Golf Architects/Designers: Christy O'Connor Jnr.

Christy O’Connor Jnr. born 19 August 1948 in Galway, Ireland. He is known as “Junior” because he is the nephew of another leading Irish golfer Christy O’Connor. After turning professional in 1970, Irish golfing legend Christy O’Connor Jnr was at the forefront of the PGA European Tour for over two decades. He won seventeen times in seven different countries during a very successful career on all PGA tours. Christy represented his country on fourteen occasions including the World Cup, the Alfred Dunhill Cup, the Double Diamond, the Hennessey Cup and the Ryder Cup. His most memorable being the 1989 Ryder Cup matches at the Belfry when he defeated the then world no.1 Fred Couples, when he hit a magnificent two iron to the 18th green which created a one hole victory and helped Europe to retain the Ryder Cup.

Christy joined the European Seniors Tour in 1998 and the US Senior Tour in 1999. He claimed his first title at the State Farm Senior Classic near Baltimore after surviving high temperatures and a late challenge from Bruce Fleisher to win by one stroke. He returned to the North of Ireland in July of that year and won his first major title the Senior British Open at Royal Portrush. He won in the US for a second time in mid August of 1999 at the Foremost Insurance Championship near Grand Rapids. In 2000 he returned to Northern Ireland to defend his Senior British Open title at Royal County Down. He became only the second player to defend the tour’s major championship when he won the event by two strokes.

Since then Christy has played on both senior tours in Europe and the United States, but his real love these days is the creation of golf courses throughout Europe and now on an international level. Over the past 16 years Christy O’Connor Jnr. has turned much of his attention to golf course architecture and his portfolio now consists of over 30 golf courses throughout Ireland and Europe. This has earned him a reputation as one of the finest golf course architects in the country, so much so that his talent and expertise are now being sought on an international level. Some of his projects in Ireland are the Mount Wolseley in Tullow Co. Carlow, the magnificent new course at Headfort, Kells Co. Meath, Galway Bay Golf and Country Club, Co. Galway and most recently PGA National, Palmerstown House, Naas, Co. Kildare. In the Algarve, Portugal he designed the Oceânico O’Connor Course in the Amendoeira Golf Resort.