An otherwise disappointing showing from the Kerry contingent at the Munster Strokeplay Finals in Fermoy last weekend was tempered by two third place finishes in two of the Mens categories. They both came in the Junior grade on Saturday as after being second overall after the first 36 holes, Tralee’s Michael Creagh eventually finished third in the Junior A competition.
Daniel Kelly from Deerpark also made the Final 18 playoff in this section as Listowel’s Paul Hayes finished third in the 36-hole Junior B grade, one shot off the third place score as Tralee’s Gerry Lee was sixth overall in this section. In the Ladies section meanwhile Tralee’s Bernadette O’Regan was fifth overall in the Junior Ladies grade on Sunday as well. In Sunday’s Senior and Intermediate Mens events only three Kerry players made the Top 15 playoffs. Damien Fleming and Tralee’s Alan Hobbart both made the Final 18 playoff in the Senior but finished in double digits behind the winning score of 33 under par.
Damien finished on 20 under while Alan finished on 15 under par. Tralee’s Keith O’Brien was ninth overall in the Intermediate grade on 12 under par, four shots off the winning score of 16 under par. Turning to the National Strokeplay Qualifiers in Castleisland on the last weekend in July they have been moved to the Saturday in order to avoid a clash with the All-Ireland Football final on the Sunday now Kerry are involved. Further details will be available by the end of the week.
This weekend meanwhile sees Listowel host their Scratch Cup on Saturday which we encourage all players in the county to support. Further details available from the club. Meanwhile this Friday night (July 21st) is a special one in Deerpark as they celebrate their 50th Anniversary. Their founding in 1973 led to the first founding of a County Board for the sport in Kerry after both the Castleisland and Listowel clubs had been founded as well.
We wish the Killarney club an enjoyable celebration on Friday evening at their course.
