JP McManus Pro-Am

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119297149#Comment_119297149

Get ready to be called a bregrudger and be ordered to get down on your knees and worship the Lord JP.

The idea that it's just the poor old local shop getting support is idealistic too. Anything a WAG will want to buy will be sold by an already rich business owner.

If he wanted to support locals then he should have given the 10k instead directly to people who need it.

slave1

I think you are missing the point, this is a Golf forum, we do not want to get dragged into off topic chats, over the years we've gone down many rabbit holes. JPs background and intentions are all valid points, just not on the Golf forum

kirk.

There isn't much golf to talk about in the pro-am

It's a celebrity shindig fair game for comment I reckon

callaway92

Enjoyed yesterday but again I couldn’t help but notice the ‘celebs’ or richer people all shaking hands/having a laugh together making sure the photographer is ready to take the picture whilst making sure the plebs and minions weren’t in their way most of the time

They wouldn’t give the time of day to most on the street at all

Course was impeccable - Don’t think I could come near stomaching the green fee - Simply because I think I’d frustrate myself with green run-offs etc and barely being able to sink a putt on them!

benny79

On that note I heard Niall Horan was the biggest plebe of them all basically blanked the fans, no pictures, autographs and was just rude! surprised at that especially him been Irish but I wasn't there.

Pdoghue

I'm quite baffled again by the moderator stating that we can't discuss JP's background or intentions on this thread or in the golf forum. We had the same warning about the LIV tour, that we weren't supposed to discuss the politics or ethics of it all. If that's the case, then the golf forum is morphing into a version of embedded broadcasters like Sky Sports Golf, a bland censored sanitised forum, hear no evil, see no evil, etc.

Can someone explain why we can discuss such matters in other forums on boards.ie, just not on the golf forum?

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119297727#Comment_119297727

Have a read of the charter, it has already been explained, rabbit hole/flaming/politics etc and this had been agreed at group Moderator Level

This is a golf forum, golf discussion only, go to another forum and there are threads there that you can freely discuss these topics.

Golf Charter: Rules and Guidelines — boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin'

adropofred

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119297650#Comment_119297650

Don't believe all you hear!

I saw Niall H, Jamie D, and Bill M sign hundreds of autographs, go in for pics etc. They had to run to the next tee a few times because they were falling behind.

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119297727#Comment_119297727

This site has gone to pot altogether, threads with extremely narrow definitions of what you can and cannot talk about on topics. Can't talk about things Conor McGregor does in a Conor McGregor thread, can't talk about things Tyson Fury does in a Tyson Fury thread, can't talk about emigration in a housing crisis thread, can't talk about JP McManus in a JP McManus thread, can't talk about ethics in a LIV golf thread. I wouldn't be surprised if the mods of the soccer forum banned talking about qatars human rights record or slavery building the stadiums aswell!

slave1

Sure this is a private site, freedom of speech is 100% not a given and you agree to this when you sign up and its the first line in the Charter. Anyhow, going OT, there is a Feedback forum you can post to...about the above

benny79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119298328#Comment_119298328

My taughts exactly only takes one person to bad mouth someone and it sticks! probably blanked him but theres 100's there. Glad to here it. When I was at the Irish open there was Adults pushing kids out of the way to get in a picture with Shane & Padraig which I taught was disgraceful!

Seve OB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119298328#Comment_119298328

Well I followed them for quite a bit yesterday. Niall made sure to stay well away from the crowds. When fans called him he might turn the head every so often and say howya. He had plenty of time to do a bit every so often between greens and tees and while waiting to hit. He didn’t sign one autograph, nore pose for one picture. He was a dick. Bill Murray on the other hand would just wander over to the crowd, stick his hand out to someone and have a chat. I saw him in the early holes chat to every single volunteer inside the ropes, ask them their names, shake their hands and give them all a bit of his time. I’m sure Horan did a bit alright but I saw none of it when he had plenty of chance to. He could do with taking a leaf from Bills book.

He also wasn’t alone. Tyrell Hatton was same. Rickie Fowler was same. Woosnam same. Faldo, same. Rham same.

Then you have lads like Harrington signing heaps on tee boxes, Stenson getting pushed along to the next tee cause they were late but making sure grab hats and flags and sign them as he went. Matt Fitzpatrick was the same.

