Cian O’Connor Interview with Seamus Duke
On Wednesday 13th August Cian O’Connor returns to his American college, the University of Memphis for his fourth year, and after an eventful summer he is looking forward to finishing this part of his career stateside.
Cian, a member of the famous O’Connor golfing family, is part of a remarkable group of young golfers in Roscommon who have grown up together and have all become top class players. Cian, Thomas Higgins, Simon Walker, Alan Hill, the Connaughton brothers, David Hill and Fionn Hoare all grew up together and played golf through their teenage years and have progressed to the highest levels at amateur golf.
This summer Cian won the Connacht Strokeplay championship in Galway and was part of the Roscommon Golf Club teams that made history by winning the Connacht finals in both the Barton Shield and Senior Cup.
Cian and Thomas Higgins have been at college in the USA for the past few years and the ultra competitive world of golf at third level there is a huge part of their development as players going forward.
Both Cian and Thomas have to return to their American base before the club All Ireland finals in Cork at the end of August which is a big blow to Roscommon’s chances of glory.
Speaking to me before he went back to the USA this week, Cian told me first about the split between academic work and golf in Memphis “Well, the academic work comes first and everyone has to keep up a certain standard academically and if you don’t reach that’s standard you are not allowed play in the various tournaments.”
“This year will be especially busy because there is a lot going on early in the year. My speciality is finance and that’s going fine at the moment. I was going to do biology at first but that didn’t work out but the finance course is good and I’m happy with that.”
So what about the golf coaching? “A lot of the coaching is performance based but they will help you technically if you need it. But everyone on the team has their own swing coaches. Some of the players have coaches who are based close to the college but I go to Shane O’Grady who is based here in Ireland.”
Cian says there are plenty of major competitions in the USA for his college team. “We have six major competitions when I go back, two in September and four in October so it will be very busy but I enjoy competing and I’m looking forward to it.”
So where did it all start? “I started here in Roscommon. When I was very young I used to come in with my dad (Albert) and my sister Chloe. I just tagged along at the start and I have been playing here since.”
Cian says that to have had a group of lads all the one age who were interested in golf was a huge help. “There were always lads the same age as me playing. We started to compete against each other and played mini Ryder Cup style matches and sometimes we played twice a day.”
“We started to enter competitions then, like the U-12 competitions and whatever was on, and we moved on into secondary school. We won the All Ireland schools title which was a huge achievement, then we won the Fred Daly (an All Ireland team championship for clubs for U-18 players) and we won another All Ireland schools title after that.”
“We all grew up together playing and the teams that won those competitions were very similar. Even up to this year with the Senior Cup and Barton Shield team we have always been playing together.”
So which part of his game does he feel needs the most work? “I suppose the mental approach to the game is very important. We put in a lot of time doing technical stuff but the mental end of the game is very important for sharpness when you are playing in a tournament so we keep working on that.”
So, looking ahead what does Cian see ahead? “The end goal would be that I would love to play golf professionally but there is a long way to go between now and that point and I have a lot of improvements to make. But I feel I’m in the right place (in Memphis) and college is a huge help with that because you are competing at a high level all the time.”
So when year four is over what’s the plan? “I’ll probably come home at the end of this academic year and I’ll try to figure things out after that. I haven’t put a lot of thought into that so far but we will look at that over the next few months”
Cian says that winning the Connacht Senior Cup and Barton Shield with Roscommon Golf Club was the highlight of the summer. “I really enjoyed representing the club this summer along with all the lads I grew up with and played with. It’s great to play those team events because golf is a very individual sport. It was fantastic to have the Senior Cup final in Roscommon because so many of the members were able to come out and support the team. It’s a pity we (he and Thomas) cannot be there for the finals but we will be wishing them all the best from afar.”
There has been an explosion of interest among younger people in golf in Roscommon with huge numbers of young people joining over the past year or two, so what is Cian’s advice to young beginners? “When you start off it’s just about enjoying the game and to get to play with your friends. A lot of people don’t have a group of friends to play with and when they come to mid teens they lose interest but if you have a few friends that play then all the better. Even if you spend most of the day chatting rather than playing when you start off, it builds the relationship. But to enjoy it when you start off is the most important thing.” he concluded.
Everyone at Roscommon Golf Club wish Cian all the best as he starts his 4th year at the University of Memphis. He is a wonderful representative for our club.
