KILLINEY GOLF CLUB

Chapter 4 - Rory Saunders set the standards

By 1930, the newly-laid greens at Lahinch were widely acknowledged as probably the most fearsome putting surfaces anywhere in the country. Even for those practitioners accomplished with the blade, serious grief was almost inevitable, as they grappled with the severe undulations which had been introduced by the celebrated international architect, Alister MacKenzie, in a major upgrading of the course in 1927.

Rory Saunders joined the MacKenzie victims when mounting his most serious challenge so far in the South of Ireland Championship, one of the game’s most coveted prizes.

Born in Glenageary in August 1906, Saunders became a member of Killiney GC where he soon gained an enviable reputation as a matchplayer of some substance. Indeed, he had the distinction of leading the club to a national triumph in the Irish Junior Cup of 1929 in which he was unbeaten in all his matches, starting at provincial level.

As it happened, he was also unbeaten when Killiney retained the Leinster pennant the following year, though they were eventually forced to relinquish the national trophy to Douglas. Meanwhile, there was a notable performance in the inaugural Irish Open Mixed Foursomes tournament at Milltown GC in 1929, when he and the gifted Mrs J B Walker were runners-up, losing in the final to the inaugural champions, Mick Crowley of Portmarnock and Mrs Rhoda McIntyre of Sutton, by 7 and 5.

This was the Mrs Walker from Co Meath, who was a member both of The Berkshire and Killiney and who would go on to become Irish Women’s Close champion at Portmarnock the following year. But given the quality of play from Crowley and Mrs McIntyre, who started 3,4,4 to win the opening three holes and were six up at the turn, no pair would have had a chance against them.

By then, short-game skills had become the cornerstone of Rory Saunders’s game, which was hardly surprising from a player for whom the mashie (a pitching club similar to the modern wedge) was his favourite club. And he seemed to be coping admirably with MacKenzie’s greens en route to the semi-finals of the “South” of 1930. But this was also a time when the great John Burke was attempting to extend his dominance of his “home” event, by becoming the first player to win three successive “South” titles.

Burke’s ambitions and MacKenzie’s menace, ultimately became an insurmountable combination for the Killiney player who lost the semi-final by 6 and 5. And a day later, Burke had done what every- body, certainly in the Lahinch area, had expected Burke to do, when he beat Waterford’s Joe Brown by the same margin in the 36-hole final.

Rory Mansfield Saunders was educated at Belvedere College after which he embarked on a career in law. Having been apprenticed to the profession, he qualified as a solicitor and went on to work with the well-known Dublin firm of Peebles, Knox and Pigot in Kildare Street. He later married and had two children, Tony and Marguerite, and the family lived and worked in Dublin until the mid-1950s, when they emigrated to London.

There, Rory continued to work as a solicitor until he retired and returned to Dublin with his family in 1974. He died in 1983 and his wife passed on, five years later.

He took up golf at an early age and though he became a member of the Killiney, Lahinch, Dun Laoghaire, Milltown and Portmarnock clubs, Rory expressed a particular affection for the Dunluce links at Royal Portrush, where the great English architect, Harry Colt, wrought his magic in an upgrading even more extensive than MacKenzie’s at Lahinch.

Still, when not at Killiney, Lahinch was essentially home for him, certainly as far as links golf was concerned.

The thirties were unquestionably Rory’s halcyon years, as far as championship golf was concerned. Yet it was another player, Niall Murphy, who flew the Killiney flag in the South of Ireland of 1933, losing in the first round by 4 and 3 to the diminutive, pipe-smoking Stanley Martyn of Limerick GC who, incidentally, went on to reach the final. Rory didn’t play that year, neither did John Burke and in their absence, the splendid Joe Brown successfully defended the title, beating Martyn in the final, as he had done in 1932.

Meanwhile, there was some compensation for Killiney GC in Murphy’s victory in the Reluctants’ Cup, an 18-hole strokes competition inaugurated, we are told, by a Lahinch evil spirit and in which he reached the turn in 37 en route to the outstanding score of 75 for a net 70, off five handicap. But Lahinch had yet to deliver its greatest dividend to the South Dublin club.