The 2 stand out guys for me at giving the crowd their time though were Bryson and Schevchenko. Probably each signing 20+ autographs and photos between each green and tee box.

Some of these guys didn’t get the memo that this was not a real golf tournament,

slave1

Some of these guys didn’t get the memo that this was not a real golf tournament

Exactly, patrons paid for the exact reason of more chat and crowd interaction

FixdePitchmark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119292665#Comment_119292665

Not a fan of event , doff your cap to rich and famous and watch "celebrities" top it around the place....

If they want to make a sensible contribution to Irish society, become tax resident.

Ireland is a very rich country and the very idea of charity is flawed in an established social democratic developed country like Ireland...

The last while golf has an image problem with LIV and now this , making Irish golf out to be for the rich and famous and 5 star.

A private resort for rich and famous is an American model of golf....and the overwhelming majority of Irish people and Irish golf don't want that.

Let them off , they had their jolly - but not my idea or model of society or golf...

slave1

but our gov is inefficient with taxes, here the money goes directly to the cause, anyhow OT, still looking at the "every shot" rounds on YouTube, as said before we have to tuck those fairways in and grow up the rough ahead of RC

Mantis Toboggan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119299150#Comment_119299150

That's if it ever happens, ryder cup in 27 could be PGA tour vs LIV tour with the way things are going.

Henry Ford III

I thought Adare looked pretty good on tv.

Some people came across well, and others didn't.

It's quite remarkable that J.P. can attract so many of the world's finest players for a charity event. No appearance fees remember.

MisterAnarchy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119298581#Comment_119298581

Lots of the American guys were very friendly.

Koepka was a gent, signed loads of autographs , DJ too.

Justin Thomas made a few jokes when the crowd were ribbing him.

Faldo was always a bollix, my brothers as kids asked him for an autograph around 30 years ago at the Irish Open in Killarney and the man just growled at them.

slave1

https://media-exp2.licdn.com/dms/image/C5622AQH8hiQOXPinCw/feedshare-shrink_2048_1536/0/1657015503889?e=1660176000&v=beta&t=pSob1KOK9brLOqztA6MQ9jdkItgkqZSEcPQDHczhvb8

Smile

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119299226#Comment_119299226

Henry if you think the players had no monetary return for taking part in this, you’d be gravely wrong

Whether it’s actual cash, donations to their own charities, favours for them down the line… they are not playing out of the goodness of their hearts. It might’ve ended up being a hindrance for many players to play, so I’m sure if there wasn’t a big return for them they wouldn’t have bothered

The Big Easy

So everyone should be allowed to pick and choose where there taxes go because the government is inefficient. All we need is benign billionaire benefactors, well we're in luck because that's all we'll have shortly enough.

Any way I'm off topic, every thing is off topic these days in the golf forum apart from the off topic thread!

Spudmonkey

What a couple of days, it was a joy to be around there. I actually enjoyed the whole vibe of the event which seemed rather than running between holes to catch a glimpse of someone, there was such a relaxed atmosphere from players and spectators alike. The course is incredible, can't say I've been on too many of that quality but the finish is incredible. There isn't a weed in sight. Even areas far from the playing part are immaculately kept. The details gone in are incredible. The whole course is wired for an event, GPS on the buggies to disable them driving on greens, under-ground heating on all the greens to control the speed.

Having played the original multiple times before JP took it over, the improvements made to the course have completely enhanced it. There was always a certain disconnect for me between the front and back. The front nine being played in a much more open parkland than the back nine. Serious effort has gone making the whole course more cohesive. Large mature trees have been replanted on the front none with the back having a lot of scrubland cleared away making the existing trees look even more majestic. The run-offs on some of the greens are amazing, they had 3 levels of grass in and around the greens, with the longest being slightly longer than your average. The green itself was a snooker table. Harrington was saying that on a scale of 1-10 in terms of difficulty, the course played around a 5 for the amateurs there. When the course opened originally in 2018, neither himself/Rory/Shane nor McGinley broke par on a perfect day in August with no-wind. He reckons there is loads of scope for making it more difficult.

