O’Brien set for international honours

SEVENTEEN-year-old Pat O’Brien will become the first member of the ten-years old Fota Island Golf Club to achieve international honours when he plays for Ireland in the European U18 Championships in the Czech Republic at the weekend.

The members of the Douglas club will also be celebrating the selection of Aaron O’Callaghan on the team as Cork players make up one-third of the six-man team.

The recognition of Pat O’Brien by the international selectors is regarded by the management at Fota Island as confirmation of the value of their youth policy as administered by the club’s junior officer, Paul Hughes, and club professional Kevin Morris.

Morris stressed the importance of all clubs operating development programmes for juvenile and youth players with the comment: “Golf can be expensive and young players can have difficulty in securing membership.”

He added: “Here at Fota the club has a very good attitude towards juniors. They encourage them to play in competitions. There are coaching sessions on the first Saturday and last Sunday of every month for them.”

Morris pointed to the provision of top-class practice facilities at Fota as a major bonus for ambitious young players and paid tribute to Killeen Investments, the company that owns Fota and Mount Juliet complexes.

He said: “The company is very supportive of our youth programme. The company would love to see some young players come through and play international golf because of the facilities they have provided.