Hi everyone, Ive decided to split the Review of the Year up into different segments this year for ease of reading. The first part below covers Kerrys performances in Munster, National & International events, Jason. 2014 saw two Munster titles for Kerry Pitch & Putt and very nearly two National titles as the county’s players distinguished themselves again both inside and outside the county bounds. The first Munster title came at the inaugural graded Provincial Inter-County Championships in St Stephens in Cork on Sunday August 17th as our Intermediate Gents team emerged victorious in the first staging of the event. Kerry were represented by Castleisland duo James Dignam and Aidan O’Connor, Deerpark trio Creagh Courtney, Jason O’Brien and St John Kelliher along with Tralee’s Gavin Carroll as they trailed hosts Cork by two after the opening Scotch Foursomes on 13 under par combined, That came courtesy of rounds of five under par each for the combinations of Jason & St John as well as Aidan and Gavin with Creagh and James bringing in a total of three under par. Kerry were a combined total of level par for the Singles with three under for Jason O’Brien, two under for Gavin Carroll and one under par rounds respectively for Aidan O’Connor and St John Kelliher putting them in the lead as they waited for Cork to complete their rounds. There was a 13 shot swing in total as Kerry’s total of 473 was better than 484 for Cork with a great win for the team in this inaugural event secured. Special praise must also go to team manager John Fitzgerald (Castleisland) on his efforts with the team. The second Munster title came only two weeks later at the Munster Mixed Foursomes in Fermoy. Tralee Club Captain Tony Blake and Lisa O’Connor would emerge triumphant after 36 holes. Their total score of 15up was good enough for a two shot victory over local pairing James Devonshire and Sarah Byrne as a second round of 9up was the key to their success. They were third overall after the First Round on 6up but powered through in their Second Round to take a well-deserved win. They become the first Kerry pairing to win this competition in 10 years after their Tralee club-mates Jamie Wrenn and Theresa Broderick last did so back in 2004. While Tony has been a prominent figure in the game over a long period, this was Lisa’s first year playing the game making the success all the more noteworthy. The two near misses in terms of National titles came in both the National Gents Matchplay and the National Intermediate Gents Strokeplay for Deerpark duo Damien Fleming and Creagh Courtney respectively. For the second time in four years, Deerpark’s Damien Fleming contested the National Gents Matchplay Final.Unfortunately unlike 2011 he was unable to repeat his win that year as he went down by 5&3 to Cork’s John Walsh in the June weekend decider in Parteen. Damien had some tough matches on the way to the decider defeating Dublin’s Stephen Power and Westmeath’s Michael Buckley by slim margins in his opening two games. His Last 16 and quarter-final wins over Kildare’s Joe Ronan and another Dubliner Chris Gallagher were a bit more comfortable as he set up a meeting with his third opponent from the capital on the June Bank Holiday weekend, John Crangle in the semi-finals on Monday morning. Damien was four behind after the first 18 holes and appeared to be in big danger of going out but won the last five holes of the contest to secure a 2up win and a place in the Final. His luck deserted him in the final however as he never led the contest, trailing by seven after the first 18 holes and even though he did manage to half a eight hole deficit to four in the closing stages, Damien conceded at the fourth last hole in his 5&3 loss. Creagh’s near miss in the Intermediate Strokeplay was a bit more dramatic. He was denied victory after 64 gruelling holes on the last Saturday in July. Creagh along with Kildare’s Owen Farrell tied at nine under par after the regulation 54 holes necessitating a further nine holes to decide the outcome. Despite the Kildare player getting a hole-in-one, Creagh stayed level with him after this phase with both players shooting four under par. It then went to sudden death with a chip-in birdie giving Farrell the win despite a very valiant effort by Creagh throughout. Indeed at Inter-County level Kerry medalled in each of the three Gents grades. A very young looking Anchor Cup team finished third in the Nationals at Tullamore in September while they also finished third in the Munster equivalent at Tipperary Hills a month earlier. Kerry were represented by four Deerpark players on the team namely Damien Fleming, Conor McCarthy, St John Kelliher and Jason O’Brien along with Tralee duo Jonathon Goodall and Jamie Blake. Meanwhile the county’s first ever Junior Gents Inter-County team also finished third at their Munster event in St Stephens. Kerry’s representatives on this team were Tralee trio David Hobbert, Roger Guthrie and Aidan O’Sullivan, Deerpark duo James Fleming and David Harnett along with Castleisland’s Paudie Looney. Conor McCarthy also represented Ireland in the International Challenge with Catalonia becoming the third player from the county to represent the country after club-mate Derry McCarthy and Tralee’s Jonathon Goodall. Conor won all his matches in the Doubles and Singles despite Ireland’s eventual loss to the Catalans. Part Two: County Competitions & Scratch Cups.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 10:00:00 +0000
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