Leona Maguire in action at the 2023 KPMG Women's Irish Open. Picture: Brian Arthur

Leona Maguire is looking forward to giving back at this week’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open, but she jokes she can’t wait for the next generation of Irish stars to hit the tour and help carry the load.

The Co Cavan star (29) has almost single-handedly carried the event for the past two years, but with another 12 Irish players set to tee it up at Carton House this week — including two rookie professionals in Annabel Wilson and Anna Foster— she sees a bright future ahead for the women’s game here.

“For me, the Irish Open is a little bit of a bonus week,” Maguire said in the build-up to this week’s €400,000 event, which will be staged on the O’Meara Course at Carton House following two years at Dromoland Castle, which stepped in to help revive the event after a 10-year hiatus.

“I think it's a bit more about giving back. Yes, obviously, I'd like to play as well as I possibly can. But it's nice to see so many people root me on, and with the amount of pictures and autographs you do, you can see they are genuinely happy to see you do well.

“We had a fantastic crowd down in Dromoland the past couple of years, and hopefully this year will be just as good, if not better.”

Foster is a reserve for the Curtis Cup this week, where future pros Sara Byrne and Aine Donegan are joined by Beth Coulter, another budding star.

The Elm Park star will make her professional debut alongside Wilson this week, joining Maguire, Olivia Mehaffey and Lauren Walsh in playing for pay.

They are joined by eight Irish amateurs in Emma Fleming, Kate Lanigan, Olivia Costello, Aideen Walsh, Roisin Scanlon, Kate Dillon, Canice Screene and Anna Abom.

And Maguire has plenty of advice for the young players hoping to follow in her footsteps, telling them to do it for themselves and nobody else.

“The more, the better,” she said of the next generation that’s getting ready to hit the tour. “We see it out on tour with the Spanish, the French and the Aussies. We’ve been kind of slow in that conveyor belt of approach, but obviously, Olivia and Lauren are out on the LET, and you've got a bit of a crop there when it comes to the American collegiate system in the last couple of years.

“Aine has played a couple of US Women’s Open, and Sara’s obviously turning pro. Obviously, the standard is there, and I wish them all the best. Hopefully, we'll see them out on tour soon.”

Playing golf for a living is not all it seems, and Maguire believes our young amateur stars can see if they like the lifestyle by playing on invitations this week.

“I think it's all the extra stuff, not the golf, per se,” she said of the biggest challenges they face. “There’s managing the schedule of playing week after week after week. In amateur golf or college golf, you play an event and have a couple of weeks off. In the summer, it gets a little bit more hectic, but you have a lot more built-in breaks to practice, recover, and get ready again.

“Whereas for us, it's week after week after week, and you’re deal with pro-ams, you’re managing sponsors, you’re dealing with all the travel, your visas. There’s a lot of extra stuff behind the scenes.

“So, I think it would be very important for the girls who are turning pro to surround themselves with good people. People who maybe have a little bit of experience and can sort of guide them through the do's and don'ts and potential pitfalls before they happen. “If they've got the people around them, I don't see any reason why they can't go on and achieve big things.”

While there are huge demands on her time during Women’s Irish Open week, Maguire admits she’s living the dream.

“I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else,” she said. “For me, it's the best job in the world. But I think it's a very personal thing. I think you you have to really love what you do and love the grind and love that competitiveness and trying your hardest every week.

“If it goes well, great. If not, you pick yourself up and go again. It's not as glamorous a lifestyle as people maybe think it is. But at the same time, it's a very nice lifestyle when you do well.

Leona Maguire speaking to Roddy Carr at June's KPMG Women's Irish Open Media Day at Carton House

“So it's one of those things. You really have to do it for yourself and do it for the right reasons, not for the people around you, not for external reasons. It very much has to be what you want to do. And you have to really enjoy the journey for whatever it brings.”

It’s a hectic week for Maguire, who is coming off a busy summer schedule that included the US Women’s Open, the Olympics, the Scottish Open and last week’s AIG Women’s Open before she heads to the US for her third Solheim Cup appearance next month.

But while she’s managed to play some holes at Carton House on her weeks off to make preparation easier, she can’t wait for more Irish players to have success on tour and ease the load on her shoulders.

“There's obviously a lot of demands on my time and I suppose it will be a nice thing for me the more girls turn pro,” she quipped. “I'll have a little bit more help, hopefully, in the next few years.

“But no, it's always an enjoyable week. It’s a demanding week, but at the same time I’m happy to do my bit to give back and to grow the game.

“I was one of the younger ones who benefited from it when I was an amateur golfer, so it's nice that it's come full circle and that it's back on the schedule. I’m happy to play my part, whatever that is.”

The Irish Open was played for ten straight years from 1994 to 2003, then returned after a four-year absence in 2008 for a run that ended after the 2012 Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle.

It was off the schedule for ten years, but with Maguire now a global star following her Solheim Cup heroics, it returned three years ago with Czech star Klára Spilková and Dane Smilla Tarning Sønderby winning the last two editions at Dromoland Castle.

Maguire hopes it can go from strength to strength, and believes it can eventually attract some world stars if it can find a better date and a bigger purse.

“It was obviously a big event back when it was in Portmarnock Links and Killeen Castle, so to have that 10-year break was a shame,” she said.

“But I feel like it's gone from strength to strength. Obviously, scheduling has been a little bit of an issue. I'd like to see it on a better date so that we could get more of a world-class field.

“But I feel like progress has been made every year, bit by bit. Dromoland Castle has done a phenomenal job in the past few years. The crowds were great. So this year has big shoes to fill. But that's the thing — you're trying to raise the bar every year and the standard gets higher.

“I think the nice thing for me as an Irish player is that all the other girls on the LET are very complimentary of the event. They really enjoy the event, and it's one of the best events on their schedule, which is always nice to hear.”

Maguire and her twin sister Lisa first played at Portmarnock Links in 2008 and she sees this week as a big opportunity for our future stars.

“I got to play in Irish Opens as an amateur growing up, and it is a big experience,” she said. “It is something that you get a taste of and get to see whether it is for you or not.

“People play in it and say, ‘Yes, this is definitely what I want’, and some people will really enjoy it, but say, it’s not for me every week.

“So I think it's a big learning experience for those juniors and those amateurs who get to play and then again for people to come and watch as well the same thing.”