By John Tully-Jackson
Saoirse Lambe was at her home club of Beaverstown near Dublin recently when an email alert flashed up on her phone. The message contained within was scarcely believable – she’d won the competition to tee it up with Rory McIlroy and Niall Horan on the eve of the 29th Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

“It was amazing, [we were] just screaming, it was great!”

The Irish lass was understandably a little anxious when she walked onto the first tee and was confronted by a sizeable crowd gathered for Wednesday’s afternoon Pro-Am.

“It took me the front nine to get into it, I was very nervous. The back nine I relaxed a lot and I think I had a good few birdies, so that’s always good.”

It didn’t take long for the six-handicapper to relax and take in what an unbelievable opportunity she had.

“Really good, so good, definitely beats club golf!” said Lambe who contributed successive birdies on 15 and 16.

“It was a good taste of the tour life. It was amazing, it was a once in a lifetime thing. You see him [McIlroy] on TV all the time, so to see him up close, right there, it was just the chance of a lifetime. I’m never going to forget this, this is amazing.”

The all-star cast didn’t stop at McIlroy and boyband heart-throb Horan. As well as having her own caddy, Lambe had pro golfer and Instagram superstar Paige Spiranac tending her bag and fetching her flags. The doubling up of efforts was appreciated and seems to have given Lambe a taste for the professional game.

Saoirse gets some advice from Paige.

 

“I had two caddies. So I had Paige, and my caddy. Yeah it was great, their support and to have them there with you to ask everything twice was amazing. I could really get used to that.”

The group finished 11th in the afternoon Pro-Am, with Saoirse contributing more than her share of the points, alongside Mr Shankar, Horan and McIlory. The course
was set up challenging but was nothing new for the competition winner.

“The greens were hard to hold, but the ground, I play on a links course as well, so the ground was very similar, it was good and hard. Definitely the greens you had to go a club less to get it on the green and keep it on the green. But it was good for the game and beats playing in the rain.

“On five I sank a huge putt from off the green for a decent bogey; Plonked one in the lake and had about 45 feet for a bogey so I sank that, sank a good few putts. The two birdies will definitely be my best memories, the two on the 15th. I had a two, and Rory McIlroy had a three, same distance and everything so that was good.”

Horan and McIlroy look on as Lambe stripes a drive.

 

 

 

 

 

Horan’s highlight was a chip in at 16, just before he was mobbed for autographs and selfies by teenage girls giddy with excitement. They weren’t the only ones.

“I’m playing more golf tomorrow [Thursday], then we’ll definitely watch it [The Desert Classic proper] over the weekend. We’ll walk around, see what’s happening Friday, and try to come down from this high,” said Lambe.

It might take a while longer than that.