Award crowns hectic but rewarding season for Thurles man Darragh Stakelum

Darragh Stakelum will receive the Special Achievement Award from the Tipperary United Sports Panel when the Annerville Awards, sponsored by Bulmers, are presented at the Talbot Hotel, Clonmel on Saturday night, January 10.

Tickets for the event are available from Sports Panel treasurer Ken Conway, email conwayken@eircom.net

It was a hectic but rewarding season on the greens for Thurles man Darragh Stakelum, whose success in the British Golf Open for blind and visually impaired golfers at Cardrona Golf Club, Scotland, was quickly followed by a trip to Ontario, Canada, to play back-to-back tournaments.

This was the second British Open title of Darragh’s career and his second time winning the event at Cardrona, having first emerged victorious there in 2017.

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However, he didn’t have much time to rest on his laurels, with that success quickly followed by a trip to Renton in Ontario, Canada, for the Canadian and World Championships in August.

He played some brilliant golf in the Canadian Open, and outside of the local players he was the top-ranking foreigner taking part in the event. He made a strong start to the World Championships, which started a couple of days later, and led the field at the end of the first day. However, the exertions of playing back-to-back tournaments caught up with him.

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Nevertheless, he still finished in a very respectable seventh place in the World Championships, which, coupled with his British Open win in July, placed him in the top bracket of visually impaired golfers worldwide.

Darragh, a member of Thurles Golf Club from a young age who played off a handicap of six as a junior, lost his sight later in life and had to adapt his game to his new-found disability.

He competes in the B1 classification for visually impaired golfers, meaning he is completely blind and plays with the use of a guide, Adrian Morrissey. He is coached by Ray Ryan, a pro at Thurles Golf Club.