Roddy Carr
December 2023
It’s great to see Christy and my father JB at the ages of 46 & 48 in the twilight of their careers promoting Irish golf in this 1970s Golf in Ireland video. They were the two most famous names in Irish golf for 25 years during a time when the Amateur game was equal in status and popularity to the pro game. Both dominated their respective ‘status’ in the game winning over 100 events between them.
It reminded me of when JB was personally invited to play in his first Masters in 1967 by Bobby Jones. He wore green every day and my mother Dor would spend hours knitting green bobbins for his white golf caps that he wore with great pride to promote his Irishness and would become synonymous with his appearances in the USA.
Three years prior to his Masters appearance he was selected ahead of Christy to appear in the the ground breaking television series ‘Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf’ against Al Geiberger in Killarney simply because he was more famous at that time. Christy unfortunately could not afford to travel to the USA with such a large family and many believe he would have won Majors had he been able to do so.
Both now are members of the American Golf Hall of fame along with Padraig Harrington and no doubt Rory at some time in the future. We are lucky in Ireland that our great players over the generations have always been proud to promote their Country and are great Ambassadors internationally. We as a family are particularly proud that our father led the way in this regard.
Watch the ‘Golf in Ireland’ promotional film here
