Tom Prendergast is leaving the Killarney Golf & Fishing Club which he guided through always exciting times since 1987 and Jim McKenna, having served since 1992, is leaving Ballybunion Golf Club in excellent shape as a unit with an annual turnover approaching Euro4 million and gross annual profits in the region of Euro1 million.

They represent a difficult act to follow. But the same was said when they stepped into the respective shoes of the legendary DD O'Connell and of the late, unforgettable and totally incomparable Sean Walsh who was Mr Ballybunion and one of the all-time great golf club managers.

O'Connell and Walsh were the twin giants of golf in the southwest in the pre-Swing (the South West Ireland Golf Marketing co-op) era as everyone who was anyone wanted to play the great Kerry venues and were astounded by the welcome and by the ability of these two men to remember them from previous visits.

They were living proof that hospitality is a special and uncontrived Kerry thing.

Walsh was one of those managers who became an institution almost as large as the club itself in the minds of thousands. He was as well known and liked in New York and San Francisco as he was at home. One of his greatest skills was the ability to find time in a busy schedule to make everyone feel welcome to Ballybunion, even rushing far out onto the links to grasp the hand of someone who had slipped his attention when starting their round, and he was a special darling of the media whose friendship did much to promote the fame of the club.

When he retired in 1992, after 21 years in office, it was to facilitate his appointment as club captain for the Centenary Year 1993. This type of honour is rarely bestowed on a club manager and it ranks alongside the Royal & Ancient's reverence for the great Michael Bonallack who was similarly feted at St Andrews.

Of course, the Walsh connection was too strong to break with the man's death and his wife, Colette, still works at Ballybunion and his son Gerard was honourary secretary for years, became club captain in 2003, and today keeps the family name to the fore by penning three pages of golf weekly for The Kerryman. The Walsh golf shadow is long and warm.

So, how did anyone follow such an act? It took a person with an impeccable golfing background to do so and Jim McKenna proved to be that man as he was a fine golfer with a good golfing pedigree.

He had a reputation as a straight hitter both on the golf course and off it, and he set about the task of consolidating Ballybunion as one of the world's great golf venues and great golf clubs.

His uncle John traded shots with Harry Bradshaw and Fred Daly as they formed the great triumvirate of Irish professional golf through the 1940s. It speaks volumes for John McKenna that he managed to win the Irish Professional Championship twice (1945 and 1948) at a time when his two main rivals were dominating that event and even marauding the British scene and the British Open itself.

Jim McKenna stayed amateur and played for Munster in 1983 and still holds a single-figure handicap with ease and style. His life has been devoted to golf and his stewardship has included the successful staging of the Murphy's Irish Open at Ballybunion in 2000 - the undoubted highlight of the club's history - and the establishment of the club as a proven multi-million-euro concern.

The past two decades have been similarly challenging and rewarding for Tom Prendergast at Killarney where the beautiful lakeside courses rival anything in the world for sheer splendour and charm. He brought amazing vigour to the job as one would expect from a footballing colossus who played for no fewer than four counties and won two All Ireland medals.

At a time when his old pal Mick O'Dwyer is managing Wicklow, it is interesting to note that Prendergast made his intercounty debut for that very team in 1962. He went on to play for Donegal in 1964 and Cork in 1965 before returning to play for his native county. He donned the No 13 jersey for the 1968 final in which Down triumphed by two points but won All Ireland medals in each of the following two years when wearing the No 5 jersey.

Prendergast's competitive streak has transferred to golf and it has allowed him to play off a low handicap since joining Killarney Golf Club in 1974 - he still campaigns off seven.

So, it has been something of a labour of love for him managing the club since 1987, the year after he was club captain, and playing a vital role in the momentous events of the intervening years. Just look at some of the highlights of his time in office:

??1989 - the opening of a palatial new clubhouse by Charles J Haughey.

?? 1991-1992 - Nick Faldo wins back-to-back Murphy's Irish Opens at Killarney.

?? 1996 - the Curtis Cup is played at the club.

?? 1996-1999 - successful land acquisitions allow for the development of a third golf course and a second clubhouse which opened in 1999.

?? 2003-2004 - Irish Ladies' Open Championship is hosted by the club.

?? 2005-2006 - European Challenge Tour events hosted by the club.

This is a phenomenal record of activity and belies the fact that when Prendergast came into office golf was much less mainstream in the life of the Kingdom than it is now.

Then, there were just 10 golf courses in the county and they boasted a collective membership of 2,827 according to the Golfing Union of Ireland Yearbook of 1987.

Now, there are 23 golf courses in Kerry and their collective membership is 7,613. This represents a population penetration of about 6.3% in a county with an estimated 120,000 citizens. Assuming that each golfer has a close family connection averaging 10 persons, it is probable that up to 60 per cent of Kerry people have a close contact with the sport.

The original clubs, including as they do the old classics, have done nicely by growing their memberships by an average of 106 per cent to a new grand total of 5, 850. This has been a very positive development for the old clubs after the hardships they endured during the 1940s and 1950s before the game as we know it today began to evolve. The prospect of bankruptcy had been a constant companion for many years but those days seem banished forever.

However, the surge in interest and facilities hasn't led to a corresponding growth in visitor numbers to the old venues as the added competition for local societies and casual play has intensified two-fold and the same can be said for the price sensitive elements, mainly British, of the tourist market. The figures have improved dramatically but a spread has happened and is likely to continue.

Everyone would like to play the old classics but not everyone is willing to pay the price.

The classics are torn between seeking international market fees from world travellers seeking the ultimate golfing experience and seeing a distance open between them and their old friendly markets which are price conscious.

They cannot serve all sectors at once and this leaves very meaningful business for the lesser-known venues to pick up and nurture.

So, while much has been achieved since DD O'Connell started working at Killarney in 1965 and Sean Walsh took the reins at Ballybunion in 1971, the future is sure to present new challenges to those who will be appointed to take up the baton from autumn 2007.