Among the large circle of friends which the Saunders family enjoyed, were the O’Hanlons, including Rachel, who married a Dublin doctor by the name of Paul Murray. Indeed, the Murrays were also prominent on the Saunders’ guest list. This was the same Murray who, from 1927 to 1933, was Ireland’s most versatile rugby back, playing at scrum-half, out-half or centre in a total of 19 international appearances as a member of the Wanderers club. And he played at full back for the Lions on their 1930 tour to New Zealand.

It was also the same Murray who gained the distinction in the semi-finals of the “South” in 1940, of beating Burke on the last green before going on to capture the title.

And it was the same Murray whose son John also gained international rugby honours while achieving distinction at tennis, and whose daughter, Rhona Fanagan, continues to win golf titles. Then there are his remarkable grandchildren (Rhona’s offspring), Jody and Suzie Fanagan, who have gained the amazing distinction of being brother-and-sister, Walker Cup and Curtis Cup representatives.

Paul Murray, who went on to become President of the IRFU, had a strong friendship with Rory Saunders, with whom he enjoyed golf, fishing and shooting.

They also enjoyed a friendly rivalry in the Irish Open Mixed Foursomes at Milltown, where Murray and his then girlfriend, Rachel Hanlon, were victorious in 1935, before going on to retain the title as husband and wife in 1941. But it was another Killiney player, Ted Purcell, who partnered Milltown’s Mrs Ina Hickey to victory a year later.

Meanwhile, Mrs Walker competed in the 1939 Milltown Mixed with another Killiney partner, Declan Murphy. But it proved to be an ill-fated venture. In the third round, they came up against the irrepressible combination of Joe Carr and Maureen “Nicky” McIntyre, who were only 17 at the time.

The staging of the 1934 South of Ireland Championship was notable for the favourable comments about the course. “Irish Golf” declared that Lahinch could no longer be called a “blind” course and the club was to be complimented on the fine work it had done on the links “during the last few years.” The championship was also notable for the fact that it coincided with a national newspaper strike. Remarkably, it also  coincided with the Amateur International Matches at Porthcawl.

From a newspaper standpoint, the “Cork Examiner” must have enjoyed bumper sales in the Dublin area, especially in the regions of Killiney and Milltown where local, golfing favourites were doing rather well. Where the clash of fixtures was concerned, it meant that apart from the absence of Burke, who would not have played anyway, the field was also deprived of such luminaries as Brown and the emerging Killarney player, Billy O’Sullivan.

Through the early rounds, Rory disposed of the Rev T Foudey of Ballyhaunis and Lahinch Garda J Burke, before defeating another local, D Sexton, by 4 and 3 in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile Murray, who was in the top end of the draw, beat P J O’Dwyer of Lahinch and local priest Rev M Garrahy before a quarter-final win by 3 and 2 over D Torrens of Ennis.

As it happened, the semi-finals of the “South” that year, coincided with a highly significant happening at Porthcawl, where the Irish swept to their first-ever golfing victory over England, by a resounding, nine- point margin. In the top singles, Brown had a marvellous, one-hole victory over the reigning English champion, Stanley Lunt, while at number two, Burke halved Eric Fiddian, the English champion of 1932.

At Lahinch, Saunders beat H J Downing of Killarney by 2 and 1 while in the other semi-final, Murray recovered from losing the first three holes to beat the redoubtable Mick O’Loughlin by one hole.

We are informed that “a mist from the Atlantic accompanied Saunders and Downing on the first nine.” Then, the short-game skills which had deserted Rory in his 1930 match against Burke, were very much in evidence as he stymied his opponent on no fewer than four occasions over the next six holes.

The upshot was that the Killiney man was two up with three to play and he secured victory with a half in five at the 17th. For his  part, Murray shocked O’Loughlin by winning the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh to be one up at that stage. And he held his nerve to overcome the Ennistymon butcher, who was known locally as Mickey the Meat (pronounced mate), in a tight finish.

The 36-hole final developed into a battle between the short-game expertise of Saunders and the determination of a highly-competitive opponent. And the Killiney player generally had the edge. In its report of the match, the September 1934 issue of “Irish Golf” informed its readers: “With two such players as Rory Saunders and Paul Murray in the final, all looked forward to an engrossing match.”

