Fairway to heaven if you're after celeb pics — or compliments — in Adare
Kian Egan poses for a selfie with fans at the JP McManus Pro-Am, Adare Manor, Limerick. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy
There’s not much that could drag sore heads out of bed for a very early morning start — but the world’s top golfer is one of them.
And a tired, but wired, Adare crowd was out in force for Scottie Scheffler this morning, who took his first shot just after 7:40am this morning.
The winner of the 2022 Masters Tournament finished in 44th place yesterday, with Tiger Woods just behind him in 45th.
But most of us here today weren’t too worried about the individual leaderboard — it’s all about the show, and Tuesday’s line-up promised to deliver.
There was Dragon’s Den star, Peter Jones, lining up beside Tiger Woods; Premier League royalty John Terry, Alan Hansen and ‘The King’ Kenny Dalglish taking on homegrown hero Páraig Harrington; and the Westlife lads, Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne, out with Luke Donald.
Rugby champ, Keith Wood, was also on the course earlier today with Former Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, while former jockey, Ruby Walsh, teed up beside fan favourite, Jordan Spieth. The aforementioned (excluding McCreevy) was mobbed by the crowds with a very amiable Wood remarking to one fan ”it’s like Game of Thrones out here.”
Of course, the real frenzy was once again reserved for the ‘Adare Manor’ team — today made up of Bill Murray, Niall Horan and Phil Scott.
The latter standing in for Jamie Dornan who is out after reportedly injuring his back — but this didn’t stop the Fifty Shades star heading to the clubhouse bar, where some lucky fans grabbed selfies.
Both Murray and Horan were in flying form today as they headed down to the green, with one Irish Examiner reporter getting an unsolicited compliment from the Hollywood star.
“Nice outfit,” he called after me, as hundreds of fans behind barriers stood on either side of the walkway, shouting “Bill, Bill, Bill!”
“Who? Me?” I asked, momentarily forgetting I was a journalist with a job to do. After confirming that he was in fact talking to me, I quickly fell into line, asking him whether he’d ever been to Cork.
“I guess I have… that’s where my mother’s family is from.”
Where exactly?
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, “I get lost pretty much everywhere.”
When we reached Tee 1, an already giddy crowd erupted as Murray started waving his hands from side to side shouting ‘When I say ‘What?’ you say ‘WHAT!’
Niall Horan, already tittering at Murray’s antics, further fell into a fit of giggles as a random attendant scorned the golf team and journalists who had co-opted the green just as the Adare team’s competitor — US pro golfer Sam Burns — was about to tee off, blocking those in the crowd who had been queuing since the wee hours.
Alongside the list of celebrities and pro golfers, there were amateur golfers who have been playing for some very worthy Mid-Western organisations.
Barry Leddin, who is playing as part of the Saoirse Addiction Treatment Centre team alongside Eoin Hanrahan and Sean Carey, was all smiles this morning as he walked out of the clubhouse ahead of his match with Spanish pro — Rafa Cabrera-Bello.
Also in good form was John Doyle, who is playing with Paul Knight Jnr and Joe McGrath for Munster Heart Foundation. Yesterday he teed up alongside Kinsale man, John Murphy. Today, it is Xander Schauffele who is currently top of the leaderboard finishing at 8 under par yesterday.
“This guy is number 11 in the world,” he says, sounding like a man on cloud 9.
“Smashing guy,” he says, adding that he got to have a chat with him at Saturday night’s draw.
“My daughter got a picture with him and with Jordan Speith, so she's delighted!”
Also happy today were local boutique owners who were benefitting from €10,000 vouchers, reportedly hand-delivered by JP McManus himself to some of the top golfers' wives in the Manor over the weekend.
The voucher scheme is just one more part of the tournament’s charitable drive, with participating shops in Adare committing to donate 20% of their proceeds to a list of local charities which include Milford Care Centre, Cuan Mhuire and St Joseph’s Foundation.
Kay Mulcaire, who owns Isobel Boutique and Marc Cain, said her staff have been working 8am to 8pm in recent days, to accommodate an influx of ladies looking for outfits for tonight’s gala dinner in the Manor.
“We’ve been wiped out of stock,” she said gleefully, “we had a massive range of Diane Von Furstenberg... it’s all gone!”
“If this is what it’s like for the Pro-Am — imagine what it will be like for the Ryder Cup?”
Our conversation was cut short by the arrival of Shane Lowry’s wife Wendy Honner, who was immediately surrounded by every available assistant in the store.
Down the road, local fashion designer, Aoife McNamara, was busy with a customer when I arrived.
“We’re very lucky to have JP on our doorstep,” she says, when I ask how business has been the last few days.
The 27-year-old Limerick School of Art and Design student said the past few days have been great for getting her brand on the map with international visitors — though she doesn’t yet know if any of the golfers' partners with large Instagram followers will be wearing her luxury, sustainable pieces at tonight’s gala dinner.
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