Rory's telling stories at Irish Open

GOLF Social media star busy promoting Kildare event

With the Irish Open set to kick off this week, plenty of keen golf fans are excited at the prospect of heading to The K Club to watch some of the best golfers in the world go head to head, including the likes of Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka Luke Donald and Shane Lowry, writes Tom Gannon.

A prominent Meath man will also be involved in the action but not on the course itself.

Rory O’Connor, more widely known as Rory's Stories, will be involved in a social aspect during the week, interacting with the crowd and having fun with some of the Pro-Am players.

The Ashbourne native has also been involved in the build-up to the Irish Open over the last few months and has done several promotional videos with various celebrities and sports stars.

O’Connor is a keen golfer, but is more widely known for his Irish humour videos on social media platforms.

This venture into the world of professional golf is somewhat of a new experience for him, even though he is keen on the sport itself and well-suited to the role that he has taken on.

“The K Club approached me to have a chat about doing some work for the Irish Open. What they wanted to do was bring the Irishness to the Irish Open," O'Connor told the Meath Chronicle.

"Golf is at a perfect place now where it can start to incorporate a bit of craic into it.

I always felt that there was always a stigma about golf in terms of that it was only the upper-class people who played it.

"I remember being at a big golf event in Ireland years ago and there were raw culchies there in horrible black shoes and shirts that they got off their uncle just to not look out of place.

"I think golf is moving away from that and it is becoming a lot more relatable.

The K Club wanted to bring a bit of fun to the event which is great.

"Initially, it was about doing a bit on the week of the Irish Open, spinning around on a golf buggy on the day of the Pro-Am, chatting to celebs and some crowd interaction, that kind of thing.

“We had a chat with the DP World Tour and they liked the sound of it, but they also wanted to do some promotional stuff in advance of the tournament.

So I threw some ideas out there and we have run with a few of them already.

"We did the video of me robbing the golf balls on the range, we had Padraig Harrington as well and we have a video with Daniel Wiffen coming out soon too.

"We still have plenty of plans to do stuff with them the week of the event as well. It’s probably more work than I thought it was going to be but it's very enjoyable work too.”

O’Connor, who has been a social media star for quite some time and has done various stand-up comedy gigs around the country and beyond, praised The K Club for the way they've approached the event this year and he hopes that the DP World Tour takes note and does something similar across all the different opens on tour.

“I think it’s a fantastic thing that the Irish Open are trying to do. It’s certainly something that the DP Tour could look at doing more of.

Bring some more culture and heritage to the various opens. No matter where you go to, be it Denmark, Scotland Italy or France, base the theme around the country that you are in.”

O’Connor is a passionate GAA man at heart but he is also a keen golfer at Ashbourne Golf Club.

He spoke in detail about the benefits that golf can have on your mental health and how many people of all ages play the sport as an outlet in life and how it can be very therapeutic.

“I’m delighted to be involved in it because I am obviously passionate about the game myself. I’m a keen golfer and even though it drives me mental sometimes, I love it," he said.

"It allows you to switch off from your normal life and I love the chats with lads on the way around, the social side of the game.

“Maybe not so much the younger generation, but certainly the older generation underestimate the importance of golf in terms of mental health.

"I'd say if you speak to wives or girlfriends, they'd say if Jimmy or Pat didn't get his round of golf in on a Sunday morning, he would be an antichrist.

It's an outlet for a lot of people; it's therapeutic. That's what golf is all about and it's so good for that kind of thing.”