'I was mourning the death of my golf game' - Sara Byrne opens up on elbow injury

Dromoland Castle's touring professional, Sara Byrne

Douglas star Sara Byrne has revealed the full extent of the elbow injury that has kept her out of the game this year.

A freak accident threatened to derail her promising career but she’s now on the road to the recovery and looking at the game with a fresh perspective having stepped off the hamster wheel for first time in more than five years.

The University of Miami graduate opened up about the January fall that left her with a fractured elbow and partially torn ligaments, forcing her to confront the possibility that her professional career might be over before it had truly begun.

The injury happened on January 5 when Byrne was working out at her trainer's home gym. Melting ice from the roof dripped down and refroze on the ground outside.

"I just walked out then, and it was like an ice rink, and just fell in another bad way, unfortunately," she explained.

The result was a fractured right elbow and partial tears to both ligaments. For a right-hander, it was a devastating blow, though the surgeon offered a sliver of perspective.

“He said, ‘You're lucky enough it was on your right one for a right-handed golfer’. So it's the better one to break, apparently," she recalled.

An initial examination recommended a second opinion from a surgeon because the fracture had minimal bone displacement.

She was told that operating would introduce scar tissue that would likely end her professional career.

"I was like, okay, well, stay away from me. You're coming nowhere near me," she joked of that sobering conversation.

The surgeon agreed, advising her to focus on rehabilitation, get out of the sling, and start moving the elbow as quickly as possible.

The first few weeks were agonising, as feisty Cork golfer (24) (https://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/player-profiles/911994/  couldn’t move her arm and wasn't even allowed to do leg exercises at the gym.

For three to four weeks, she was told to do “literally nothing.”

"I was like mourning the death of my golf game at that point, because they were unsure how it was going to heal," she admitted.

Doctors couldn't guarantee she would ever straighten her arm again, sending the former Curtis Cup star into a whirlwind of emotions about what the future might hold.

“I spoke to a sports doctor, and he was like, 'Look, it takes a lot more than a fall to kind of end a golf career’,” she revealed. “He was like, ’It'll be okay; you just need to really be careful with it and let it heal and give it the time’."

Byrne threw herself into her rehab and the results have exceeded all expectations.

She’s regained 97 per cent straightening in her elbow, well beyond the 95 per cent doctors had targeted.

When she was finally cleared to hit golf balls, she was restricted to just 50 per day, then allowed to increase by 10 or 15 each week.

"For most people who know me, I will beat balls for hours on end. I love it. I will just spend hours on the range, and I hit 50 golf balls. I was like, is that it?"

She recently spent six hours on the range in Miami, where she has been training in the sunshine.

She also been able to hit full shots again without taping or compression sleeves, but remains cautious about returning too quickly.

"The one thing I've been told by my doctor and my surgeon and my physio was, do not go back too early just because it might feel like it's okay, it will give up eventually,” she said.

She has set a mental goal of returning for the Investec SA Women's Open in South Africa from April 23-26 but she’s managing expectations and won’t play again until she’s confident.

"I'm also trying not to put too much pressure on myself,” she said. “If I could get back for some time in South Africa, that would be ideal. But if not, then that's okay too."

Looking on the bright side, she believes her enforced absence from the fairways has provided some unexpected perspective after years of non-stop golf since heading to Florida for her collegiate career in 2020.

"It's kind of given me life away from golf, which I haven't had in forever,” she admitted. “It's kind of been a nice little awakening to say, you know what, life away from golf isn't too bad either. There really isn't life or death over a golf shot."

She finished last season strongly, securing her LET card by squeaking into the top 70 on the Order of Merit, having learned the hard way with her early-season attempt to play the LPGA’s second-tier Epson Tour that it’s better to focus fully on the Ladies European Tour.

She had her entire year mapped out two days before the fall, but will now be entitled to a medical extension next season.

At worst, she expects to miss seven events, but she remains upbeat about the season ahead and admits the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at The K Club is highlighted on her schedule.

She’s also looking forward to returning to the venues she played for the first time as an LET rookie last year.

"I think in the long run, it's going to be a really big positive thing for me, which is probably hard to see now,” she added.

“It was definitely hard to see in the first few weeks. So I'm kind of taking as many positives out of it as I possibly can."