Pictured at the presentation of prizes: Seated- Mark Lucey (Tralee, Intermediate Mens Winner), John McGrath (Deerpark, Senior Mens Winner), Mark O'Shea (Deerpark, Junior Mens Winner) and Charlotte Blake (Tralee, Ladies Winner). Standing: Darren Goodall (Tralee, Senior Mens Runner-Up), Richard Bunyan (Listowel, Intermediate Mens Runner-Up), Chris Giney (Kerry County Board Chairman), Paul Hayes (Listowel, Junior Mens Runner-Up) and Lisa O'Connor (Tralee, Ladies Runner-Up).
Jason O'Connor reports
Sunday saw the Kerry County Matchplay Championships take place in Listowel with three of the four winners on the day claiming a first County Matchplay title for themselves with their respective wins at the North Kerry course.
The Senior Mens event saw John McGrath win the competition for a third time as reigning Munster Matchplay champion Jason Cregan was defeated early on by Castleisland’s Aidan O’Connor but it would be Jake Shine from the host club that came through to play John in the semi-finals.
On the other side of the draw Tralee’s Darren Goodall and Darragh Roche played out the second semi-final with John and Darren coming through to face each other in the decider. John won emerge victorious 1up at the final hole to win as the Intermediate event saw Tralee’s Mark Lucey and Listowel’s Richard Bunyan come through to play each other in the decider.
Mark had defeated Bobby McCarron (Listowel) in the semi-finals while Richard won an all Listowel encounter with Ger Guerin in the other semi-final. Mark was a 3&2 winner in the final to claim his first County Matchplay title as in the Junior event Mark O’Shea of Deerpark’s recent return to the Junior grade yielded a victory to go with that of his County Junior Strokeplay success last year. He defeated Paul Hayes from the host club in the decider by 2&1 meaning he holds the two Junior titles at the same time until this coming June.
The Ladies event saw an all-Tralee final meanwhile between Charlotte Blake and Lisa O’Connor. Charlotte defeated Deerpark’s Eileen McCarthy in her semi-final while Lisa was victorious over club-mate Bernadette O’Regan. Charlotte would go on to win the final 2&1 to complete the day’s play as we thank our hosts Listowel last Sunday along with our officers on duty for their time on the day.
This Easter Sunday sees the Munster Matchplay Qualifiers take place in Deerpark and full details will be with clubs in advance of play. Finally, we would like to offer our commiserations to our Vice Chairman James Fleming and our former Registrar Vince Barry on Utility Trust St Pauls’ defeat in the Womens Super League Basketball Final last Sunday.
