Pitch & Putt IrelandMervyn Cooney - Pitch and Putt Ireland Patron
Congratulations to our new Patron - Mervyn Cooney
Mervyn Cooney (St. Patrick's)
A generous sponsor of Pitch and Putt and an inspiring leader, Mervyn Cooney enjoyed two spells as President of Pitch and Putt Ireland, serving from 2016 to 2022 having previously been National President between 1998 and 2000.
An innovative Competitions Secretary from 1989, Mervyn is credited with key format enhancements to the National Strokeplay, National Matchplay and Inter-County championships.
These included the twinning of the National Ladies and Gents Matchplay championships in 1994 and the extension of the National Gents Strokeplay championships to the exciting 54 hole format in 1995, a format was replicated in Ladies three years later.
Mervyn also acted as Vice President, Past President and Development Officer in an initial 17-year tenure on the National Executive.
A deliverer of rousing speeches at home and abroad, Mervyn was the first President of both international organisations, EPPA and FIPPA. He was part of the Irish delegation at the historic meeting in 1999 that led to the formation of the European Pitch and Putt (EPPA) and which stimulated sustained international development. After that, he was elected President of EPPA (2000 – 2001 and 2006 – 2009) and President of FIPPA (the World Pitch and Putt Federation) from 2006 – 2009.
His thriving bakery and café business sponsored the National Gents Strokeplay championship as well as official NEC jackets and shirts.
Born in the shadow of the Blackstairs mountains in Co. Wexford, Mervyn has been a dedicated servant of his home club in Enniscorthy since the 1970s (currently Club Treasurer) and has also been a lynchpin of the Carlow/Kilkenny/Wexford Regional Board. He succeeded the late George Askins and credits the erudite Ennsicorthy Solicitor’s clerk with instilling in him the work ethic and organisation skills that have served him well through a long and distinguished administrative career.
He takes great pride in St. Patrick’s and continues to encourage young people who show an interest in the club, its committee and administration. The result is some great people in the club, probably one of the youngest memberships in the country, all anxious to see the club progress further. St. Patrick’s has a great future and there’s great camaraderie among the members, much of it imbued by the charismatic and influential Mervyn Cooney.
A key figure in strategic planning and coaching, Mervyn did much to shape modern Pitch and Putt, domestically and internationally.
Chairman of the Working Group that delivered Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland’s original Strategic Plan 2002 – 2005 (Our Sport – Planning for the Future), Mervyn also helped introduce the organisation’s second and fourth Strategic Plans.
Third in the 1998 Leinster Intermediate Strokeplay championship at I.G.B., Mervyn was still playing well enough to contend at the 2012 National Over-55 Intermediate Grade Strokeplay championship, shooting 103 at Collins to finish just two strokes out of the play-off. He was a proud member of the St. Patrick’s team that defeated Bruff by 6-3 in the 2015 National Inter-Club final at Tramore.
During his second coming as National President (after a ten-year sabbatical from the NEC), Mervyn was instrumental in developing the online handicap system, the Referees course and online streaming of the national championships.
He was inducted into Irish Pitch and Putt’s Hall of Fame at Convention 2011 and confirmed a patron of Pitch and Putt Ireland at the 2025 Convention.
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