AT THE MACGINTY’S family home in Cornagill in Letterkenny, there’s a painting of the 16th hole at Rosapenna Golf Club.
It’s the work of a local painter called Robert Taylor Carson, who was requested to do so by the late Padraig MacGinty after he scored a hole in one there in the President’s Cup many moons ago.
“We’re not certain of the year but it was before I was born,” Pádraig MacGinty Jnr, the 47-year-old son – who lives now in Downings and is the owner of North West Hearing Clinic – says of his father’s ace. “It’s been said it was the late 1950’s but I’m not sure.
“About 15 years ago, I was playing Rosapenna in the Mevagh Cup and managed to get a hole in one at the exact same hole. I remember going to visit my father that evening – he was in hospital at the time – and I told him that he owed me a painting.”
The painting of Rosapenna’s 16th still resides in Letterkenny with Sally MacGinty, the wife and mother of the two gentlemen who posted holes in one at it.
On Sunday with barely a cloud in the sky, 15-handicapper Pádraig was playing with his son, also named Pádraig (pictured above), a 15-year-old Junior Cert student at Loreto Milford, and their friend Johnny Martin.
On the 16th, young Pádraig teed off with a 6 iron.
“It was a good shot straight away,” his father says. “But we could see it lie so although it appeared to be very close to the pin, it was still sitting up. We said on the way to the green that it was unfortunate as it would’ve been a great coincidence if three generations – all of us with the same name – could’ve grabbed a hole in one at Rosapenna.
“As it turned out, the ball was just nestling against the pin so when Pádraig took the pin out, the ball just fell into the cup. Everyone who plays golf knows how hard it is get a hole in one so it’s just a remarkable coincidence.”
After following in the footsteps of his father and his late grandfather, young Pádraig, who plays off 21, continued his fine form and on the par-five 17th lipped what would’ve been an eagle but was content with a birdie, which took him to victory in the Sunday Club Competition on 35 points.
Here’s the video …
Tags:
