GUI pays tribute to Pat Mulcare

"HE had the gift of instinctive, natural golf - a gift the Lord gave to him," remarked the president of the Golfing Union of Ireland, Eamon Curran, speaking yesterday of Pat Mulcare, one of the best amateur players this country has produced, who passed away over the weekend, at the age of 51, after a battle against cancer.

When Mulcare, belatedly in the eyes of many observers, made his one and only Walker Cup appearance, fittingly enough at the home of golf in St Andrews in 1975, television commentator Peter Alliss described him as "the sweet swinging Irishman", and, certainly, he established a reputation for being one of golf's cleanest strikers of a ball.

Yet, as his one-time Irish international teammate, Arnold O'Connor, now teaching professional at Elmgreen Golf Centre, recalled: "Patsy was absolutely self-taught, totally individual. He was a quick player with a quick swing, but he was very, very accurate and a very good iron player."

Naturally enough, being a Kerryman, his early sporting passion was Gaelic football, but he also caddied at the famous Ballybunion links, training which would enable him to spot a ball even in the rough from over 200 yards throughout his own playing career.

As a 20-year-old, he was a relative latecomer to competitive golf, although his natural talent was immediately evident when he won two, successive captain's prizes in Ballybunion (the first off a handicap of 12, the following year off three). And it was a newspaper reference to the Dalkey-based Garda's feat in shooting a then course record 67 at the Kerry links in his second success which alerted Curran, then the honorary secretary at Woodbrook, to Mulcare's potential.

At the time, Mulcare was considering joining Clontarf, but he was cajoled into opting for Woodbrook, and so started a 30-year relationship, during which time he won the East of Ireland championship on three successive occasions (1971-73) and the South of Ireland championship, in 1971, when he beat Ted Higgins in the final.

"I'm convinced he should have won even more titles," claimed Curran. "But Pat played the game the way the founders envisaged, putting his opponents at ease on the first tee and he was always nice to them, no matter how tense the match.

Mulcare, who was to see his handicap tumble from 12 to plus one, made his international debut in 1968 and went on to play for Ireland for 13 years (in Home Internationals, European Championships and Quadrangular Internationals), while also gaining recognition with selection on the Britain and Ireland team against the Continent of Europe in 1971, the Walker Cup team in 1975, and the European team against South America in 1978.

The consensus among his peers is that Mulcare should have been selected for Walker Cup honours in 1971 and 1973, but he was overlooked on both occasions. As Sean Walsh, the secretary/manager at Ballybunion when Mulcare took up the game, commented: "He had an unbelievable natural talent and possessed the most magnificent hands. He should certainly have been in the Walker Cup team in 1973, but it was different in those days: once you were Irish you had to be twice as good."

Still, his performances in the 1975 match with the US confirmed his quality. Mulcare beat Dick Siderowf - who had won the British amateur championship in 1973, was a semi-finalist in 1975 and winner again in 1976 - in his opening singles and, on the second morning, teamed up with Scot Ian Hutcheon to defeat Jerry Pate and Siderowf in the foursomes.

Indeed, there was an intriguing footnote to his win over Pate (who went on to win the US Open in 1976) when, some years later, Mulcare was a spectator at a tournament in the United States. Pate spotted the Irishman, invited him inside the ropes to the practice ground, handed him his driver and asked Mulcare, who was in his walking shoes, to hit a few shots before turning to the crowd with the words, "This is the guy who beat me in the Walker Cup".

Mulcare left an indelible mark on Irish amateur golf. "He was one of the nicest guys you could meet, very sociable with no airs and graces despite his achievements," said O'Connor, a remark embellished by Curran. "He loved nothing more than to go out for a four-ball with friends. He was well known and loved by everyone. I couldn't pay high enough tribute to him.