For the fourth consecutive Senior Inter-County Pitch & Putt Championship, the Kerry Mens team were in the medals as they fought back to a third place finish in the National Inter-County Championships in Lucan, Dublin last weekend.
The team (sponsored by Utility Trust and the North South Cafe in Tralee) made a great start on Saturday morning in the Scotch Foursomes as they led after the first quarter of the competition with a combined 31 under par for their three cards. This included a great 14 under par round from the combination of Damien Fleming & Jason O’Regan with both Michael Conway & Alan Hobbart shooting 10 under and Jason Cregan & John McGrath seven under. They were one ahead of hosts Dublin but a disappointing afternoon session in the Singles left them in a tough position overnight on Saturday.
They could only manage a combined 23 under par for their best five cards to finish the first day on 54 under par, fourth overall and 15 shots off the lead held by the Dubs. The key for them in the tricky Foursomes format on Sunday morning was not to lose any further ground if they were to finish in the Top 3 and they had 14 under par for their three cards with Damien and Jason bringing in seven under and Michael and Alan bringing in six under as part of that total bringing their score to 68 under overall.
What all that meant was while overall victory was probably out of their sights at that stage (13 behind the Dubs) a medal was still very much in their sights as only nine shots were between second placed Tipperary and third placed Limerick ahead of the final 18 holes. A combination of solid scoring and a poor finish by Limerick elevated Kerry to third overall in the end as they managed 26 under par combined for their second round of Singles.
Two six under par rounds from O’Regan and Hobbart as well as two five under par rounds from McGrath and Conway made up the bulk of that scoring as their 94 under par total was three off Tipperary in second with Dublin 11 better than the Kingdom on 105 under par in winning the event on home turf. Great credit is due to the team for their efforts over the last few months as well as subs Chris Gibney and Gavin Carroll and team manager James Fleming. Hopefully these bronze and silver medal performances will turn into gold some day in the near future.
Strangely the Senior Mens team will not be the last Kerry team to play this year as the Junior Men will have their National Challenge as Munster winners with Leinster champions Louth on Sunday September 24th next in Ryston, Newbridge, Co Kildare. Despite last weekend’s performance there was a tinge of sadness about the weekend itself with the news of the death of the former County Board chairman Gerry O’Sullivan of Deerpark on Sunday morning.
We offer our condolences to Gerry’s family, friends and colleagues in Deerpark on his death as we also offer our condolences to Listowel on the recent passing of their captain Mick Barry. May they both Rest in Peace. This Saturday meanwhile sees the staging of the County U16 Matchplay Championships. Further details will be confirmed on our Facebook page and sent to clubs by the end of the week.
(Pictured receiving their medals from Pitch & Putt Ireland President Mark Keohane (standing centre). Standing L to R: Chris Gibney, Damien Fleming, Michael Conway, John McGrath & Jason O'Regan. Kneeling: Alan Hobbart and Jason Cregan. The team was sponsored by Utility Trust and North/South Cafe, Tralee.)
