KILLINEY GOLF CLUB

Chapter 5 - Our professionals

In the autumn of 1967, the Leinster Alliance held their captain’s prize at Milltown, where most of the country’s leading professionals were in action, despite decidedly hostile weather. In the event, the scoring was remarkably good and there was no doubting the popularity of the leading professional, Danny O’Brien, who returned a net 67 off scratch.

At the time, Danny was honorary secretary of the Southern Branch of the Irish Professional Golfers’ Association (IPGA). He had also completed close on six years as professional at Killiney, where he set a standard, which was to become a splendid example for the current incumbent. As it happened, in the Moran Cup at Donabate that year, a promising young assistant named Paddy O’Boyle from Elm Park, was tied 14th behind the winner Christy Greene, with rounds of 76 and 74 for a 36-hole total of 150.

“Danny was a wonderful teacher and he had a magic touch with me,” recalled tournament professional Des Smyth. “Indeed he was so good that were he alive today, I have no doubt he would be in the top rank of golf coaches, anywhere in the world.”

The impact of Danny O’Brien served to emphasise the admirably sound choices Killiney made through the years, in the appointment of club professionals. It seemed to take a while for the founder members to find the right man, but in time, an admirably solid sequence was achieved.

There were, in fact, three professionals at the club during the first two years of its existence, Eddie Martin, father of the late Ryder Cup representative, Jimmy Martin, Pat McKenna and William Jeffreys. McKenna later went to Rathfarnham while Jeffreys was succeeded by James Davies, who held the position from August 1905 until June 1916.

When Davies was appointed in August 1905, he was expected to fulfil the functions of professional and greenkeeper, while his wife would be caretaker and general manager of the clubhouse, all for a combined wage of 30 shillings per week. Davies was almost four years into his tenure, when the minutes of a special committee meeting on May 22nd 1909, noted this letter informing them that he was “Resigning from his position as Caretaker of Clubhouse and Caterer.” (It would appear that he had been required to take over these duties, which were originally assigned to his wife). In the event, the secretary was “directed to write to Davies stating that the Committee accepts his resignation and is willing to re-engage him as Professional and Greenkeeper at a salary of two pounds (40 shillings) per week. The Committee will take over the sale of balls and if the result is as satisfactory as the Committee hopes, the advisability of giving Davies an increase of salary will be considered.”

Meanwhile, by way of proving that there were ill winds working to somebody’s good, even at the end of World War I, misfortune for Stillorgan Park GC meant a decided stroke of luck for Killiney. After a relatively short time in existence, the Stillorgan club, situated close to the present St John of God Hospital, became defunct. Which left their professional, Willie Holley, without a job.

Though he was at Killiney for only three years before taking what proved to be a lengthy appointment at Castle, his impact was considerable. “That was a time when golfers had to be golfers,” he later recalled with pride.

His popularity at the club was reflected in a decision in February 1910 to give him £2 towards any expenses he might accrue in competitions around that particular time.

Tom Gaffney replaced Holley in 1921. It was an appointment which would lead to a father/son sequence, similar, for instance, to that which other clubs would enjoy in later years, as with the Kinsella family at Skerries and the McCaverys at Lahinch. Meanwhile, the club had launched the first of what was to become a sequence of professional competitions, which, though dominated initially by local-man Holley, were greatly appreciated over a period of 25 years, until 1950.

As part of Open Week in July 1925, Holley won a 36-hole professional event by three strokes from Tom Gaffney, with rounds of 74 and 73. And in an 18-hole event a year later, top prize went to the Royal Dublin clubmaker, Fred Smyth after a course-record 69, which stood until the course was extended five years later. Gaffney was five strokes back in third place, while Holley had a disappointing 77.

There was also a member/professional fourball competition, which was won by Jack Quinn, in partnership with S Martin Ashlin, the club president, with the fine score of 10 up.

Gaffney’s performance in those professional events would have been considered quite admirable, given that he was essentially a teacher who made only the odd foray onto the competitive scene. We are told that he had an enormous affection for the course, while his teaching skills created a lasting bond between himself and a grateful membership.

While Gaffney was a gifted teacher, the club encouraged him to maintain a competitive edge, as can be gleaned from the payment of a gratuity of £7 for him to play in the Irish Professional Championship at Castlerock, in 1933. And a £5 cheque was paid for the “T Gaffney Gratuity” in 1928. The quid pro quo, however, was that where club duties were concerned, he was expected to be on the course at 8.0am, though he could “go back for breakfast.” He was also expected to be in attendance at the club for the whole of Saturday, though he could take a half-day on Tuesday.

