Golf prodigy Ella tees up a bright future at only eight years old
Youngster set to compete with the world’s best in the US this summer
AN eight-year-old golf prodigy, who started her career with a foam bat and ball from her local toy shop, is off to compete against the world’s best youngsters in America this summer.
Ella Kenny from Co. Kildare, will be teeing off in the US Kids Tour World Championship in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and is hoping for a winning score.
She has come a long way from the toddler who just wanted to bash a ball around her house, but her competitive streak is clear.
Ella does not come from a golfing family – her father James is an accountant and project manager who dabbled in pitch and putt as a teenager, while her mother Jessica is a business analyst. Her five-year-old brother Ethan joins her on the driving range but also loves athletics and football.
‘That’s a great swing she has’
Mr Kenny said his daughter’s single-minded drive for golf was evident at a very young age.
He told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘We went to Smyths – Ella was around two-and-a-half – and there was a bat and ball in the outdoor activities section. Ella pointed and said “bat, ball”, which was about all she could say at the time, so I said, okay. It was only about €5, so I thought I’d done quite well. It was made of a kind of foam – it’s still for sale today.
‘I threw the ball to Ella and she hit it straight back. I thought, that’s a great swing she has. Pretty soon it was every night, bat and ball. Before I knew it, she was putting the ball on the ground and hitting it. So I bought her some plastic clubs and she started to work away, hitting them around the house.’
Mr Kenny said on his own birthday he decided to get Ella a small set of real golf clubs. ‘I brought her to the driving range for about nine months. We were getting quite a lot of attention up there. She was around four by this time and she was hitting the ball a long way for her age – around 50 metres.’ He said he made sure to introduce lots of games to keep it fun. ‘We used to have a chart, and if she hit 20 drives we’d go and get an icecream. You had to make a game of it.’
Eventually he took Ella to the Athgarvan pitch and putt course.
‘It was incremental steps all the time. Ella was getting to the end of what she could do at the driving range and was asking me about courses. ‘I went down to our local pitch and putt course and asked Declan Power, the treasurer, if she could join. He said it was only for age six and up. ‘Ella was a bit dejected but she did ask could she hit a ball off the tee. She went up, proud as punch and took a few practice swings, before hitting it a couple of feet off the green. Declan said he would sort the membership,’ he smiled. She became a regular on the Sunday morning scramble and enjoyed playing against and with the adult players of the club.
Having played pitch and putt for around a year, Mr Kenny said his daughter wanted to take part in bigger competitions, having seen them on television.
‘I heard there was an Irish Kids Tour at Killeen Castle. Ella had just turned five. We turned up with her small set of basic clubs and found she was in the under tens – that was the youngest age category,’ he recalled.
‘All the others were older and had fancy clubs but Ella went up to the first tee and hit a fantastic shot. She was six or seven shots up after three holes and finished fourth in the whole competition.’
They later joined the Royal Curragh Golf Club, where again Ella had to prove her worth before the no under-12s rule was lifted.
The Kenny family are now planning a holiday to watch Ella play in the US Kids Tour World Championship in August. ‘We’re flying out on July 31. It’s been over two years since we’ve been away together because of Covid, so we said we’d all go and enjoy it,’ Mr Kenny said.
Talking of his hopes for her future, he said: ‘All I want is for her to achieve her potential. Maybe a college scholarship – certainly a good education as well as the golf. She has aspirations to turn pro when she sees them on TV. She has a real competitive streak. She wants to win.’
Trained now by Shane O’Grady, the coach of Irish golfing star Leona Maguire, Ella has won her last 11 competitions in a row – most recently by 19 shots in the Irish Kids Tour under ten category. She has been featured by her local paper, the Leinster Leader, and has an interview lined up with a national broadcaster.
Her journey to the US and beyond can be followed on Instagram @EllaKennyGolf.
‘If she hit 20 we’d get an ice-cream’