While the Kerry Pitch & Putt teams were unable to come away with any titles from their trip to Ardnacrusha in Clare for the Munster Adult Inter-Counties last weekend, they were able to gain some medals with three of the four teams winning either silver or bronze.
The Senior Mens side maintained their record of winning a medal at every Munster or National event since Inter-County Pitch & Putt resumed in 2022 with a third place finish as they found the Singles scoring of hosts Limerick tough to match overall last Sunday. The team had been four off the pace after the 18 Holes of Scotch Foursomes with 27 under par as the combination of Jason Cregan & John McGrath brought in a magnificent total of 13 under par.
Even though both Damien Fleming and Jamie Blake brought nine under par totals in for the Singles, the team (which also included Michael Conway and Darren Goodall) had to settle for third with 60 under par, 12 off Limerick’s winning score of -72 but only two off Cork in second on -62. The team now head to Lakeside in Templemore on the weekend of September 14th looking to do much better. Both silver medals came on Saturday as the Junior Mens and Ladies Nett sides fought hard in defence of their titles.
The Junior Mens team of Mark O’Shea, Brian McCarthy, Nathan Cronin, Sean O’Mahoney, Reece Sugrue and Alan O’Connor had a four shot lead over Cork after the Scotch Foursomes on 16 under but could only finish on 20 under for the tournament after the Singles as Cork finished as winners on -23. The Ladies Nett team of Charlotte Blake, Lisa and Catriona O’Connor along with Eileen McCarthy lost out by only four points in the defence of their Stableford title as their total of 246 was only better by the Tipperary B team on 250 points.
The other Kerry team that competed at the weekend, the Intermediate Mens team on Sunday looked in a very strong position after the Scotch Foursomes on Sunday as they led after the Scotch Foursomes on 21 under par, three ahead of Tipperary and Cork as the combination of Connie O’Sullivan Jnr & Dan Broderick Jnr and James Fleming & Dan O’Leary shot nine under par each for their rounds in the Scotch Foursomes but the team which also featured Michael Creagh and Mark Lucey fell back to 14 under par for the tournament after the Singles with Tipperary the tournament winners.
Our thanks to the team managers James Fleming (Senior), John Fitzgerald Tralee (Intermediate), Gearoid Cronin & Christy O’Mahony (Junior) as well as Tony Blake (Ladies) for their efforts with the teams as the Ladies will be going to Lakeside as well alongside the Senior Mens side.
This weekend (September 5th and 6th) sees the final National U16 event of the year, the National Matchplay in Fermoy as we wish all Kerry players the best of luck in the event. The County U16 Matchplay takes place the following Saturday in Listowel on Saturday September 13th.
Members of the Kerry Senior Mens Pitch & Putt team pictured with their medals following a third place finish in the Munster Adult Inter-County events in Ardnacrusha, Co Clare last Sunday. L to R: Jason Cregan, Jamie Blake, Damien Fleming and Darren Goodall. Missing from photo: John, McGrath, Michael Conway and team manager James Fleming.
