Mehaffey to head for Q-School as tribute to late father

Olivia Mehaffey pictured with her mother Evelyn and her late father Philip after her victory at the 2015 Irish Under 18 Girls’ Open Strokeplay at Roganstown Golf Club. (19/04/2015) Picture by Pat Cashman

Former Curtis Cup star Olivia Mehaffey will fulfil her late father's final wishes and tee it up at the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School in Spain on Thursday as a special tribute to the man who first taught her the game.

Philip Mehaffey, who passed away last Friday after a long battle with cancer, introduced Olivia to golf at Tandragee Golf Club in Co Armagh at age 12.

A standout star at Arizona State University, Co Down native Mehaffey (24) went on to have a storied amateur career, rising to a career-high of third in the World Amateur Golf Rankings before turning professional in May.

"Philip said to the doctors and nurses with typical humour just last week that they were to 'make sure that girl goes to Spain'," explained former Irish National Coach David Kearney, who is now part of Mehaffey's management team at Sigmoid Sports.

Olivia Mehaffey of Northern Ireland plays her stroke from the No. 2 tee during the final round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur, Saturday, April 3, 2021.

Tipped to follow in the footsteps of Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow on the LPGA Tour, Mehaffey finished tied 17th in the ISPS HANDA World Invitational on home soil this summer.

She came through the First Stage of the LPGA Q-School in August but having finished 43rd in the LPGA's Cambia Portland Classic in September, she failed to get through October's second stage of Q-School.

She will now bid for playing rights at the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School at La Manga in Spain with the first round of the 72-hole pre-qualifier set for this Thursday, which would have been her father's 60th birthday.

The leading players will then tee it up in the 90-hole Final Stage at the same venue from December 16-20, with the top 20 earning Category 11 membership of the Ladies European Tour for 2022.

Now supported by Team Ireland, Mehaffey enjoyed an outstanding amateur career, finishing just two shots behind the winner in the Augusta National Women's Amateur earlier this year, having taken up the game thanks to her father's encouragement.

"My dad and my brother played, and I have always been quite sporty," Olivia said of her start in golf. "I was really competitive, and when dad brought me to play and Luke was there, I always wanted to beat him.

"There was a while when I was around 12 that we were both off the same handicap, and it was so competitive to see who could get lower."