GOLF CAN SURPRISE YOU WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT
He won All-Ireland Football titles with Down in 1960, 1961 and 1968 as well as eight Ulster titles, three National League and six All-Star awards. Nowadays, Seán O’Neill’s great battle is with the golf course, where he dreams of someday returning to Pebbl
1. How’s your golf?
I wouldn’t be boasting about my ability at all but golf can surprise you when you least expect it. I holed a freak shot from the fairway for a birdie four in the Fintona Pearses Golf Classic for the Michaela Foundation at Fintona in Tyrone on Saturday last. It went straight into the cup like a rat down a hole. Remarkable. It was a great day for Mickey Harte and his family.
2. How did you get started in the game?
It all began at Warrenpoint when I was 15 or 16, playing with friends. I was a member there for many, many years. It’s a wonderful course. Nowadays I play with friends at great courses like Malone and Royal County Down and many more.
The problem for me is that football took over and golf was a time-consuming game, so I wouldn’t play on Saturday if I had a game on Sunday.
3. How low did you get?
I got down to 11 at one stage but I am not laying claim to any great skill level that’s for sure
4. What’s your greatest golfing memory?
Losing the captain’s prize at Warrenpoint! I had been unofficially declared the winner with only a couple of groups to come in but of course, another lad came in and matched my score and I ended up losing it on the second nine. But that’s sport. You have to try to learn to treat the wins and the losses the same.
5. Warrenpoint has a great club spirit.
It’s got a great GAA connection. St. Mary’s Burren has a great connection with the club.
6. What’s your favourite Irish course?
Royal County Down, easily. I think it’s the finest course I’ve played though I once played Pebble Beach on an All Stars Tour in 1972, shortly before Jack Nicklaus won the US Open there.
7. The Golden Bear inspired many. Who was your great inspiration?
I first came in contact with Gaelic football with the Christian Brothers at the Abbey Grammar School in Newry. And I had one of the greatest coaches the game has ever known in my view, Gerry Brown. A gentleman of the highest order. He would never coach a team to do negative things and so I got a great grounding in sportsmanship there.
Then, when I went to Queen’s, I came under Paddy O’Hara of Antrim. They were extraordinary, exceptional people who could stand comparison with anyone in the game today.
8. You won three All Ireland Football titles with Down. Which one gave you the most satisfaction?
In 1960. Down became the first team from the Six Counties to win an All Ireland. That was very special. All the people involved were very special. Cavan had won from Ulster, but so many great teams from the Six Counties had come close before us.
I believe that win opened the door for Derry, Tyrone and Armagh. Dr Maurice Hayes was the man behind the success of that team. We travelled in first class if possible because he believed in investing in the team.
9. They say Dublin are ahead of the curve now. Was the Down team of your day ahead of its time?
Well, we were fitter than everyone else because we started training in October, twice a week. We knew we could burn teams off in the last 15 minutes. It’s a huge advantage. They used to joke that Kerry didn’t start training until the Tralee races were over!
10. Do you enjoy the modern game?
I do. You can be critical, but the game evolves. I don’t like possession ‘ad nauseum’ because the spectators don’t like it. At the end of the day it is inefficient. The ball moves faster than the man. But Dublin can mix it and move that ball rapidly too with 40-yard passes to the wings. That’s what we did years ago.
11. Why has Ulster produced so many fine golfers, especially in the professional game?
Golf is a big game in Ulster and has been for a long time. There’s great coaching. We love it. Look at the youth programmes at Warrenpoint. And it’s not about winning at all costs.
12. Name your dream fourball?
I’d play with people I liked, not superstars. I could pick any number of fourballs. Superstars can be a pain sometimes.
13. Who are your favourite golfers?
Of the modern players, young Jordan Spieth is an example to all. And his achievements so far are unbelievable. It will be interesting to see how he goes on. Then Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. I saw Arnie at Portmarnock in the Canada Cup with Sam Snead in 1960.
14. Did you see Christy O’Connor Snr that week?
Well, I remember him winning the Irish Professional Championship at Warrenpoint. He checked into the Balmoral Hotel, didn’t touch a club, turned up the next day and proceeded to take the course apart. What a player he was.
15. Who was the rival you most admired?
Mick O’Dwyer of Kerry. He was a wing-half back then and I played a number of big games with him in Croke Park, including that 1960 final. His ability has been overlooked somewhat by his success as a manager.
He had an innate talent and he was highly intelligent. It was a battle of wits because he was a tremendous fielder and a great positional player. Only occasionally could I get him into a position that would be advantageous to me. He was tough and hard but fair. I had great respect for him as a footballer.
16. Who is the top Gaelic footballer of all time for you?
Sean Purcell of Galway. He was the total player. A brilliant individual and team player. He made Frank Stockwell. They called them the Terrible Twins, but he was 90 percent of them thanks to his passing. And a sportsman to his fingertips.
17. What would you change about the modern game?
The cynicism that’s there. In the closing minutes of the All Ireland final this year there was mass fouling off the ball all over the field. That’s totally unacceptable. We saw the GPS incident. It showed desperation and fear of losing and I am sorry to say it was the Dubs who were mostly to blame.
I give Jim Gavin great credit because by and large, they have played with great sportsmanship, but they fell below their own standards of sportsmanship there.
18 If you could play one last game of golf, where would you tee it up?
Pebble Beach. That game I had in 1972 was a fabulous experience.