Caolan Rafferty has etched his name into Irish golfing history as the first amateur to conquer all four provincial championships, completing the coveted ‘Compass of Ireland’ with a dramatic North of Ireland win at Portstewart, writes Ronan MacNamara
Move over Rory McIlroy, there’s a new slam winner in town!
And while the Career Grand Slam winners’ club has six members – Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and now McIlroy – the Irish amateur provincial slam is an exclusive club with only one name on the list: Caolan Rafferty.
In September, Rafferty won the North of Ireland Amateur Championship at Portstewart to complete the four points to the Irish golfing compass alongside his South, West and East of Ireland titles.
Rafferty is as laid-back as they come; he doesn’t indulge in his now legendary status, but he has all winter to figure out how to deal with it.
“It’s still a bit mad that no one had done it before,” Rafferty says when asked if the feeling has sunk in yet. “I actually spoke on the phone to someone recently, and we kind of still said the same thing, that I can’t believe no one’s done it yet. But again, to have that now after my name, is a nice feeling, even though I’m still trying to figure it all out.”
Rafferty’s achievement is circumstantial while also showcasing his incredible longevity in the amateur game.
While Raymie Burns (1989) and Jack Hume (2010) won the Boys Provincial Calendar Grand Slam, even completing the Career Slam in the men’s provincial championships had proved mission impossible for Irish golf’s historic figures.
Of course, the likes of Darren Clarke and Hugh Foley, who needed the West and East respectively, turned professional before completing it, as did some of our other elite talents, but a career in the pro ranks wasn’t for Rafferty. Still, at the North of Ireland, he would have his once-in-a-lifetime moment.
“It had been mentioned to me a couple of times. I wasn’t going to play the North, but it just happened that work and everything else worked out nicely for me to play it that week,” Rafferty says, highlighting the balancing act that comes with being a working amateur.
“It had been mentioned to me midway through the season that if I got to play the North, it’d be a chance to do it. It wasn’t the main reason I went, but it was definitely one of the reasons that I stuck with going to play it and trying to give myself a chance to do it.
“It was nerve-racking – definitely more nerve-racking than I thought I would ever experience. I would be one for keeping calm and chilled most of the time, but I was bouncing around that golf course for those last 18 holes, different scenarios running through my head, and trying to focus on golf was nearly a secondary thing.”
Caolan admitted that he’d never felt pressure like that which he experienced during the final round at Portstewart (Photo: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo)
The Dundalk man completed a wire-to-wire victory, leading from the front, literally. Out in the first group in round one so he could do an afternoon custom PING fitting up the road in Portrush, he fired an opening 68 to lead after day one, and he managed to hold on for the duration.
And in some ways, the tough conditions he and the other competitors faced on the opening day helped.
“I hadn’t played Portstewart in years,” he said. “The first morning, with the weather being as bad as it was, might have been a godsend, because it was really just a case of keeping the ball in play and chipping it around, and I holed a few nice putts midway through. But it was a very unlike-me round of golf – a birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey, sort of scenario. But it definitely put me in position from the get-go, and I never really looked back then.”
In the final round, Rafferty had plenty of challengers snapping at his heels with Andrew Mulholland and Ben Willis leading in the clubhouse at two-under, leaving him needing a late birdie to get over the line.
But he held his nerve with a clutch par save on 16 and a magnificent birdie on 17, before a par on 18 saw him secure his place in history and for his nine-month-old daughter, a place in the trophy for herself.
“I think probably the putt on 16 was the biggest one, because I hit an awful first putt that left me in that five- or six-foot range and I said to myself, ‘if this doesn’t go in, the likelihood of you winning this tournament is very, very slim’. And even at the stage when I did hole it, it was still a case that a playoff could be on the cards, because 17 and 18 aren’t that easy of a finish. But I saw out of the corner of my eye who was there, and my caddie – in fairness, Kyle, he’s been good to me all through the years – he just kind of said, ‘come on, win it now instead of letting it go on too much longer’.
“I spoke about that a wee bit with Stuart [Grehan] recently – he won the Irish Amateur Open and had his child there – it’s a class feeling to be able to do that because it’s not something you ever had before, and obviously it changes your life a lot. So, to have these moments is going to be nice to look back in the future and see it.”
Rafferty’s loved ones followed him everywhere he went this year and their presence at championships has helped change his outlook on golf. The winning feeling is even more enjoyable, while the bitter sting of defeat at the South in July didn’t leave as deep a scar as it might have.
“I have to get out of the house a bit more. It’s that or change nappies. So, I probably played a bit more golf than I should have,” Rafferty laughs.
“But no, even at that, it just changes your whole outlook on what a tournament is. It’s a lot more relaxing, especially when they’re with you. I had Haley [his wife] and Maisie [his daughter] down at the South this year and had a quite good run there as well. So, they might have to come to a few more tournaments next year.
“I know, coming away from Lahinch it was a better pill to take, in one sense. But again, it’s not easy to give yourself these opportunities. I actually rang Colm Campbell on the way home and said if someone said to me at the start of the week you’d be in the final and you might be beaten on 18 where you have a chance, I would have taken it, hand and all.
“Johnny Keane played better golf that day, holed the putts when he needed to. I struggled at the start, but it was an opportunity, and who’s to say if I won, would I have played the North and not be in the position I’m in now.
“They travelled all around the country this year to any tournaments I was in. They were in Lahinch. They’ve been the ones keeping me where I am. Would I still be playing all these championships? Potentially not. Haley always eggs me on to play them and keep doing what I’m doing. There might be days where she gives out that I’m at a tournament, but at the same time, would be very much backing me in continuing on. I do owe a lot to them for what has happened to me over my career, but definitely even more so in the last number of years, probably just keeping me interested in playing.”
Caolan Rafferty celebrates with his eight-month-old daughter (Photo: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo)
Rafferty won the first of his amateur titles at the 2018 South of Ireland, where he beat Rowan Lester on the 20th hole in Lahinch – a victory he credits as his hardest to date. He won a strokeplay edition of the West of Ireland in Rosses Point a year later, then came the Walker Cup call.
Then studying in Maynooth University, it seemed that he was destined to leap into the pro ranks. But as the likes of Conor Purcell and James Sugrue took the plunge during COVID, Rafferty dug his heels in biding his time as a greenkeeper at Dundalk Golf Club.
That turned into a labour of love before he transitioned to PING. He parked any thoughts of turning professional and hasn’t regretted his decision.
“COVID was probably the biggest thing,” he recalls. “Back in 2019, after the Walker Cup, I had the choice to make and finishing my college degree was kind of what I said I was going to do. I wasn’t going to waste two and a half years just to throw in the last few months of it. So that held me up, and then COVID came. We were locked down. There was no Q-School. There was no real reason to turn pro because there was nothing to play in.
“Having said that, I see the lads that did turn pro at that time doing quite well. James and Conor are obviously flying, which is great to see, but for me at the time, it was just a decision I made not to do it. And then, obviously it went so long that it went out of my head nearly completely, and amateur golf was just what I was going to do.
“I wasn’t working. I was just in college, living the dream, as I call it, playing golf in the summer, and heading back to college then for the winter. But it was a decision that I had to make because I was moving on in years. ‘What am I going to do here when I have my college degree? Am I going to use it?’ Well, it turned out that I didn’t use it at all. I went greenkeeping – I fell into the greenkeeping really, I just got a phone call asking if I could help the lads out – and from that, I’ve got to where I am now working with PING.”
Rafferty’s East of Ireland victory last year was definitely the most dramatic of the four wins.
Having three-putted from the side of the 18th green at Baltray with victory seemingly at his mercy, he left a packed gallery stunned into silence. But as he gathered his thoughts and contemplated how he had managed to throw it away again after several near misses in his home event, Max Kennedy’s failure to birdie the last in the group behind brought him out of his misery.
“I remember sitting on the bank with Haley, and I just said I can’t believe I’m after doing it again,” he explained. “And obviously the word came up that Max didn’t birdie 18. I still didn’t want to believe it until it was confirmed in the scoring hut. Everyone was congratulating me, but I was like, ‘let’s wait for an announcement from officials, youse are all just lunatics running off the 18th green all excited’. It still took a little while to sink in that it was actually done because the three-putt on 18 wasn’t my finest moment – that 18th hole in Baltray definitely owes me one in the future. It’s cost me a few times, and I get plenty of slagging and abuse over it.”
Now aged 32 and with all four regional championships won, countless Ireland caps and a 2019 Walker Cup appearance under his belt, one might think Rafferty can bow out at the very top.
