Waterville Golf Club mourn passing of Noel

IRISH golf is this week mourning the passing of a man who was one of Irish golf’s greatest ambassadors and can only be described here in Kerry as a golfing legend.

I speak, of course, of the late Noel Cronin of Waterville, who died suddenly on Saturday last in Orlando, Florida, during his annual visit to the PGA Golf Show, which is held at the Orange County Convention Centre each January.

Noel retired last December at the age of 75 from his post as manager of Waterville Golf Club where he had reigned supreme for over thirty years, but he had agreed to stay on in a “meet & greet” capacity for the 2020 season.

Although known to golfers world-wide for his kindness and exceptional welcome to the famed South Kerry links, Noel Cronin had lived all his life in Waterville and was not only a great ambassador for his hometown club, but for Irish golf also, such was his global reach.

The PGA show at Orlando was something he looked forward to each year for the past twenty years or so, as he usually made a holiday around the event, where he could be found on the Ireland Golf stand, promoting Waterville, Kerry and Ireland with his friendly demeanour.

I last met him in November when I played Waterville with three friends, and he was waiting for us outside the front door of the clubhouse when we arrived wearing his Waterville blazer, to welcome us like we were family.

He asked me then if I was going to the show where we had previously met on a few occasions that I did attend, and he told me how much he was looking forward to going again and meeting all of his friends in the golfing world. It is, therefore, somewhat ironic that he passed away whilst on international duty, representing his beloved Waterville.

A native of the south Kerry town, and having left school at a relatively young age, Noel spent most of his working life in the hospitality industry in Waterville, dealing mainly with visitors who came on fishing trips. But when the golf course took off in the early 1970s, he went to work at the Lake Hotel, which was owned at that time by the Mulcahy family, who also owned the golf club, and so began his involvement in the golf industry.

He was elected captain of Waterville in 1987, and when the new owners took over from the

Mulcahys that year, they offered him the position of Starter/Caddy Master, which he accepted, before becoming Secretary/Manager two years later in 1989.

Noel was one of the old-school type of Secretary/Manager, who believed in meeting visitors personally, whilst at the same time looking after the daily needs and interests of his members. All the while he built up the Waterville brand nationally and globally, and never forgot a name. Even if he hadn’t seen you for ten years, he’d meet you with a warm, firm handshake and call you by name, which is what endeared him to so many people.

The re-design of Waterville’s course by Tom Fazio in the early 2000s, the development of the hugely successful International Member-Guest and Father & Son tournaments and, of course, the new clubhouse, were highlights of Noel’s tenure in charge, while he also welcomed such famous names as Tiger Woods, Payne Stewart, Ray Floyd, Ernie Els and Nick Faldo when they came to play the magnificent links.

When Noel was named Secretary/Manager of the Year in 1996, he was presented with the trophy by the late Jerry Dunworth and

Minister for Sport at the time, Enda Kenny, and in 2017, he received the Jerry Dunworth Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Golf from the IGTOA (Irish Golf Tour Operators Association), an award he so richly deserved.

On a personal note, Noel was very friendly with my late father, Sean, who was Secretary/Manager of Ballybunion at the time, and the two of them were in weekly, if not daily, contact by phone throughout the golfing season before my father retired, as Noel would regularly want to get a fourball of Americans on the timesheet in Ballybunion and Seán would regularly want to do likewise in Waterville, so they traded all the time.

I knew Noel for over thirty years and when I took over the writing of this column from the great W D O’Grady in 2002, Noel telephoned me to offer his congratulations and told me that I should never hesitate to contact him if I needed any news about events at Waterville.

When I took him up on his offer on several occasions, he always came on the phone and we’d have a chat for ages not just about golf but everything from football to politics, and he was always interested to know what kind of a season we were having in Ballybunion.

I recall one very special memory of Noel on an occasion when Waterville were hosting the Dr Billy O’Sullivan final, and I had travelled down to cover it for The Kerryman and, of course, we met.

He offered me a coffee and we sat outside on the balcony with Noel puffing on his pipe and chatting away. Before I knew it, all five matches had teed off the first and

I had to make my excuses to get away from Noel to go out on the course and follow the golf.

When it was all over, Noel was trying to persuade me to stay in Waterville that night, offering to put me up at his house, such was his generosity, but I declined as I had something else on that night.

In fact, I had planned to visit Waterville again in the spring of this year to interview Noel and his successor Mike Murphy, about Noel’s new role within the club and Mike’s plans for the future, but now sadly Noel won’t be there when I visit again. I’m sure that Mike and others at Waterville will share their wonderful memories of this incredible man who was Mr Golf in Kerry.

The tributes have been pouring in online and in the print media since the news of his passing came late on Saturday night, and from reading the tributes and memories that people have of him, one thing is very clear: he was extremely popular and loved by all who met him.

It’s hard to believe he’s gone, and his passing leaves behind a huge void in golf as he was the last of a unique breed of administrator. We won’t see his likes again. Rest in Peace, Noel.