The Firm & Fast Golf Podcast · Shane Derby

Golf at Trinity College Dublin with Gavin Caldwell

·1 hr 18 min·5 clips

Lionel Munn won seven championships between 1908 and 1914, including four Irish close titles and three Irish opens.

1. The Firm & Fast Golf Podcast episode focuses on golf at Trinity College Dublin, with Shane Derby hosting Gavin Caldwell on the history of the Dublin University Golf Club and Golf Society. 2. Gavin Caldwell is the guest because he co-wrote From College Courses to Lasting Links and has been involved with Trinity golf and the Irish Golf Association for more than 60 years. 3. The episode asks how Trinity influenced golf in Ireland from the 1850s onward and why its golfers mattered at Royal Dublin, Portmarnock, and beyond. 4. Caldwell says golf in Ireland first appeared in the 1850s at places such as the Curragh, Belfast, Kinsale, and Dublin where the army were stationed. 5. He dates the Golfing Union of Ireland to 1891 and says it was the first golfing union of the four home countries. 6. He places the Dublin University Golf Club in 1894, alongside the Cricket Club in 1894, the Boat Club in 1847, and the rugby club in 1854. 7. Caldwell identifies Cecil Barcroft as the first honorary secretary of the undergraduates in 1894 and says he linked Trinity to Royal Dublin and golf architecture through Harry Colt. 8. He describes Professor Anthony Trail as a Trinity student from 1855 who started golf at 52 in 1890 and became the inaugural president of the University Golf Club. 9. He says Trail kept trying to play for Trinity teams in golf, cricket, and rowing even after graduation. 10. Caldwell explains that Royal Dublin at Dollymount became the early home of Trinity golf, but that many members also came from the north of Ireland and from law. 11. He says the Dublin University Golf Club won the Senior Cup in 1900, prompting criticism from established clubs that the students were not true club members. 12. He points to Sir Anthony Babington's public response and says later Trinity golfers continued to represent Ireland in early international matches. 13. Caldwell calls Lionel Munn the best golfer from Trinity and lists seven championships between 1908 and 1914, including four Irish close championships and three Irish open championships. 14. He says Munn later reached the final of the amateur championship at age 52 and that the Munn putter is still played for by Portmarnock and the Dublin University Golf Society. 15. He says Sir Anthony Babington learned golf at Northwest Golf Club, became a barrister and MP, worked with Harry Colt at Royal Portrush, and left holes named Colt and Babington. 16. He gives James Cecil Parker as another Trinity figure, noting 15 Irish tennis championships, the 1912 Australian Open tennis title, 20 rugby caps, and founding membership of the golf society. 17. Caldwell says the Dublin University Golf Society was revived in 1926 after notices in The Irish Times and that Denis Pringle became honorary secretary while Harry Thrift became president. 18. He describes Pringle's 46 years as honorary secretary, his record book, and his careful preservation of matches, AGM minutes, photographs, and press cuttings. 19. The tone is historical and reflective, with long answers, anecdotal detail, and frequent references to matches, clubs, and family connections. 20. Listeners who like Irish golf history, Trinity College, and club archives will want this; listeners wanting a short modern-chat format may skip it.

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