Rory McIlroy always turns up.

Rory McIlroy’s victory on the European Tour last weekend at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic was just what the doctor ordered for all Irish golf fans, as most of then had received the “course closed” notification from their clubs at first light on Sunday just prior to Rory heading off in the last group. A title defence is always to be welcomed but a January one is especially so for McIlroy, whose legacy in the game will be determined by his early season form over the remainder of his career. The Grand Slam talk will continue until he delivers a green jacket or officially stops getting invitations to Augusta in April but in my opinion, there is a much bigger picture.?

The Irish golfing famine is just around the corner and therefore we should share and enjoy Rory’s success’s when they happen. When retirement is eventually accepted, I fear that the Irish golfing public will finally realise what Chicago Cubs fans went through for what must have seemed like an eternity. Although the writing has been on the wall so to speak about the serious lack of golfing talent coming through from the amateur game over the last number of years, nobody seems to be bothered about it. I remember once been told by the general secretary of one of our governing bodies that the successful transition from the amateur to the professional ranks was of little or no concern to him.

A good year for his governing body was not determined by how many Irish amateurs made the grade on the European or PGA Tours. This opinion might be all very well and good and might be argued that the raison d’etre of the association would cement his opinion, but I believe that this mindset does not take into effect the desire of the grassroots membership. ?The continued development of the game primarily will depend on the success Irish golfers will have on the main tours and not the satellite tours that is currently the case. The current formula and strategy simply aren’t working, and new avenues must be investigated before we join the likes of Italy, France and Wales as second and third tier golfing nations.

With news of Hailey Davidson’s victory on the NXXT Golf circuit last week the future of Ladies Professional golf looks in jeopardy. The transgender golfer will almost certainly qualify to earn an exemption to play on the LPGA feeder tour in the future. The lack of new talent in Irish professional golf is a failure in the current strategy of how we develop our youngsters from under 12s upward. Somebody must take responsibility for targets not been reached and sticking with strategies that are no longer relevant. We have a wealth of professional coaches here in Ireland that are qualified to the highest PGA standard but have not been invited to participate and coach at national level. A period of time in the wilderness for Irish professional golf is now guaranteed but we should endeavour to make it as short as possible.