John McKenna

James McKenna's son John (aka "Mac") (Born c. 1905) turned into a formidable opponent on the Irish professional circuit. Under the tutelage of his father, John was considered by J.P. Rooney, the foremost golfing scribe of the time to have been:- "Possessed of a beautiful perfectly controlled swing..a stylist of the first rank", those who witnessed him play would not disagree.

In 1945 he took his first Irish Professional Championship ("IPC") at Newlands leaving Daly and Bradshaw in his wake by five and six shots respectively. In a fourteen-year stretch between 1940 and 1954 Daly or Bradshaw would share the championship between them with only three exceptions, two of which were down to John McKenna. John's second win would occur in 1948 at Galway Golf Club when he would score a 69 which included an eagle and six birdies, his 75-69-72-69 left him on fifteen under par four shots ahead of his nearest challenger (Christy Kane) and twelve shots ahead of Bradshaw. McKenna was regularly in the top three in the IPC from the mid-40s to mid-50s, with seemingly the minimum of effort.

Despite being born in Dublin he had a soft northern accent with a shy, modest and even taciturn demeanour together with being an accomplished hurler before focussing on golf. John was an assistant to his father at Armagh until 1936 when he took up an appointment at Bundoran Golf Club until 1938 [1937?] when he eventually moved to Douglas. Tall, thin and wiry, was one description of him, but the stylist swing resonates through all the accounts of his play together with being an excellent course manager and wind player. Probably first came to the attention of the scribes when he beat Pope and Hamill to reach final of the Ulster Championship in 1932 but was beaten 6 & 5 by Joe McCartney (Ormeau).

John McKenna was first and foremost a club professional playing only two-three competitions per year (usually included the Irish Open and Professional Championship) partly because he disliked travelling, so would arrive at events with little or no match practice. His greatest achievement was his victory in the Irish Dunlop 500 pound tournament during which he beat both Bradshaw and Daly in the same day. The match with Bradshaw was a closely run affair but against Daly, that year's News of the World Matchplay champion and British Open Champion, he scored a stunning 5 & 4 victory. A patient teacher and a club maker of some renown, altogether another total golfing package from the McKenna gene pool.om the McKenna family tree.