Cork golf business forced to cut driving range by 'young bulls' loses unfair dismissal case

The business at Frankfield House in Douglas decided to reduce the number of bays on the driving range by two-thirds due to stray golf balls hitting nearby properties

The Ryans operate a golf range, golf school and restaurant at Frankfield House. File photo: Niall O'Shea

A Cork golf business which shrunk its driving range due to stray golf balls hitting nearby properties has been ordered to pay €4,000 to its greenkeeper for his unfair dismissal.

In the case before the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Adjudicator Michael McEntee stated that there was “a definite business case" for the redundancy in 2020 of Gary O’Sullivan by Colman Ryan, Margaret Ryan and Michael Ryan of Frankfield House, Douglas, Co. Cork.

The Ryans operate a golf range, golf school and restaurant at Frankfield House and ordering the Ryans to pay Mr O’Sullivan €4,000 in compensation in addition to the €16,000 redundancy payment he has already received, Mr McEntee said that the manner in which Mr O’Sullivan's redundancy “was handled was open to question”.

Redundancy procedure

Mr McEntee stated that a redundancy requires detailed prior consultation with the employee being made redundant and alternative employment suggestions have to be considered by the employer. He also said that normally the employee is first informed that “he is at risk” and then follow-up meetings take place until an eventual final redundancy is arrived or is not arrived at.

Mr McEntee said that the employee is allowed professional representation and an opportunity to seek professional advice before accepting any final offer and an appeal against the decision is also generally offered at this stage.

He said that “regrettably none of these procedural steps took place here” and the August 15, 2020, letter to Mr O’Sullivan was effectively a “fait accompli” and a finding of ‘Unfair Dismissal’ has to be the adjudication conclusion.

Mr O'Sullivan commenced work on October 22, 2007, when the business also operated a golf course and ended on September 25, 2020. Mr O'Sullivan told the hearing that he was left "feeling hurt and upset after many years of long service".

Stray golf balls

At an adjudication hearing in April, Michael Ryan provided the background to the business reducing in size necessitating the redundancy of Mr O’Sullivan. He said since he started coaching, technologically-advanced drivers in the hands of physically stronger players meant balls were flying further and further.

He said:

I call them young bulls. These young lads these days are so big and powerful.

He said a drive of 260-270 yards was once typical for a “gentleman golfer”, but ordinary players could now send the ball some 350 yards from the tee – but their aim had not improved and the problem of stray balls was worse.

Once, he said, a player teeing off from the fairway at their course “carried it 150 yards over a petrol station, over a secondary road, and embedded it in the windshield” of a car parked at a garden centre on the Kinsale Road, Mr Ryan said.

With safety concerns mounting the golf club was wound down in 2014, Mr Ryan said, and the course was “growing grass”. The driving range remained open, but stray balls kept landing in the adjoining housing estate, he said.

Mr Ryan said that the business had to replace at least one window in every house in the nearest row. Mr Ryan decided to reduce the number of bays on the driving range by two-thirds – effectively reducing their remaining business by that amount and that meant there was no longer a need for Mr O’Sullivan as greenkeeper.

The hearing was told that the redundancy of Mr O’Sullivan “was a business survival issue”. From the driving range's point of view, it was a regrettable business decision, but Mr O'Sullivan had appeared quite happy to take his statutory payment and soon after secured an alternative position.

Mr Ryan said shortly after he told Mr O’Sullivan of Whitegate, Co. Cork, that he was being made redundant on August 15, 2020, a stray ball off the course hit a man in the face.

Mr Ryan said he had paid €2,000 to the victim to cover dental surgery along with further physiotherapy costs, and continued to correspond with the man and pay any medical bill which arose.

In his findings, Mr McEntee stated that Mr O’Sullivan returned to employment on or about October 21, 2020, albeit on a three-day week basis from November 2, 2020, and returning to a five-day week at Castlemartyr Hotel on March 20, 2021.