Brennan on target again at Castlecomer

FORMER Kilkenny hurling great Martin Brennan helped his team clinch victory – and a holiday in Spain – with a one-point win in the inaugural Classic Team Championship at lovely Castlecomer.

The Erin’s Own great scored 1-2 to help Kilkenny claim the 1967 All-Ireland hurling title, going on to win it again two years later.

He continued to play for his club until 1985, finishing his career in goal. But while hurling management occupied his time after he hung up his boots, he now gets his sporting thrills on the golf course.

After managing Castlecomer to victory in the All-Ireland Duggan Cup last year, the 72-year-old teamed up with Victor Smyth, Ken Hovenden and Kilkenny’s Tadhg O’Donohoe at Castlecomer at the weekend, amassing 104 points to win the inaugural team event.

The four-day festival of golf was hailed as a great success, attracting 271 golfers and teams from Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Cork, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow and Dublin, as well as the three home counties on the Castlecomer plateau – Carlow, Laois and Kilkenny.

Founded in 1935, Castlecomer was originally located on land owned by the Holmes family at Cloudmount in Clashduff, before Pat Ruddy agreed to cut his architectural teeth by creating a new ninehole course at Drumgoole in 1973-74.

The creator of The European Club returned in 2000, extending the course to 18 holes and it is now a magnificent addition to the Irish golfing landscape on a beautiful, tree-filled, 170-acre site.

Organisers Fergal O’Neill and Colin Dunne, ably assisted by captains Margaret O’Keeffe and Seamie Brennan and club president Honoria Fogarty, were thrilled by the success of the inaugural event.

With Open Week scheduled for late July, lovers of golf need not wait another year to plan a visit to this lovely parkland, just 15 minutes from Kilkenny City.