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THERE was a time when the likes of Robbie Cannon had to take the bus to championships and rely on lifts from older players to get to far-flung links courses like Lahinch or Rosses Point.
Now 39, the 2018 AIG Irish Amateur Close champion is a blend of the old-fashioned and the modern – a super-fit athlete and professional strength and conditioning coach with the ethos of the career amateur of old.
Thirty or 40 years ago, Ireland’s top amateurs rarely turned professional, where the pickings were decidedly slim for all but the elite.
Today, it’s rare for a player in his early 20s who wins a championship or two not to turn professional and head off with the help of some club fundraising to try their luck on the mini-tours for a few years.
“I hear some guys say they are going to turn professional and I think to myself, what are they doing? They’re nowhere near good enough,” said Cannon, whose third championship win leaves him halfway to a career Grand Slam that not even Joe Carr could achieve.
“Young lads have no idea of how high the standard is. You need to be winning championships for a couple of years if you are going to have the game to compete, but, then again, if someone offers a young lad €50,000 sponsorship to go off and play on tour for a few years, why wouldn’t he go?”
Cannon tried his hand at the European Tour Qualifying School just once, but while it didn’t work out, he’s more than happy to keep playing for the pure joy of it all.
“I just love the game, love practising, love competing,” said the Dubliner, who hopes his latest win leads to a recall to the Irish team for the Home Internationals. “It’s just the buzz I get from it. It’s a special feeling, especially when you have a good week.”
After being five over after two holes in qualifying at The European Club, he was proud of the perseverance he showed and with the Close, the South and the Irish Amateur Open on his mantelpiece, he sees no reason why he can’t dream of winning the East, the North and the West.
“There’s no point in stopping now, is there?” he said with a chuckle. “I was third in the East a few years ago and got to the final of the West in 2014 but lost to Jack Hume.
“I played poorly in the final and that was one I feel I let slip. But sometimes you have to lose one to win one, so I was determined not to let that Close slip this time.”
As for the current amateur scene, Cannon does not believe it is as strong as it was 10 or 12 years ago when the likes of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were winning championships.
“It goes in phases,” he said. “With Rory, Shane, Simon Ward and Gareth Shaw, it was almost impossible to win a title. The standard was just so high.
“Rory beat me when he won his Close in Westport but I now think the tournaments are very winnable.”
Cannon has yet to play with the likes of Mark Power or John Murphy, but he believes that Stuart Grehan, winner of the South, the East and the Mullingar Scratch Trophy in recent years, or Tramore’s Robin Dawson, have what it takes to succeed in the professional game.
Grehan has already shown signs on the Europro Tour that he’s ready to step up while Dawson’s straight hitting and excellent putting will be an asset if he goes to the Q-School as an amateur again in the autumn.
“From what I have seen over the last few years, they have the game for it,” said Cannon, who turns 40 next year.
Cannon will remain an amateur and he’s looking forward to this year’s Interprovincial Championship at Athenry, where he is joined on the Leinster team by Robert Brazill (Naas), Alan Fahy (Dun Laoghaire), Robert Moran (Castle), Mark Power (Kilkenny), Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), Eugene Smith (Laytown & Bettystown) and Jonathan Yates (Naas).
Having won the Close and finished third in the Bridgestone Order of Merit, a repeat of 2013, when he won the Irish Amateur Open at Royal Dublin and failed to get the nod for Ireland, would be a huge shock.
“To be honest, when I won the Irish Amateur and I didn’t get picked, that was probably the hardest pill I’ve ever had to swallow,” he said. “I was gutted because I’m such a passionate Irishman and it would mean the world to play for Ireland again. Hopefully, that should be good enough.”