Anna’s Amgen Irish Open Pro-Am adventure

Last weekend the attention of the global sporting media focused on the Southwest of Ireland, but before the Irish Open teed off one of Westmeath's brightest sporting stars was on the course representing the maroon and white. While Shane Lowry's win may have gained all the headlines the exploits of a local sportsperson were also notable.

Anna Jones competed with many of Ireland’s biggest sporting names as they swap their usual playing fields for the fairways. Stars from GAA, rugby and boxing joined up with Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka at the Amgen Irish Open Pro-Am at Doonbeg, Clare.

“It's incredible. I'm very lucky to be a part of this,” Anna told the Westmeath Examiner. It was a stellar sporting line-up that included former Ireland and Munster scrum-half Conor Murray, Limerick hurler Gearóid Hegarty, former Galway hurler Joe Canning, former Clare hurler Podge Collins and retired boxer Michael Conlan.

“ I play my golf in Mullingar and the GPA were looking for a couple of players to enter. I was lucky enough to get in on the ladies football side of things. Apparently I'm one of the lower handicapped around for that,” Anna said of her involvement.

“The Irish Open reached out to the GPA for players that also play golf. I was just contacted by them to see if I was interested and obviously I was very interested,” she said.

The 2026 Amgen Irish Open ran up to Sunday, September 13 at Trump International Golf Links Ireland in Doonbeg, Clare.

The All-Ireland winners from football, hurling, ladies football and camogie made special appearances at the tournament, bringing the Liam McCarthy, O’Duffy and Brendan Martin Cups to the main stage as they met supporters and took part in live question-and-answer sessions.

The premier Irish golfing event embraced our native sports this year. GAA fans got the chance to meet some of this year’s All-Ireland champions when the heroes of the 2026 Championships took to the main stage at the island of Ireland’s national open.

The Amgen Irish Open Pro-Am was the curtain raiser to the main feature: “It's was a one day event,” Anna explained, “I played alongside Ryan O'Donoghue (Mayo Footballer) and Cliona O'Callaghan (Cork camogie). The pro was Michael Hollick. It was a surreal, but great experience.”