But his motivation is still there. Not known as a range rat, he has already begun his winter work with just one goal in mind, a second Walker Cup appearance, this time on home soil as Lahinch is set to play host next year.
“I made the decision that I’m going to knuckle down with everything that’s coming up next year,” he enthused. “Let’s be real about it, Lahinch would be a nice one to sign off on an amateur career in one sense, if I stop playing or take more of a backseat after it.
“I absolutely want to give it a run next year. Give the best account of myself, give the best version of myself, and see if it is enough to potentially play a Walker Cup on a golf course that I absolutely love. I’ve contacted my old coach Dougie who is back on board, and I’ll get a few lessons and try to do a lot of work over the winter and hit the ground running in the New Year.
“It will be class; the golf club are so proud of what they are and what they can host. The people in Lahinch are unbelievable. They look after you from the minute you arrive so it’s shaping up to be an absolutely amazing event.
“I reckon the South next year will be the biggest field it’s been in a long time, which is only right. I know it was similar at the North one year. We hope it helps, because we all want the best fields possible to play in. Obviously, you don’t want it too strong to give yourself the best chance, but as a field you do want to have the best players in it. So, fingers crossed a few more lads come over and get to play a bit more golf in Ireland.
“I’m not going to be the only Irishman busting a gut next year to try to make that team. I see Dean Robertson’s been reappointed as captain, so he’s going to have plenty of headaches no doubt with the number of Irish lads that are going to be hitting the ground running. That’s partially why I’m interested in actually doing a bit more than I normally would do over the winter to give myself the best chance to do it. So hopefully, fingers crossed this time next year.”
Rafferty was one of three Irishmen on the GB&I Walker Cup team in the 2019 contest at Royal Liverpool alongside Conor Purcell and James Sugrue and it’s fair to say that the first tee nerves are real.
“It’s the best week of your amateur career in one sense,” he recalls. “You get to meet up with lads that you don’t really know, because it’s a team that’s made up of four countries. So you get to experience that from a week out, and sort of start gelling with each other – there’s a lot of fun involved in it too. It’s obviously a very serious competition, but there’s sort of the fun aspect to it and that really makes it an enjoyable week. We got to play really good golf courses around Hoylake that week as well, and getting to know your teammates, because we don’t get to do that too often, is a big thing.
“Just getting to play team golf is always class. So, it’s definitely memories I have forever and every now and then, the odd video pops up and I’ll always watch back and just try and relive it a wee bit.
“Team golf is nearly bigger now because we really are coming towards the end of potential chances to do it. So, every chance you do get, you want to take it with both hands and give the best account of yourself. I always say, once the call comes and you’re asked to represent your country, you’re never, ever going to say no, unless something drastic happens. I’ll try and keep doing it for as long as I can.”
Caolan Rafferty celebrates victory at Portstewart
(Photo: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo)
Next year will be a challenge though. Rafferty’s role as a custom fitter for PING means he spends a lot of time on the road. The life of a working amateur is a difficult balancing act.
“Your time for holidays and time for downtime is quite limited, especially when you’re working full-time as well,” he explains. “It’s annual leave to take you to these places, so they have to be very understanding that a day off for me is going to be on a golf course at a tournament.
“It’s just been a tricky one to balance in the sense that, when I was working on the course, there was a little bit more flexibility with the lads, because it was obviously for the golf club, and if my boss there didn’t let me have a day off to play a tournament, he’d have to listen to the members giving out to him!
“It’s something that is a challenge, but at the same time I’m used to doing it now. All of a sudden, over the last two years, we’re able to make it work quite easily. But don’t get me wrong, the practice side of things suffers. My social nine holes in the evenings have definitely dwindled away because I’m often feeling that when I come home, I just want to spend time with the child, or that I just don’t have the time to do it.
“I’ve always played golf trying to learn how to get around the golf course in as few shots as possible. You do it for that long; the competitiveness just seems to be ingrained in you. It reminds me of another conversation I’ve had with Colm Campbell recently; he’s the most competitive man I know that just can’t stop. You keep saying you’re going to stop doing it, but once the tournament’s on and you enter it and all of a sudden, you’re there. You just get the juices flowing, and you want to give the best account of yourself, because you’re not going to these places just for the sake of it.
“It drags you to keep coming back. When this game is good, it’s good.”
The above feature appeared in the 2025-8 edition or Irish Golfer. To view the full edition click below
