Local greenkeeper plays part in exciting Ryder Cup

While some volunteers were paying €200 to get the chance to be a steward at last week"s Ryder Cup, one local man saw a dream come true when he was part of the team of greenkeepers charged with keeping the prestigious Valhalla course in top shape for the event. Paul O"Donoghue from Baconstown, Enfield, is graduate from the College of Horticulture at Warrenstown College and took up an internship with the Ohio State Programme for International Students which saw him work at Muirfield Village and Valhalla Golf Clubs over the past year-and-a-half. Paul is a son of Brian and Anne O"Donoghue and attended Baconstown NS and St Fintina"s Post-Primary School in Longwood before beginning his studies at Warrenstown College. Even while at school, he had a keen interest in greenkeeping and did summer work at Rathcore Golf Club which was being developed by Mick and Austin Lyons. He also undertook his three-year work placement at Rathcore during his studies and his mother Anne said that even when he was home at Christmas, he couldn"t wait to go up to Rathcore to work for a few days. Mrs O"Donoghue said Paul has always had an interest in golf and greenkeeping and thanked his lecturer, Colm Dockrell, at Warrenstown for his help. It was Mr Docknell who had arranged the internship in America for Paul. Paul started in Columbus, Ohio, at the Muirfield Village course, where he was based from March to December 2007. After Christmas, he spent three months studying at Columbus University and then got the placement at Valhalla in March. Anne said Paul had been 'really looking forward' to the Ryder Cup and it was a 'great experience' for him. She added that it would have been the 'icing on the cake' if the Europeans had won the prestige trophy. Paul was allotted certain greens and holes to look after, though there was panic when the tail end of Hurricane Ike wreaked havoc on the Kentucky course as the Europeans began arriving for the competition. A television tower toppled on one of the greens in Paul"s charge and, while it was removed, Mrs O"Donoghue said Paul and the team had to fix up the damaged ground and re-sod it. There were also a couple of trees down around the course and Anne said the team had been working 24-7 to sort it all out. The Ryder Cup is all over for another year and with Paul"s visa also due to expire, he will be arriving back in Ireland on Monday, no doubt with plenty of stories to tell of his great experiences in the US.