She picked up a golf club 10 years ago, at the age of six and now Valerie Clancy is an Irish International and on an emerging talent programme in the Mardyke gym in Cork.
She picked up a golf club 10 years ago, at the age of six and now Valerie Clancy is an Irish International and on an emerging talent programme in the Mardyke gym in Cork. There is no looking back now for 16 year old transition year student and Killarney Golf Club member.
The commitment alone can be seen by the fact that Valerie and her family travel from Mitchelstown to Killarney at the weekends, to enable her to practice and play there. Valerie commented on her decision to join Killarney “There were other girls around my age playing there, Mairead Martin and Caitriona Griffin and nowhere else around had that. It turned out to be a great choice”.
Consistency has been key in every aspect of Valerie’s game from the beginning, and this ranges from practice routines to coaches. She has been with her current personal coach, Mallow based Michael Collins since she was 10 and felt she was reaping the benefits. Junior coaching with him led to her taking up individual sessions and she could see the improvements straight away, adding
“I started playing in Championships and won the Leinster Girls Trophy when I was 11 and everything took off from there. I got selected to travel to the Scottish U16’s Championship shortly after that and I was chosen for more teams from then on”.
Now a member of the High Performance Panel, Valerie is working with the service provision team, which is led by High Performance Manager David Kearney. She also continues game development with her Munster based coaches, so needless to say it's a hectic schedule for the 16 year old.
Full of enthusiasm, she shared what a typical week looks like for her “I do a lot of technical work over the winter, so I go to the gym a few mornings a week and practice straight after it. I golf at the weekends in Killarney too but Friday is usually my day off and I try to spend time with friends”. Summer time for the Irish international is taken up with National and International Championships and practice on the side.
Reflecting on a successful year, Valerie added “Winning the Munster Championship was my best individual achievement to date, as I won it by five shots. Home Internationals was such a great team experience and it was very special to be a part of the first Irish team to win at girls’ level”.
Valerie views the 2017 season as another opportunity to progress and achieve goals, commenting “I want to improve my world amateur ranking and my LGU ranking and I would like to win at least one championship”. As the weather gets colder, she shared one piece of advice for anyone struggling to practice over the winter, “Focus on your short game and have fun. Never get too down on yourself”.
Christmas Quick Fire Round
Mince pies or Christmas cake... Neither
Selection box or advent calendar... Selection box
Real tree or Fake tree... Real tree
White lights or Coloured lights... Coloured lights
Hot Chocolate or Milk... Hot Chocolate
Dancer of Prancer... Prancer
Home Alone or Santa Claus the movie... Home Alone
Carrots or cookies... Cookies
Credit- ILGU
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