(Lisa O'Connor, runner-up in the 2025 Munster Intermediate Ladies Matchplay Championship)
(Mark O'Shea, runner-up in the 2025 Munster Junior Mens Matchplay Championship)
Jason O'Connor reports
Three days of provincial Pitch & Putt action from Friday to Sunday of saw Kerry in the prizes on all three steps of the podium between the Munster Secondary Schools and Adult Matchplay events.
Starting last Friday at the Secondary Schools event St Brendans Killarney won the competition for the third time in four years and retained their title with their 1 team of Nathan Cronin, Brian McCarthy & Ronan Bennett winning the event by 11 shots from St Francis College Rochestown. Nine under par for Nathan along with scores of four under and three under from Brian and Ronan respectively gave them their winning score of 16 under par, a sixth success overall for the Sem in the competition.
Two further teams from the school, the 2 team of Sean O’Mahoney, Fionn McMonagle & Joey McCarthy and the 3 team of Jack Rudden, Luke Doolan & Eoin Bennett finished in the Top 9 as well, meaning qualification for the National Finals in St Bridgets in Kildare on Friday May 23rd next. Two teams from St Michaels College Listowel, A Jay Barrett and the Chute brothers Trevin & Jayden along with the team of Joe Joy, Mason Sheehy Elston and Diarmuid Lyons also made it through by finishing in the Top 9 last Friday meaning five of the 18 teams in the final (less than one-third of the field) will be from Kerry.
At the Munster Matchplay in Cork over the weekend meanwhile second and joint third finishes would be the order of the day for the Kerry players here. Deerpark’s Mark O’Shea and Tralee’s Lisa O’Connor made it to the Finals of the Junior Mens and Intermediate Womens events respectively before losing their respective finals. In Mark’s case he made it to his final by means of winning an all Kerry quarter-final with Tralee’s Reece Sugrue.
In the final he faced Gerard Dinan from the ESB club in Cork as despite a deficit of 10 at one stage between the pair, Mark fought back bravely to reduce the margin to two in his bid for a County & Munster double before losing out 4&3 in the end. In Lisa’s case she was bidding to win the competition for the second time in three years having won in Tralee back in 2023 but she lost out in the final by 6&5 to Nicola Ahern from the Collins club.
In the Junior Ladies event meanwhile another Tralee player in Charlotte Blake made Sunday’s semi-finals and had a massive 37-hole battle with eventual winner Michelle O’Connor from the Cunnigar club in Dungarvan before losing at the first playoff hole. The sweekend itself had seen Jason Cregan’s bid for three-in-a-row in the Senior Mens event end at the first hurdle to club-mate Darren Goodall before Darren reached the quarter-finals losing out to eventual runner-up Eoin Walsh.
The other all Kerry clash of the weekend was won by Castleisland’s James Dignan as he beat Tralee’s Michael Conway before James lost to Robert O’Donoghue from the host club in the Second Round.
This weekend sees the National Matchplay Qualifiers take place in Castleisland as full details will be confirmed for the event nearer to the weekend.
