Tristan Jones / LET
Women in Sport: Professional golfer Lauren Walsh
In this instalment of our Women in Sport series, we hear from Lauren Walsh on her sporting inspirations, biggest goals, and proudest achievements.
Lauren started playing golf at the age of 10 with her older sister at her local club Castlewarden. She took to the game quickly and her competitiveness led her to her first cap for the Irish Girls National team at 16 before moving to the States at 18 to take up a golf scholarship at Wake Forest University.
She spent four years at Wake Forest studying Mathematical Business and was a part of the 2023 National Championship winning team during her time there. She graduated from University in May 2023 and turned professional in July 2023. She is now an ambassador for the Annika Foundation and is passionate about growing the game for the next generation of young girls.
This weekend, Lauren will compete in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Carton House Fairmont as their touring professional.
Here, she shares her sporting story so far…
Earliest sporting memory?
Playing camogie with my dad in the back garden growing up.
How did you become involved in with golf?
My older sister started playing with a couple of her friends and I tagged along because I was sporty and happy to give everything a go, and I quickly caught the bug.
What message would you like to share with young women and girls interested in pursuing a career as an athlete?
Keep going, work hard and enjoy it – it’s an incredible thing to be able to do so don’t give up.
Proudest moment so far…
Winning the NCAA Championship with my Wake Forest team. It was something we worked towards for a long time over many years, and it was incredible to win as a team. I had witnessed how much time and work my coaches and teammates put into it, so it really stands out as my favourite and proudest moment.
The female athlete I admire most is…
Annika Sörenstam because I think she has done incredible things for the game of golf, the way she has used her career to give back to golf and to sport and to encourage the empowerment of women through sport is really incredible so she is my biggest inspiration.
Do you think there is still a stigma around women in sport?
I don’t think so. I am very fortunate that I am surrounded by a lot of incredible female athletes on tour who are very encouraging of each other so in my environment there’s definitely a lot of positivity around women in sport and succeeding in sport. While that might not be in every environment I think it’s definitely getting better and it’s very cool to see more women getting involved in sport.
The biggest stigma/misconception that exists in women’s sport is…
That it’s not as entertaining as men’s sport if you were to compare side by side, I think women’s sport is just as exciting and entertaining.
If I wasn’t an athlete I would be…
I would probably be working in the medical field of some sort
My favourite pre-game meal is…
Probably pasta with some pesto, chicken and veggies. That’s my go-to the night before playing golf.
My pre-game playlist includes…
I actually don’t listen to music before I play.
My daily routine is…
Go to the gym, get my mobility in, go warm up, a practice session on the driving range then I putt for a little while. Then I might go and play 9 holes or 18 depending on the day. Then finish with a lot of mobility, stretching, and foam rolling.
My biggest sporting goal is…
To play in the Solheim cup and to win a major.
How do you mind your mental health?
I take care of that through meditation. I meditate a lot. I use the Calm app to help me with that. I also do some journaling and then I also like to go on some walks and do some different types of workouts.
My three desert island beauty products are:
An eyelash curler, mascara and concealer.
I need 8 hours of sleep a night because…
I need to be energised for all of the training I do for golf.
Confidence, to me, is…
Being happy and content when going about my life or I guess being happy and content in myself to take on the challenges life throws at me.
How do you get over a bad performance?
For me I reflect, I’ll take some notes on what was good and what wasn’t good but at the end of the day once I know I’m trying my best all I can do is learn from all of my experiences and use those experiences to get better going forward.
Lastly, why is sport such an integral part of community, on a club, local, national and personal level?
It brings people together, it keeps people active, it’s an incredible way to socialise and to meet people with similar interests.
From 29 August to 1 September, Lauren Walsh will be competing at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Carton House Fairmont.
Photography by Tristan Jones / LET
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