Mrs. Catherine Bell (RIP) - Death of a Pitch and Putt icon
Mrs Catherine Bell (RIP), 1915-2014
The world of Pitch and Putt is mourning the loss in her hundredth year, of PPUI Patron Catherine (Kitty) Bell (RIP). A long life. Well lived.
The great lady of our sport was involved right from its very beginnings. A Munster interprovincial hockey player, Catherine was also a good tennis player and a member of Altona Tennis Club in Cork, when some of the members there constructed a Pitch and Putt course behind the courts in the early 1940s.
One of those members was the late Pat (P.J.) Bell, who had moved to Cork in 1940 from his native Glenageary. Pat and Catherine were married in 1944. When they moved into their home on Cork's South Douglas Road, Pat decided that their back garden was perfect for a nine-hole Pitch and Putt course. So he built Woodvale, the course that Catherine was to be synonymous with for the next 70 years. Woodvale, lovingly tended by Catherine helped by family and friends, remained true to the original design and became a mecca for Pitch and Putt enthusiasts from near and from afar.
Catherine Bell was a fine Pitch and Putt player. She won the Cork County Strokeplay championship in 1966 and recorded the Cork Strokeplay and Matchplay double in 1967. She won one Munster championship and appeared in two National Matchplay finals, in 1951 and in 1965.
She was also a generous nurturer of Pitch and Putt talent. Fifteen times, the winner of an All Ireland senior championship, played under the auspices of the PPUI, has represented Woodvale, the compact nine-holer built by Pat and Kitty Bell in their own backyard.
The first inductee into the Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland's Hall of Fame in 1986 was Catherine Bell, honoured for her rich contribution to the playing and administration of Pitch and Putt over many decades. Her three daughters were successful Pitch and Putt players. Her sons John and Peter also played, before going on to achieve success in motorcycling. Son in law and grandchildren were also keen Pitch and Putt exponents.
Catherine regularly attended to present the trophies at the finals of the popular All Ireland mixed team tournament, which was named in memory of her late husband Pat.
Kitty Bell became a strong promoter of the sport and its traditions. When American John Garrity of Sports Illustrated visited Woodvale in 2004, he was charmed by his gracious hostess and was fascinated to hear that Woodvale's membership was now 30, down from a peak of 50, just after World War II! Mrs. Bell also informed Garrity why Pitch and Putt took off. "The war was on, you couldn't get to real golf," she said. "My husband saw the little course in Fountainstown"--the birthplace of Irish Pitch and Putt, the holiday village on Cork Harbour--"so himself and the lads started Pitch and Putt in Cork City. Then we got married, and he put his eye on the place here. This is my family home."
As Pitch and Putt began to grow internationally, some of the fledgling overseas associations made pilgrimages to Woodvale, where they were royally received by the first lady of Pitch and Putt. They returned home, entranced by the close up experience of the origins of our sport.
Kitty thought deeply and spoke articulately about all aspects of Pitch and Putt. She had strong views on topics such as handicaps, administration and development. P.J. Bell was part of the Committee that delivered the first set of Pitch and Putt rules in 1946. Kitty Bell remained steadfast to those rules and attended many a meeting and many a Convention over the years to ensure that P.J.'s successors in Pitch and Putt administration maintained the ethos set by the early pioneers. Kitty and her husband were prominent in helping develop other courses, such as Hillview and E.S.B.
Catherine Bell continued to play (and win prizes) and enjoy Pitch and Putt into her advancing years. She worked tirelessly at club level as Secretary and coaching newcomers, constantly contributing hugely to the game she and her husband Pat helped build into a national, and ultimately, an international sport.
