Irish trio living it up down south

THE golf industry may be in a state of flux in the current economic climate but three young Irishmen are managing to find their way in some of the most ideal circumstances — an exclusive country club in America’s Deep South.

Corkmen Aaron O’Callaghan and David Daly, as well as Limerick’s Colin McNamara, are all on the staff at Louisiana’s Baton Rouge Country Club, attending to the golfing needs of a select membership fiercely protective of its Rees Jones-designed course.

Both O’Callaghan, from Douglas, and Muskerry member Daly are assistant professionals at “The Club” while McNamara is a summer intern there on secondment from Mississippi State University’s Professional Golf Management Programme, run in conjunction with the PGA of America.

O’Callaghan, who graduated in December 2009 from nearby Southeastern Louisiana University which he attended on a golf scholarship, has been at Baton Rouge CC since February 2010, and is completing his first year of a three-year PGA professional programme and is enjoying every minute of his time at the club, working alongside four club pros.

“I have two of my best buddies here which is fortunate and it makes working here very, very easy as well,” O’Callaghan said. “Working my way through the books, finishing my first year pretty shortly and once I get through my three years I’ll be a fully qualified PGA Professional.

“I’m doing a lot of teaching but I signed on as a Titleist staff player, so I’m working on my own game and a lot of this job is playing. I’ve also played an Adams Tour event in Baton Rouge, which was my first event as a full-blown professional. Tied 33rd, not too bad.

“So I’m really enjoying my new lifestyle in Baton Rouge and I feel very lucky to be at a place with great membership as well as great facilities.

“I’ve been giving a lot of lessons and certainly enjoying the teaching aspect, as well some competitive golf in my section events called the Gulf States PGA. These are mostly one-round events on Mondays as many clubs are closed that day.

“My game has been solid and I am looking forward to competing in some larger events when as I move through the PGA books.

“The people are extremely friendly here and the club members have made me feel very welcome.”

O’Callaghan was so impressed by his surroundings he sold the idea to Daly, who having spent some time at the University of Minnesota alongside Niall Turner, finished his degree at UCC.

Daly joined the staff on June 1 and they were soon joined by McNamara, the 22-year-old younger brother of fledgling touring pro Cian McNamara, who attended East Tennessee State University.

And one of the perks for all three golfers is the chance to play alongside members on the traditional parkland course, built in 1916 and redesigned by Rees Jones in 2007 with input from local former US PGA champion, David Toms.

“There’s no outside play whatsoever, and just the occasional guest, which there are strict rules about, and it’s the best course in the state I’ve played, a fantastic layout,” O’Callaghan said.

“They enjoy having us and listening to the Irish accents and we get on very well with everyone. It’s fun playing golf with the members, which we all get to do quite often.”

Having played competitively through college after a successful schoolboy career in Ireland alongside Turner, McNamara and Rory McIlroy, O’Callaghan still harbours ambitions of playing full-time as a touring pro himself and has had no second thoughts about his chosen pathway to that goal.

“I decided to take the PGA route and become a qualified PGA professional before I pursue my goal of playing on tour.

“Looking back at my decision to take a scholarship to an American university to play golf I can safely say I have no regrets. I would encourage a teen to pursue that route to professional golf. It’s an amazing experience to play the different courses against the world’s best amateurs.

“It’s no pushover to balance college, practice, conditioning, tournaments, travel and a social life and I feel it trains a person what to expect if they wanted to play for a living. It has been very encouraging to see so many fellow college competitors ripping it up on tours around the world. I feel the route of the PGA professional is the correct one for me at this stage. I have lots to work on in my game before I can expect to play against Rory and Co. I will be three years wiser, financially secure and I am always learning.”