Young Kildare golfer won two World Championships in 2024

Athgarvan’s Ella Kenny won two World Championships among an 18 trophy haul in 2024. The now 10 year-old won the U9s World Junior Golf Championship in Villa Padierna Golf Club in Marbella, Spain in February.

As well as the U12s Champion of Champions World Championship in Lough Erne later in the year. Ella was also the subject of a new fantasy children’s book, Fairways and Fantasy, that was published just before Christmas of last year, which was written by the Leinster Leader's Daragh Nolan.

After three days of golfing action in Marbella, Ella came back from eight shots behind on the final day to win her first World Championship title by a single stroke. It was a staggering comeback in the most dramatic fashion.

Five months later, and as the youngest member of the U12 field, Ella was taking on an even bigger challenge in Lough Erne.

“We had said on the first hole of day one that our hope was to finish in the top 10. Then we watched the girls ahead of me tee off and they were twice my size and hitting the ball perfectly straight,” Ella recalled.

Her dad (and caddy) James added, “After that, Ella said that we should try not to finish last. We didn’t go to that tournament with the aim of winning because we knew we’d have three attempts to win that U12s tournament. So we aimed for the top 10.”

Despite the age and size disadvantage, Ella’s major setback came on the opening day when she suffered a two-shot penalty for not moving her marker back into position, having moved it for an opponent.

“From then on, I have been flipping my marker upside down to remember,” Ella said.

It was on the fairways and greens that Ella did her best work in Lough Erne. The young golfer had always been exceptional off the tee and, with the usual advantage that she held at her own age group gone, her short game had to be top notch, and it was.

“My driving wasn’t great, but my wedge and iron work was the best it has ever been, so that’s where I made up the ground,” Ella said.

Ella was well-known for her driving in her own age group to the extent that it provided inspiration for the book Fairways and Fantasy, but this competition demonstrated that she is far from solely reliant on her skills off the tee.

“Nothing really interesting happened on the second day, and I finished that day three behind the lead. One shot if I didn’t have the penalty…but anyways,” Ella laughed. 

“On the last day, I was playing really well and the girl in the lead was a brilliant putter. She started to crack a little bit towards the end and that gave me a chance to come back into it.”

Ella closed the gap superbly and the two top competitors finished level after the final hole. There was no separating the leading pairing, and after a three-hole play-off, the World Championship was decided by a chip-off.

Ella explained, “It was a 60-yard sand wedge chip shot and then you had to finish from there. She went first and stitched it 10ft from the flag. I walked up and hit it five feet from the flag. She then had to putt first and missed, so I was like ‘Oh’ this is it.

“I putted mine in and the crowd let out a huge cheer. Everybody from the tournament was there waiting for the ceremony, but I only noticed the crowd after because I was so focused on trying to win.”

It was another brilliant win for Ella and a second World Championship in that calendar year. As well as the World Championships, one of the Athgarvan golfer’s other wins, at the Irish Junior Open, presented her with the chance to play with Northern Irish professional golfer Tom McKibbin.

Ella said, “I played well, it was how I would have liked to play in front of a professional. He was really nice and at the end we tallied all of the best scores. It was a great experience.”

You can follow more of Ella's golfing journey on Instagram @EllaKennyGolf.

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