Hugh’s shirt rivals green jacket at Augusta

Hugh O’Keeffe is the Irishman who added a touch of gold to the green of The Masters at Augusta last week.

The new addition to Bubba Watson’s wardrobe wasn’t the only topic on the minds of Irish golf followers on Twitter since the weekend.

Instead, the identity of the young man wearing a Kerry jersey amongst the azaleas and towering pines was dominating the social media forum.

Yesterday Hugh (16) revealed how he found internet fame at one of the most acclaimed golfing venues in the world.

“We live in Dublin but my dad is from Kerry originally and I have been supporting Kerry since I was a child.

“I decided I would bring the jersey to Augusta to see if it would get any recognition. I wore it on the Thursday and Friday and the reaction it got was incredible. People were coming up to me all day long; the majority had been to Kerry on holidays and were asking my dad and myself if we knew different pubs, people and golf clubs! I wore it again on the Friday but I got very bad comments on Twitter. I had black socks, white shorts and the jersey on — it was very badly put together. It was pretty dreadful.”

Hugh travelled to Augusta with his father Gearóid, who won the trip as the top prize in a Kerry club draw. Gearóid explained: “We live in Stillorglin, Dublin but I was born in Cahersiveen and have a house in Kells Bay, Kerry where we spend a lot of time. I was down playing golf in a Christmas competition in Dooks and bought a ticket for the Laune Rangers GAA fundraiser. And the rest is history.”

And he too was blown away by the reaction of Americans to the famous football top. He said: “We were stopped by dozens and dozens of people both Irish and Americans. Some even wondered if he played for Kerry.

“But it wasn’t just the Kerry jersey which people recognised. I had a Dooks Golf shirt on and the reaction to that was incredible was well.”

And the golf wasn’t bad either, according to Gearóid: “It was a wonderful experience. We followed Bubba Watson around for seven or eight holes and also saw Rory McIlroy, Pádraig Harrington and Tiger Woods in action.”

Laune Rangers secretary Terence Houlihan explained how a Kerry club had produced such a prize.

“We are always trying to come up with new ideas for fundraising. A few years ago we had a top prize of a trip on the British and Irish Lions tour. This year the top prize was a trip for two to theMasters and second was to the Grand National on Saturday.

“We were selling the tickets at €20 each. Obviously a prize like a trip to the Masters was quite expensive but we still came out a with a decent enough profit. I play a lot of golf myself but hadn’t seen him at Augusta. Then I started getting texts and we were mentioned by Des Cahill on RTÉ Radio One.

“The money is going towards the day-to-day running of the club. We have had a lot of development done over the last 10 or 15 years and it is tough going. In general we have two or three fundraising events each year to keep things going.”

And will we see the famous jersey, which was autographed by Kieran Donaghy, at any other sporting event in the near future? “I’m not sure,” explained Hugh. “I might frame it after all the publicity.”