Another year and another National U16 Inter-County title for Kerry Pitch & Putt but the significance of this latest win might well be something that will resonate more with Kerry sporting achievements in general.
Last Saturday at the Hillview course in Clonmel, Listowel duo Ajay Barrett (Captain) and Jayden Chute along with Deerpark’s Brian McCarthy and Ben Kelliher won the Tommy Murphy Cup for the county for the fifth straight year and a ninth time in total in an achievement to match the Kerry Minor Footballers from 2014 to 2018 and their ‘five-in-a-row’ in Gaelic Football.
It was a 15-shot victory for the Kerry ‘Gold’ side over their nearest challengers Kilkenny as their 20 under par total was made up of five four under par counting scores between Singles and Scotch Foursomes play with Jayden Chute’s level par score in the Singles the odd score out as Kerry’s second team on the day, the ‘Green’ side finished sixth overall on +10 as that side was made up of Deerpark’s Fionn McMonagle & Aodhan O’Halloran along with Listowel’s Daniel Leahy and Tommy Daly.
The real drama last Saturday was in the Singles event for the Eugene McCarthy Cup however as both Brian McCarthy and Ben Kelliher were involved in a four player playoff for the U16 title. Ajay Barrett (2022 winner) came very close to making it five but some late bogeys proved costly in him finishing one shot behind the lead score of six under as Kilkenny duo Jack McShane and Harry Concannon joined both Brian and Ben in an extra nine holes.
There was still no separating three of the players after the nine holes with Brian, Ben and McShane going to the 10th tee-box for sudden death as Concannon dropped out by had the consolation of winning the U13 prize. At the 10th hole Ben claimed a birdie to emerge victorious as he became Kerry’s sixth and Deerpark’s third winner of this coveted title in the sport. Brian finished second for the second consecutive year meanwhile on a better second 18 from McShane. Fionn McMonagle and Aodhan O’Halloran had the second and third best U13 scores themselves as the county’s incredible success that began in Fermoy in 2018 continues with only the National U16 Inter-County title not having left Kerry since.
Well done to all involved last Saturday as a special thanks must go to our U16 Officer Gearoid Cronin along with Deerpark’s Derry McCarthy for looking after the two teams last Saturday. A big thank you once more to Sewells Pharmacy for their continued sponsorship of the team. It puts the pressure on the five Kerry teams taking part in the Munster Adult Inter-County Championships in Tralee this weekend to follow suit. Our best wishes to the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Mens sides in their respective events alongside the two Kerry teams in the Ladies event as we are delighted to see Kerry enter teams in this competition again for the first time since 2017. Our best wishes also go to Tralee on their hosting of this event.
Elsewhere last weekend both Deerpark’s Damien Fleming and Tralee’s Tony Blake have made it through to the next stage of the trials for the Irish World Cup team later this year after advancing from the Munster trial in Larkspur Park last weekend to the deciding trial in St Patricks in Enniscorthy in Wexford on Saturday September 7th.
