Dylan Keating My favourite hole:
‘THAT’S an easy decision - my favourite hole in Seapoint is the 17th.
‘I know from the white tees where we play winter and spring golf it’s about 150 yards. Off the back tees in summer it’s up to 190 yards.
‘It’s really challenging. There’s a pot bunker front right which catches a lot of people out. There’s a little hill in the middle and in the summer the ball can bounce off it into the rough out the back. Then there’s two little valleys left and right the ball can catch. From there it can sometimes kick into the rough on the right and on the left it kicks down into a slope. There’s two valleys on the left actually.
‘The way the wind blows the club off the tee can be anything from a 50 degree [wedge] to a 4-iron. I’ve played it in the summer off the back tee into the wind and had to crush a 4-iron to get there.
‘But I broke a record recently. Over the winter I had eight or nine twos at that hole, which was lovely, so I guess I’m liking it a bit more!
‘From the tee you see the lovely Irish Sea on the right side and as far as the top of Clogherhead and the Mourne Mountains. You can see the whole of the clubhouse as well - there’s serious views.
‘If you walk 10 metres to the right you’re on the beach. I’d say I hit a few shanks onto the beach when I was younger, and I probably bounced the ball from there onto the green a couple of times when I played with my mates!
‘I’m getting a bit bored, not being able to play. I was meant to be going to Sweden this month, Japan in June, Sweden again, Germany and the Colleges in America, but it’s all cancelled.
‘The last time I played Seapoint was March 23rd, but I’ve used this time for fitness. I’m in the best shape of my life and I’ve got a net in the back garden, so my long game shouldn’t be too bad.
‘I have a little green out the front that I also built, although I’d say my putting might be a bit rusty when we start playing again.
‘I would say it’s going to be July or maybe even August or September before we’re able to play competively.’
Seventeen-year-old Dylan Keating, from Termonfeckin, is a 5th Year student at Dundalk Grammar School and plays off +3.2. He was Irish Under-16 Boys champion and won the Under-16 Order of Merit in 2018 and last year played for Ireland in the Boys Home Internationals. He is the nephew of Boyzone frontman Ronan Keating.