The course is relatively easy to walk around albeit it long and there are plenty locations where grandstands could be set up. It was a pretty good trial run for the Ryder Cup. I'd imagine lessons would have been learned here regarding placement of toilets, food stalls, pinch points (thinking of the sole bridge crossing the river between the 11th and 12th) and places for people to sit down and relax. As a viewing course it can be hard to find a good spot around the greens to see the action, definitely an advantage links courses have. Hopefully the course will get a few more tournaments beforehand and these will be even more fine tuned.

Regarding JP, I think the man is amazing. He really is as humble as they come. He could very easily be one of the billionaires who was playing over the weekend, living in luxury in the Bahamas and never setting foot here but he really loves his county/country. I don't associate with any of the guys playing. They live on a different stratosphere in what they expect from life. Myself and my father brought a packed lunch and a flask of tea and saw some of the best golfers in the world plying their trade. These guys in reality only come to Europe for the Open and now they are playing courses in Ireland having the craic with locals and drinking pints walking down the fairways of Lahinch/BallyB. Do I care they got a watch and their wives got a voucher which they spent locally with some of it going to charity? Do I ****. In reality they didn't come for that. They came for everything else and those of us who were there thankfully got to enjoy it as well.

OEP

Fair play to JP for being an incredibly successful business man but I don't get this deification of people just because they're rich. I can't believe people are saying they don't care if he doesn't pay tax here, and justifying it because our government is inefficient - its a democracy we live in, we vote for our government. It's not for rich people to decide where they want their tax deductible donations to go instead of paying tax. Someone saying he could be off living in Barbados, well he "lives" half the year in Switzerland anyway. This isn't a dig at JP, its people's willingness to bow at the alter of rich people and let them play by their own rules and not the rest of us paying 50% tax. People get so up in arms about a few struggling people claiming an extra few hundred in social welfare but no need for the billionaire to pay tax here.

Deeper Blue

Fantastic event, very surprised at the flak it's getting here, raises a fortune for charity, who cares if everyone involved is filthy rich.

Would be great if JP could take over the Irish Open too!

Motivator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119300543#Comment_119300543

Because the people swindling the social welfare are of absolutely no benefit to society.

JP McManus employs thousands of people and owns many businesses in Ireland - all of these businesses plus the staff working in and running them pay tax in Ireland. Not to mention the spin off effects of their wages being spent in shops, pubs, restaurants etc. the man is a legend I don’t care what anyone says. For those of you interested in horses racing, JP has a horse with the biggest to the smallest trainers. I personally know of one small trainer who was struggling a year or two ago. One of JPs men rang the trainer one day and said JP wanted to buy X horse in his yard. The deal was done that day and the following day, a person arrived in the yard with a cheque for the full year’s training fees up front. In his own words, the trainer said JP kept the show on the road for him. That’s just one of no doubt thousands of instances where JP has helped someone out and he’s constantly doing it.

Regarding the pro-am, it looked to have been a roaring success and I hope they raised a fortune. These events can help young kids get into the game of golf as well. I’ve seen loads of videos of pro’s talking to kids asking them do they play and giving them some advice on working hard and practicing. If I was 8 or 10 years old and my hero told me to practice and I could one day end up like him then it would be the best thing in the world to hear. Small things like that could end up being the catalyst for a child to get serious about the game of golf.

Hoboo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119298785#Comment_119298785

We’re in the middle of a Covid wave, you want more crowd interaction? Anyone with sense kept their distance. Off point but just replying to two off point comments.

OEP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119302300#Comment_119302300

He still should pay tax in Ireland. He makes money by employing thousands of people, it's not for charity. And that's how business works, and he's great at it, but I don't see why people are happy for him not to pay tax.

blackwhite

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119302548#Comment_119302548

He pays tax on his Irish incomes in Ireland.

Non-resident status means that his non-Irish incomes aren't taxed here - just where they are earned and where he resides.

Never fails to amaze me the amount of people who think Ireland should be able to levy taxes on income earned in other countries, by people who live in other countries, because they are originally from Ireland.

Should all of the Irish people living and working in Australia be paying Irish income tax on their Aussie wages also?

OEP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119302770#Comment_119302770

He is not liable for income tax in Ireland as he isn't tax resident here, and hasn't been for 20 years. You clearly don't understand what you're talking about.

Deeper Blue

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119302338#Comment_119302338

Nobody cares about covid anymore, anyone that still does should've stayed at home.