THERE are moments in life when everything changes. Sometimes in an instant and sometimes with a single swing. 

For 63-year-old Kilbrittain native Martin O’Mahony, both moments came years apart. The first was a horrific accident that cost him his left forearm. The second came six years later, on a quiet evening in Rosscarbery, when one perfect golf shot opened doors he thought were closed forever.

Long before golf entered the picture, his sporting identity was being forged on the pitches of West Cork.

‘Back in the day, I only played hurling and football,’ O’Mahony recalls. 

‘I played with Courcey Rovers right up until I was 25. GAA was really it for me, sporting-wise. I never realised that golf would be my calling.’

Martin with his daughter Dinah (caddie for Fightmaster Cup) and her boyfriend Mark Behan (caddie for Irish Open).

That calling emerged from tragedy. 

In 1988, while working with his brother’s silage contracting business, O’Mahony suffered a horrific accident that put an end to his GAA career. 

‘One evening below in Kinsale, the harvester broke down, and I was cleaning the machine and doing the things that I would’ve normally done. Then I put my left hand into the chopping box, and it just took the palm clean off,’ he explained. ‘Little did I ever think that I would strike any kind of a ball ever again, but with a lot of determination and a little bit of luck, things just fell my way.’

For six years after the accident, playing sports disappeared from his life. Then one evening, everything changed. A casual trip with friends to the old driving range in Rosscarbery became the turning point. 

‘I decided to go in and try and hit a ball’, O’Mahony remembers. 

‘The first ball that I hit was a pure strike. It was like a drug and I was hooked.’

But it wasn’t just the swing that mattered, it was the people who rallied around him that truly set things in motion.

‘So the lads invited me then to play a few social games, to see if I could manage it. That's kind of how it all started. I joined Clonakilty Golf Club first, and then moved to Bandon. They have a great golf society in Kilbrittain. They have a lot of members, and they were absolutely brilliant to me starting off. Always encouraging, and that kind of set me on my way.’

In Thursday's @SouthernStarIRL Sport, @seanholland_15 chats to Kilbrittain's Martin O’Mahony about his journey in one-armed golf.

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O’Mahony didn’t have any formal coaching at the start. Instead, he relied on his natural hand-eye coordination from years of hurling to craft his one-armed swing.

‘I didn’t have any coaching. I just kept at it myself,’ he says. 

‘There was a bit of a natural swing from the hurling, but I didn’t start getting proper coaching until the last few years when I started to take it seriously.’

That dedication has taken him to international stages. Only a few weeks ago, in September this year, O’Mahony represented Europe in the prestigious Fightmaster Cup, held at Roganstown Golf Club in Dublin. The tournament is the Ryder Cup of one-armed golf, pitting Europe against North America in a series of foursomes, fourballs, and singles matches.

‘I’m after playing in three World Championships, and in every one, I’ve gotten better and better,’ he explains. 

‘So, after making the semi-final in the most recent championships, the captain of the European Team, Cian Arthurs, just said to me, “You’re in the team.” I was initially very surprised, but it gave me a great boost.’

It was a real honour for the West Cork man, who had his daughter Dinah by his side, caddying for him. O’Mahony competed in four sessions, claiming three points for Europe. 

In a nail-biting finish, it was the US team that came out on top, edging the Europeans by just one point, 14.5 to 13.5. By the end of the week, he was exhausted. 

‘The Fightmaster finished up on the Friday, and to be honest, I was totally shattered,’ he laughs. Still, there was more golf to play. 

‘The Irish Open for one-armed golfers was on in Stackstown on the Sunday, and I was a bit unsure if I even had the energy to play in it. I ended up having a few pints on the Saturday and that helped put a pep in my step.’

Whatever the secret, it worked. On Sunday, O’Mahony stormed to victory at the Irish Open, capping off a remarkable week with a trophy.

For O’Mahony, golf isn’t just about trophies or titles, it’s about the people he’s met, the places he’s been, and the confidence it’s given him. 

‘One message I’d love to get out of this is, if there are people with a disability or even not, give the game of golf a go,’ he says. 

‘It’s great exercise and it’s fantastic for meeting new people. Golf has really opened up doors for me, doors that I would’ve never thought would be there before.’

One perfect swing in Rosscarbery opened a door all those years ago. He’s been walking through new ones ever since.