Leona Maguire and Tom McKibbin are the recipients of the Irish Golf Writers' Association’s 2023 Professional of the Year awards.
Maguire, 29, was feted for another outstanding year and picked up the McGuirk’s-sponsored Women's Professional award after a season that saw her capture her second LPGA Tour title with a two-shot victory in the Meijer LPGA Classic.
Just as she was two years ago on her remarkable Solheim Cup debut, Maguire was a pivotal figure in Team Europe's Solheim triumph in Spain in September. The Cavan sensation won three points in the drawn match that saw Europe hold onto the trophy.
READ MORE:Leona Maguire's incredible 2023 season earnings after another stellar year
McKibbin, meanwhile, won the vote for the Men’s Professional Award after he became Irish golf's youngest tour winner since his Holywood clubmate Rory McIlroy in 2009.
The 20-year-old triumphed in the Porsche European Open in what was his 26th start on the DP World Tour.
He also recorded another nine top-25 finishes in an outstanding rookie season and qualified for the DP World Tour Championship, finishing 44th in the Race to Dubai.
Laytown and Bettystown's Alex Maguire and Douglas' Sara Byrne won the Men's and Women's Amateur of the Year Awards.
Maguire, 22, became the first player since Raymie Burns in 1993 to retain the East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at County Louth and went on to win the St Andrews Links Trophy at the Home of Golf the following week.
He reached the quarter-finals of the Amateur Championship at Hillside and topped the first R&A Open Amateur Series, earning him a place in The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool and, ultimately, a spot on the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team at St Andrews last September.
Byrne, also 22, captured the Women's Amateur of the Year award for the second time since 2018.
She won her second AIG Irish Women's Close title with a one-up win over Beth Coulter at Connemara Golf Links before the Douglas golfer was the leading amateur in the KPMG Women's Irish Open at Dromoland Castle.
Byrne also made back-to-back cuts on the LET Access Tour and completed a stellar year by winning back-to-back individual titles with the University of Miami on the US collegiate golf circuit in October.
Cork's Denis O'Sullivan was named the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Services to Golf Award sponsored by Galvin Green.
A former Irish international and selector, he was Irish Amateur Close champion in 1985 and East of Ireland winner in 1990 before he turned professional at 49 and qualified for the European Seniors Tour, where he won six times.
Former Skerries professional Jimmy Kinsella, the first Irishman to win on the European Tour, was also presented with his 2022 Distinguished Services to Golf Award at a luncheon held at The K Club on Tuesday.
BBC NI Sport’s Stephen Watson, Chairman of the Irish Golf Writers’ Association said: “We are thrilled to be able to return to present the Irish Golf Writers’ awards in person this year at The K Club.
“The incredible quality of Irish golf, both amateur and professional, north and south, is reflected in our winners. Congratulations to all our award recipients.”
The Irish Golf Writers' Association (IGWA) was founded in 1976. Previous winners of the IGWA awards are listed here: http://www.irishgolfwriters.com/igwa-award-winners
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