It went on: “Saunders is a deliberate player; Murray one who goes all out for everything. What Murray may lack in finished golf, he makes up for by gallant endeavour. It proved to be a capital match, the Killiney man winning by 3 and 1. Saunders played the better golf and had a two holes lead after doing the first 18 in 74. Murray became a little tired in the evening and was four down at the 10th, but by no means disheartened. It was a really jolly match to watch.”

On Tuesday, August 13th 1935, “The Irish Times” informed us that the South of Ireland had opened the previous day “in glorious weather.” It also informed us that the holder, R M Saunders, was brought to the 17th by Tom Brindley, a local man who would become president of the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1965/’66. And that O’Loughlin, the perennial favourite in Burke’s absence, was comfortably through at the top of the draw.

As it happened, both men also won their next two matches to qualify for a semi-final clash at the top end of the draw. And in its report of the match, the man from “The Irish Times” observed that Rory “again played very steady and convincing golf, but had his work cut out for him to beat the local hope, Mick O’Loughlin, who made a very good start by halving the first in five, and winning the second and third in three, four. He, however, lost the Klondyke to a four.”

The report went on: “This turned the tide and even though O’Loughlin, who found the rough off a few tee shots, made excellent recoveries, they were of no avail against the accuracy of the holder, whose figures were 74 against 75 and who had a comparatively easy victory by 3 and 1.” Given his figures and the quality of his opponent, this was probably Rory’s finest win in the “South”.

“The Irish Times” report of the 36-hole final carried the headline: “Another victory for R M Saunders, Holder brought to 34th by J Garahy.” Rory’s Galway opponent proved to be the surprise packet of the championship, not least for a comfortable, fourth round victory over Stanley Martyn.

It read: “It was a splendidly contested match to the 33rd, but the holder was the steadier throughout and his accuracy stood him in good stead against the tremendously long, wooden-club play of Garahy, who is the only amateur who ever carried the famous Klondyke bunker from the tee.

“But abnormal driving does not always pay at Lahinch; it rather penalised Garahy. He was often in trouble from his phenomenal drives, but his recoveries were excellent and his putting sound. Thus the match produced a grand struggle. Although badly bunkered at the sixth (the current, short sixth was then the fifth) off a tee-shot that carried over 250 yards, the challenger turned all square, winning the eighth and ninth.  Garahy’s drives to the 12th and 13th were off the line and he lost both. And a two (birdie) at the 16th gave Saunders a three-hole lead.

“The Dublin player’s second to the 17th was in the rough and he required three putts at the 18th. This meant he started the afternoon round only one up.”

By the time they had reached the fifth tee the second time around, however, Rory was four up. Then we are told that “Garahy almost holed the eighth in one, his ball from the mashie shot touching the flag-stick and remaining a few inches from the hole. But Saunders, by holing a four-yarder for a two, halved it.”

So, the Killiney man remained four up starting the homeward journey for the last time. Though Garahy rallied once more to win the 11th , 12th and 14th in birdie, par, birdie, the match eventually ended on the short 16th. Killiney had a provincial champion for a second successive year, this time by a margin of 3 and 2. And Rory’s victim in the opening round, Tom Brindley, had the compensation of winning the Reluctants’ Cup, with a net 72.

Less than a year later, Rory was to discover that John Burke’s absence from the South of Ireland had its down side. It made the Lahinch man all the more determined to win the other championships in which he entered. Like the West of Ireland title of 1936 when Rory had mounted his best challenge for the event, by reaching the semi-finals.

Two years later, he had another great run at Lahinch. On this occasion, however, the irrepressible O’Loughlin exacted revenge for a semi-final defeat of 1935. But the close rivalry between Rory and Mickey the Meat was once more in evidence when the final went to the second-last green, before O’Loughlin captured the title by a 2 and 1 margin.

Though Rory’s achievements stood apart, the Saunders family have made a splendid contribution to Killiney GC over the years. Two of Rory’s brothers, Diarmuid, known as the Goo, and Kevin (the Bullet) were members of the club, playing off 10 and 14 respectively. And the family tradition has been maintained by Tony.

Given his father’s prominence in the club, it was entirely natural Tony should have become a junior and then a full of member Killiney, where he represented the club in the Irish Senior Cup. And there were always the older members who enjoyed nothing better than to reminisce about the time that Tony’s father had taken the  South of Ireland trophy down from Killiney to Lahinch and back again in the same week.