Galway Golf Club’s general manager, Dave Kelly, was managing hotels until he moved into the club management business in 2014 – in 2022, he is slated to take over as president of the Irish Golf & Club Managers Association (IGCMA), such has been his impact in the sector.

The 46-year-old began his hospitality career in 1990 with junior roles at the Ferrycarrig Hotel, in Wexford, much to the chagrin of his parents, who had failed in their attempts to talk him out of working in the sector.

He explained: “There’s no history of hotel management or catering in the family. My mum was a primary school principal and my dad worked with heavy machinery all his life, but it was always something I was drawn to.

“They tried to talk me out of it because of the long, unsociable hours, but I’m glad I did it. I enjoyed the roles I had in that business and sometimes I feel as if I may have won the family round.

“I have two teenage girls now, and neither of them want to go anywhere near the business, though, so perhaps that tells you everything,” he smiled. “They think I’m mad!”

Having worked his way up through various management positions to that of GM at the four-star Westwood Hotel, in Galway, it was at the behest of some members he knew that Kelly put himself forward for the vacancy at Galway Golf Club, the first time he had contemplated allowing his hobby – he was a single-figure handicapper while at college – to become his living.

He recalled: “I was involved in a fundraiser that took place at the club every year and got to know some of the members through that. When the position here became available, I was approached by a couple of them who suggested I might be a good candidate for the club. I put my name forward and I’ve been here for almost seven years so far as a result.

“I remember one of those members gave me some very good advice on my first day here – he said if you fall out with somebody in the hotel game you’ll probably never see them again, whereas if you fall out with somebody in the club game, chances are they’ll be coming through that door for the next 20 to 30 years.

“I took that on board and used it as good counsel, as it’s very true. Not that I have a habit of falling out with people,” he laughed.

“The biggest difference is that you’re dealing with recurring members – and recurring memberships – on an annual basis, as opposed to what can be pretty transient business in the hotel game. If you can’t satisfy their demands in a hotel they’re not going to return – they vote with their feet – whereas the commitment from a club to its member is much greater, so, if there is some discourse between club and member, that’s not going to resolve itself quite as easily.

“So, it’s important to keep that kind of stuff at bay as much as possible.”

He achieved his diploma in hotel management in 1999, at what is regarded as Ireland’s national catering college – the Technological University Dublin – and spent a total of 18 years in the hospitality sector; so why did those members – and the prospect of equally long hours – persuade him to change?

He said: “I’ve always loved golf – since I started playing at my home club Enniscorthy aged 12 or 13 – so that was a big part of the appeal, while Galway is probably regarded as the premier members’ club on the western seaboard.

“Even though we’re looking out over Galway Bay and the Aran Islands we’re still pretty much just outside the city centre, so from both a club and location perspective it’s seen as one of the best clubs west of the Shannon. So the draw of that – and the golf – was obviously a big factor when it came to making the decision to move.”

Like all GMs he found 2020 a testing time. But Galway’s popularity and the high-regard in which it is held insured it against some of the pandemic issues and Kelly appreciates his club fared better than many.

“I think we’ve coped pretty well with COVID,” he said. “We’re probably the outlier in a lot of respects because of the size of our membership and we have a fairly sizable entrance fee that hovers around the €10,000 mark, which is pretty unusual for a club on the west coast (they also manage to retain upwards of 80 to 90 people on their ‘expression of interest’ list).

“We sort of buck the trend of most clubs nationally, who will be struggling for members and won’t have an entry fee.”

Regarding COVID he added: “There’s no manual we could refer to, but the two management-development programmes I had completed with the Club Managers Association of Europe were very helpful in putting a structure in place, which at least gave you the foundations to be able to deal with the challenges.

“Our own IGCMA has also been hugely beneficial because we’ve been a shoulder for each other to lean on particularly over the last 12 months. We have a weekly Zoom call, with upwards of 60-65 fellow club managers often sitting in and where everybody talks about their own challenges and how they’ve overcome them.

“We adapted pretty quickly and availed ourselves of the government support which was available but which has pretty much dried up since, in our case.

“That allowed us to stay on course while we were closed, keep our staff on the books to maintain the course, and to break even last year. In fact the biggest challenge we had, once we reopened, was trying to accommodate the massive level of demand from our members. We had huge pressure on our timesheets and cancelled all of our non-member business from May right through to the end of the year.

“That wiped about €200,000 off our books, but even then we still had members who were unhappy with more limited access. I understand that.”

Mention of the sterling work of the IGCMA turns the conversation to his own elevation into the hierarchy. “I was asked if I’d be interested in putting myself forward for president of the IGCMA for the two-year period from 2022, which was a great honour.

“The AGM is upcoming shortly and I will be delighted to be able to follow John McCormack in the position, if elected. John is widely regarded an excellent manager and is one of only a few certified club managers in Ireland. He’s been instrumental in leading the association through the last year and I will have big shoes to fill no doubt.”

Such a relatively rapid rise in golf will not have gone under the radar, but, diplomatically, Kelly insists his focus is on the short-to-medium term with his current employer.

He said: “I’m very happy here in Galway. One of the bonuses of working at Galway is its reputation as a premier club so I suppose opportunities to improve on that along the western seaboard at least, would be limited. There aren’t many clubs West of the Shannon for which you’d consider leaving Galway.

“My focus is to maximise the potential here at Galway over the next few years – get the much vaunted governance changes and maybe some course upgrade works agreed by the members and progressed into operation.

“I suppose I’d then take stock and see what additionally there is to do. This business evolves like all others; you get one item done and there are two or three more needing your attention.”