They call him 'The Spy' at Valhalla because of his European background, but Paul O'Donoghue from Enfield, Co Meath, was very much part of the team during yesterday's massive clean-up operation at the Ryder Cup venue.

Hurricane Ike had dwindled to a 'tropical depression' when it whistled into Kentucky yesterday but it still cut a swathe of destruction across Louisville, leaving 60pc of the city without electricity.

There was chaos on the roads as traffic lights went out and early arrivals from Europe checked into candle-lit hotels which could offer little more than a soft drink and a bar of chocolate to hungry residents.

With 90mph winds blitzing Valhalla, ripping up trees, toppling TV towers and reducing scoreboards and other temporary structures to matchwood, all non-essential staff were evacuated from the venue.

Yet O'Donoghue and his colleagues on Mark Wilson's greenkeeping staff braved flying debris to try and repair damage to the golf course, especially one spot at the back of the 12th green, where a fallen TV gantry gouged lumps out of the putting surface.

They plugged the damaged areas but even though the wind had reduced to a whisper yesterday and warm and settled weather is forecast for the week, providing perfect growing conditions, the back left quadrant of that green is unlikely to see action at the weekend.

As teams of tree surgeons cut up and removed fallen trunks and boughs at the course yesterday, O'Donoghue took a few minutes out to reflect on the career path which has brought him to the pinnacle of golf.

Two years ago, he was entering the final year of his Bachelor of Science, Horticulture, studies at Warrenstown in Dunshaughlin when the Ryder Cup took place at Kildare's K Club.

"I couldn't get tickets so I watched it on TV instead," he explained, adding with a smile: "I remember as the tournament came to an end and Valhalla was mentioned, I said to my brother 'I'm going to be at that'. And, well, here I am."

O'Donoghue has worked for seven months at Valhalla and even if his European background has led to persistent ribbing, he shares responsibility with one other greenkeeper for maintaining holes 10, 11 and, you've guessed it, No 12.

"Yeah, they call me the spy. They won't tell me the speed the greens are going to run at because I'm European," he says, adding with a chuckle. "Mark Wilson won't talk about certain stuff in front of me, but I find out from the lads anyway."

O'Donoghue fell in love with landscaping when he used help his father Brian, a barber by trade but who is just as handy with a rotary as a razor.

After completing his Leaving Certificate at the young age 16, O'Donoghue enrolled in Warrenstown and went to help Meath football star Mick Lyons with the development of Rathcore Golf Club. It was then he learned that golf would be his vocation.

With a degree in his back pocket, O'Donoghue joined the Ohio State Programme for International Students and was seconded to Muirfield Village, working at two Memorial Championships before moving on to Valhalla, another famous Jack Nicklaus design.

The Meathman's student visa runs out after The Ryder Cup but the thrill of working on golf's greatest stage will last a lifetime.

Or at least until O'Donoghue gets the chance to fulfil his greatest ambition and prepare the golf course for the event's likely return to his homeland in the mid-2020s.