His son Willie was becoming established as Tom’s successor when the club had a visit from a representative of the magazine “Irish Golf” late in 1955. The scribe, “T M”, later reminded his readers that while Harry Bradshaw had shot a 65 around Killiney in 1943, 70 had been broken only once there is competition over a period of 40 years. As indicated above, that was by Fred Smyth in an invitation event in 1926 on what was then an appreciably shorter layout.

Danny O’Brien, who started out as an assistant at Co Louth, had graduated to the role of resident professional at Ennis before moving to Laytown and Bettystown in 1954. It was during eight years there that he guided the golfing fortunes of outstanding players such as Declan Branigan, Des Smyth and his older brother Val, before moving to Killiney at the end of 1961.

While colleagues such as Christy O’Connor, Harry Bradshaw, Jimmy Martin, Norman Drew, Ernie Jones and Christy Greene were competing on the then embryonic European Tour, O’Brien was satisfied he could make a good living from his shop at Killiney and giving lessons to the members. So it was that he began work each morning at 8.30 and remained active throughout the day, whatever the weather.

Older members will recall how Danny would stand close by the first tee, making gentle comments about players’ methods. It was noted that not long afterwards, many of those under scrutiny would visit him in the professional’s shop, to arrange a lesson.

After leaving Killiney in 1975, for Baltray, Danny’s final professional appointment was at another nine-hole stretch, at Tralee. And when he died in London in 1980, while on holiday with his daughter, his passing was noted by the eminent “Irish Times” golf writer, Paul MacWeeney, who credited him with having “helped a great number of men and women to become better players. And they came from far and wide to enjoy his words of wisdom and profit thereby.”

On Sunday, June 25th in Millennium Year, Paddy O’Boyle celebrated 25 years as professional at Killiney. And to mark the occasion, the club staged a golf classic in his honour. Two years on, the professional recalled the day with considerable pleasure, recalling that the club “looked after me very well.”

In an age when professional golf tends to revolve around six-figure cheques and jet-set lifestyles, it is refreshing to meet a professional whose concerns have to do essentially with such mundane matters as the concerns of club members. That was the way Paddy O’Boyle learned his craft, firstly as an assistant to Kevin O’Connor at Elm Park.

From there, he went to Donabate as successor to Kevin Neill and later spent four years as professional at Co Longford before arriving at Killiney. Here, he was confronted with the formidable challenge of following the much-loved Danny O’Brien, and met the challenge with calm assurance.

By his own admission, Paddy derives more satisfaction from teaching the game and watching pupils develop lifetime golfing skills, than he does from actually playing himself. And through significant changes to the layout in recent years, he has seen the development of an outstanding nine-hole stretch, which can fully test his pupils.

Outstanding young assistants such as Peter O’Brien, Paul Heaney, Dara O’Neill and Keith Mongan, prospered under O’Boyle’s guiding hand. “We discovered a closeness, which is one of the great benefits you get at nine-hole courses,” he said. “Of them all, I suppose Peter O’Brien, who is now coaching at Stepaside, had the most potential.”

A keen appreciation of the basic mechanics have made Paddy one of the most respected and accomplished instructors in Irish golf, a role he has combined with the various other duties of a modern-day club professional. He subscribes to the well-established truism that with the passage of time, there have been no dramatic discoveries about the golf swing; the only thing that has changed has been the approach to teaching. In this respect, Paddy is a traditionalist.

“Of the biggest changes I have seen in the game since my arrival at Killiney, the most significant has been in shaft technology,” he said. “From the unpredictable, early days of graphite, modern materials are now delivering wonderful consistency for the player, so improving the overall standard of ball-striking.”

Sport has been in the blood since his youth. He was an accomplished Gaelic footballer and showed potential as a boxer before switching his attention to the more sedate pursuit of the Royal and Ancient game. He enjoyed a privileged career-introduction to golf, given that he was a member of Sutton, home of the legendary Joe Carr who celebrated his 80th birth- day last February (2002) and remains an icon for aspiring golfers.

During his time with Kevin O’Connor, when the Swinging Sixties took on a rather different connotation than that associated with the Beatles, Paddy was greatly influenced by the teaching skills of such legendary figures as Sir Henry Cotton and John Jacobs. “I was fortunate to have had the benefit of coaching sessions with both of them and they helped me enormously,” he recalled.

On the occasion of the Paddy O’Boyle Classic, loyal service extending over a quarter of a century, was acknowledged in a special way by club members and friends within the golf industry. And their gesture was warmly acknowledged by Paddy, his wife Rosemary and their children Caroline, John and Niall.