The Munster Matchplay Championship finals have been taking place in Tralee.
Jason O'Connor reports
It was a magnificent few days for Kerry Pitch & Putt last weekend as three Munster titles and one national title came the county’s way.
Pride of place went to Tralee as they won half of the six Munster Matchplay titles on offer on their home course last Sunday. Jason Cregan bridged a 35-year gap to fellow clubman James ‘Chucky’ O’Connell (his second cousin) in 1988 at the same venue in winning the Munster Senior Mens Matchplay with a very impressive 5&4 victory over Ray Murphy from Cork. Jason made it through to Sunday’s quarter-finals in the competition where he started that morning with a 1up victory over Cork’s Eoin Walsh.
Jason defeated Tipperary’s James Cleary in the semi-finals by the same score before he set about the decider with Murphy. He maintained a 2up lead throughout most of the match before pushing on well in the final nine holes to record his eventual winning margin. This was Jason’s first adult provincial title as his club-mates Lisa O’Connor and Catriona O’Connor also ended up in the winning podium. Lisa won the Intermediate Ladies competition after beating two Tipperary players on Sunday. She held off a strong challenge from Margaret Hennessy in the semi-final to win by 1up before coming from two down with nine to play to defeat Elaine Quinn 3&2 in the decider.
Catriona meanwhile defeated her club-mate Rosemarie O’Sullivan in the Junior Ladies final after both players defeated players from the Bishopstown club in Cork in the semi-finals. Catriona defeated Angela Royer 3&2 in the first semi-final as Rosemarie defeated Lesley Gilmore 8&7. Rosemarie led by 1up after nine holes before Catriona started to dominate the match going 4up after 18 holes and then winning out by 6&4 in the finish. Another Tralee player, Keith O’Brien nearly made it four titles for the hosts by reach the Mens Intermediate final.
He put up a great show against Cork’s Phillip Burns but had to settle for a 5&4 defeat after Deerpark’s James Fleming had been defeated by Burns in the semi-finals. All in all the weekend went well for both Tralee and Listowel (who hosted the first two rounds of the Intermediate Mens event on the Saturday) as the county continues to push itself to the forefront of the game at present.
The weekend began with a win for defending champions St Brendans College Killarney A in the National Secondary Schools event in Athgarvan, Co Kildare last Friday. The Sem side of Robbie Harnett, Fintan Martin and Cillian Courtney combined for a level par combined total that gave them a seven shot victory over St Francis College Rochestown in second. St Michaels College Listowel finished fourth overall meanwhile as the other two Sem sides who qualified for the national decider, their B and D teams finished seventh and ninth respectively.
Amidst all the success last week there was an air of sadness about play following the death of Pitch & Putt Ireland Vic-President Myles McMorrow last week who was well loved by many in the game in the Kingdom. Kerry Pitch & Putt sends its sympathies to his family, friends, the Lakeside Pitch & Putt Club in Templemore of which he was a member and the general Tipperary Pitch & Putt Community.
(Pitch & Putt Ireland President Mark Keohane pictured with the Tralee prizewinners at the Munster Matchplay Finals which were held at the club. Pictured L to R: Rosemarie O'Sullivan (Junior Ladies Runner-Up), Keith O'Brien (Intermediate Mens Runner-Up), Jason Cregan (Senior Mens Winner), Catriona O'Connor (Junior Ladies Winner) and Lisa O'Connor (Intermediate Ladies Winner))
