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Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘I have to give credit to those three men' — How trying to become Bryson DeChambeau almost cost Jonathan Keane his South of Ireland dream
His mentor JD Smyth, who was the last local Lahinch member to pull off the feat in 1968, was by his side offering advice on the victory speech. It was an emotional end to a long, painful road for the 25-year-old second school teacher from Kilfenora, and perhaps the start of a magical new journey, as he recounted how he overcame a crippling back injury that almost ended his career and birdied the last to beat Dundalk's Caolan Rafferty one up and spark joyous scenes in Lahinch. Hundreds had given up the chance to watch Kerry win the All-Ireland football title, or Pádraig Harrington claim the Senior Open, to watch one of their own win the 'South'. Keane was emotional at the finish as he hugged his trusty caddie Noel Sexton, fell into an emotional embrace with his parents and supporters and then thrust his arms in the air as he was chaired from the green in triumph. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. But what of the injury that kept him out of golf for almost three years? "I got injured at the start of Covid," he recounted. "I was doing a lot of practice. I kind of got into the mindset of trying to drive the ball an absolute mile — the Bryson DeChambeau effect. "I was doing an awful lot of gym work, but I had nothing to do during Covid, so I used to go down to the beach and hit about 250 balls a day. And after about six months of doing that nonstop and doing too much gym, the body just gave up. "I had herniated discs in my lower back. It was very bad, and I was about two-and-a-half years without any golf. I tried every sort of a thing. I didn't want to go down the route of surgery, and after about three years of being out of the game, I finally got back into it about two weeks before the South in 2023." What happened before that is a testament to the network at Lahinch Golf Club, the efforts of members Dr Gerry O'Sullivan and Dr Conor O'Brien to find a solution and the strength and conditioning expertise of former South of Ireland champion, Robbie Cannon. "Your mind is just thinking, will I ever golf again, because some nights you'd be waking up with pain and couldn't fall asleep," Keane said. "So it's just unbelievable now that I've come back from that and managed to win the competition I've always dreamt of.' Getting back to full fitness was no easy feat. "I tried a few things and they had failed, but Gerry O'Sullivan and Conor O'Brien came together. Conor O'Brien brought me up to Galway clinic and identified a nerve that was in trouble. "I got an epidural injection into my lower back that kind of numbed the pain for a while. And then during that time, I went up to Robbie, and we got a strength and conditioning plan, so gym work, and I kept at that. "I must have kept at it for about seven months and then I finally got back playing. So I have to give credit to those three men there for helping me come back from that injury.' Keane shot rounds of 82 and 78 at Lahinch to miss the cut comfortably in the 2023 South of Ireland. But he slowly recovered and started to show his potential this year, reaching the quarter-finals of the West of Ireland. It all came together on Sunday, when he beat Edmondstown's Liam Abom 2&1 in the semi-finals as 2018 champion Rafferty played the first five holes in five-under en route to a 5&3 win over Grange's Jake Whelan. Two up at the turn, Keane was just one up after 11 holes, but after winning the 12th to go two up again, he abandoned his policy of playing the 15th down the 14th, found heavy rough and lost the hole to Rafferty's incredible par-saving flop shot from heavy rough right of the green. "Maybe I wasn't thinking 100 percent at the time," he said. "I did hit a great tee shot in the morning. I said, I hit it down the middle of the fairway, and I did, and I tried to do the same thing this evening, but I probably should have hit it down the 14th like I was doing earlier in the week.' He lost the short 16th too, taking three to find the green after Rafferty hit a brilliant tee shot to 10 feet. Pegged back to all square there was a chance the dream could evaporate, but after making a nerveless eight-footer for par at the 17th to remain all flat, he drilled a 240-yard five-iron to 50 feet at the 18th and two putted for birdie and victory as Rafferty failed to get up and down from short of the green. "I don't know what to say, really," he said afterwards. "Absolutely delighted. "As I was saying, this has been my dream since ever I joined this golf club, and for it to come true, it's absolutely unbelievable. Just thrilled. Thrilled.' Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship, Lahinch Semi-finals: Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) beat Jake Whelan (Grange) 5/3; Jonathan Keane (Lahinch) beat Liam Abom (Edmondstown) 2/1. Final: Keane beat Rafferty 1 up.
Irish Examiner
09-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Increased green fees set to push Lahinch Golf Club income to €3.8m
Record green fee income of €3.3m at Lahinch Golf Club last year contributed to the club making an operating surplus of €1.72m. This year, the club has increased green fees to €375 for non-members to play a round of golf at its 'iconic' Old Course. In his report to members, outgoing chairperson John Gleeson said that on foot of the 2025 green fee increase, 'we expect our revenue from green fee activity to exceed 2024 levels'. The 2023 US Masters champion and now LIV tour member, Jon Rahm won the Irish Open staged at Lahinch in 2019 which raised the course's international profile. US golfers usually make up a sizeable chunk of the green fee income and the annual report shows that arising from green fees increasing to €375 from April 22 to October 10, Lahinch Golf Club is projecting that its green fee income will increase to €3.8m in 2025. Mr Gleeson said that while members' annual subscription income increased to €1.23m in 2024 'we continue to rely very heavily on revenue generated from green fee visitors'. Last year, the club's golf shop alone generated €1.38m in revenues from the sales of Lahinch GC branded clothing and accessories and other items, contributing a gross profit of €611,318 to the club's finances. Mr Gleeson said that the operating surplus of €1.72m 'has allowed us to rebuild our finances with our contingency fund of €2m in place, while providing additional funding for our clubhouse project'. Construction work continues on the upgrade of its clubhouse, which is now almost 60 years old and Mr Gleeson said that 'the tender price was €6.6m which is a major undertaking for the club'. "We look forward to having the 'new clubhouse' completed ahead of the Walker Cup in 2026,' Mr Gleeson said. Mr Gleeson said golfing activity was at record levels by both members and guests and the Castle Course saw a large increase in usage by members. The club's finances were also boosted by new members spending €245,000 on 'overseas life memberships'. The €3.32m in green fee income along with €1.23m in members' subs and the €681,141 golf shop gross contribution contributed to overall revenues last year of €5.42m. Staff costs in 2024 increased from €1.88m to €2.08m. At the end of December, the club's equity increased to €10.7m. The golf club's cash funds increased from €3.57 million to €3.78m.
