup but knows the key for him is to create a relaxed and enjoyable environment for his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played Ryder Cup, Paul was a great captain, Seve Trophy, Walker Cup, Europa Cup. I\u2019ve played enough and I\u2019ve been around long enough to know that you just have to create an environment for them to go out and express themselves, they are brilliant players. I only have them for two days prior to the event. To qualify they have beaten the cream of Europe, it\u2019s just great for me to watch them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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