Mary Bergin believes Monkstown can deliver
Mary Bergin (Monkstown) in her role as Starter at the AIG All-Ireland FInals at Douglas Golf Club Photo: Inpho
When Mary Bergin looks back at the start of her golfing journey, it is hard to believe how far the game has taken her.
There was no grand plan when she first picked up a club. The decision to begin playing was born out of a desire to be involved.
For years, Bergin and her husband Maurice attended a hotel conference where a round of golf would take place before the event got underway.
While he headed out to play some of Ireland’s finest courses, she was left behind in their hotel room.
“I said I can do that,” said Bergin.
“There'd be beautiful courses like Mount Juliet and Killarney and I'd be sitting in the hotel room, and my husband would go out and play golf.
“Why am I sitting in a hotel room when I could be out playing golf?”
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More than three decades later, that moment has led Bergin from the fairways of Cobh and Monkstown to Golf Ireland’s Munster office, national championships, and this week, the AIG Women’s Junior Cup All-Ireland Finals at Millicent.
Bergin has been part of the Monkstown Junior Cup panel for nine years. Now, alongside her teammates Niamh Clohessy, Elayne Hickey, Hilary Harte, Susan O’Sullivan, Vanessa Fitzgerald, Una Hegarty, Aisling McDonald and team captain Ralph Hosford, she will travel to Millicent hoping Monkstown make history.
The Cork club has never won the AIG Women’s Junior Cup in its 118-year history, with this week marking the first occasion they will make an appearance at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage.
Bergin’s own route into golf began in Dublin, where she grew up in Goatstown in a family with a golfing connection. Her mother played at Elm Park, although her own sporting interests initially lay elsewhere.
“I grew up listening to golf and in a golfing background,” said Bergin.
“I played a lot of sports in school, hockey, netball, badminton, squash, all that type of thing.”
After moving to Cork in the mid-nineties and following her husband on to the fairways, she took lessons from Morgan O’Donovan at Harbour Point before joining Cobh, initially wanting to dip her toe in the water. It wasn’t long before she dove straight in.
When an opportunity arose to join Monkstown, which was closer to home, she made the move in 2001 arriving as a 26-handicapper.
“They were very welcoming in Monkstown,” said Bergin.
“I was a 26-handicapper, but I was a good 26-handicapper so I was instantly put on teams and the experience was very good.
“I really enjoyed playing golf. I started to play a lot and I came down quite quickly and started playing championships.” Intermediate, Junior Cup, Senior Cup, Senior Foursomes and Mixed team competitions would follow, while in 2007 she was a part of the Monkstown team that reached the All-Ireland finals of the National Mixed Foursomes.
Her commitment to her newfound love was so strong, that even running a guest house could not keep her away from the course.
“I used to divert the work phone to my phone and take reservations and bookings while I was playing golf, hoping I wouldn’t double book,” said Bergin.
“I never lost a booking and never double booked. It was the only way I could get out to play.” The more Bergin became involved in the game, the more she wanted to give back.
A former hotel manager who worked in South Africa, London and Ireland, she spent years working in a demanding industry where finding time for volunteering was difficult. When her three daughters grew up, she finally had the time.
“I always felt that you should give something back,” said Bergin.
“I love being involved in a team and organisations. When I was in working in the hotel business, you couldn't do anything like that because it was very hard work.
“If sport gives you something, you should give it back if you can.”
Bergin has volunteered with Golf Ireland since 2015, first representing Monkstown on the ILGU before taking up a role as Chair of Tournaments and now as Munster Regional Secretary.
She has also served Monkstown in several roles, including handicap secretary, involvement with competitions, the club’s annual Ladies’ show and is currently secretary of the club committee.
She has also managed teams across Intermediate, Mixed and Junior Cup competitions.
One of the highlights of her involvement with the club came through a Get into Golf programme where she managed around 60 new players.
For Bergin those numbers are about more than just growing female membership. They represent people finding the same sense of belonging that she found when she first stepped through the doors.
“I love the community spirit,” said Bergin.
“I see it in some of the women in Monkstown when they get widowed. The next thing, they’re all in, they’re all flocking around the new widow and bringing her around for coffee. They mind each other.”
That sense of community is one of the reasons Bergin remains passionate about golf and why she believes the connection between clubs and Golf Ireland is so important.
“I would like to see going forward that we keep the connection between Golf Ireland and the clubs,” said Bergin.
“We’re there, we’re visible, we’re talking, we make them see that we’re there for them.
“The clubs have voted for us, so we're there for them.” Her own experiences in playing and running events has given her an appreciation of the new generation of players coming through.
She fondly remembers meeting Katie Poots, Olivia Costello and Anna Abom early in their amateur careers and has enjoyed watching them flourish.
“To see the young people coming up and to see from where they started to where they are now is great,” said Bergin.
“To see Katie doing so well now is amazing. Olivia, she played in Castletroy in the Munster championship, and she was nine years of age and to see her so committed even at that age was amazing. Anna as well, she played in Tipperary in the Munster championship and she was so quiet and so mannerly and to stand up on the tee box and whack it down I said oh my god.”
Her passion for the game has also been passed down to her children. Bergin’s three daughters, Claire, Sarah and Ciara, who like their mother have been involved in a number of sports, also played junior golf when the family would take holidays in Blainroe.
Her eldest, Claire, joined Monkstown two years ago and recently represented the club in the Women’s Challenge with her proud mother on the bag throughout the event.
For Bergin, the connection between generations of families is one of golf’s greatest strengths.
“It’s a sport that a mother or granny and a daughter can play,” said Bergin.
“You can go out at any level because of the handicap system, and you can play together. Very few sports have that.” Now the focus turns back to Monkstown and the AIG Women’s Junior Cup.
The panel has put in the work, with the players having travelled to Millicent several times to familiarise themselves with the course and preparations have been going well as they look forward to a massive week.
“There’s a huge buzz around the club,” said Bergin.
“The girls have been fantastic with their commitment for practice and to play in the Junior Cup. There’s a great team spirit which we haven’t had in the junior section for a while.”
Bergin will travel as part of the eight strong squad and although she has been involved with Junior Cup panels for almost a decade, this time there is an extra feeling of excitement as they prepare for a potentially historic occasion.
When Monkstown defeated reigning champions Tipperary in the Munster East area final, Bergin was thousands of miles away in Saudi Arabia after the birth of her grandchild. She watched the drama unfold online, following Niamh Clohessy’s crucial comeback on the 18th hole.
“Niamh was down early doors and then she came back to be one up on the 17th,” said Bergin.
“On the 18th Niamh went for it and got over in three and two putted, and it was unbelievable.”
After years of playing, organising, managing and volunteering, Bergin will travel to Millicent and no matter what happens, the journey has already been remarkable, but if Monkstown could secure a first Junior Cup pennant by Friday evening, it would mean the world.
“There would be no words,” said Bergin.
“I would love to see us do it because we are a very passionate club and it would be great for the younger people coming forward. It would be very good for Munster and for Monkstown.
“There's been a lot of work put into it. It's great and I hope it pays off.”
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