Athletes master Kerry cross-country races
THE wet and windy weather played a major part in the Munster Boys Championship played over Ballybunion’s Cashen course from Wednesday to Friday of last week but it didn’t dampen the spirits of Dylan Keating from Seapoint Golf Club in Co Meath, who won the title by five shots on a level par total of 216.
Strong swirling winds on day one (Wednesday) sent scores soaring, particularly on the back nine, with the best round of the day coming from Muskerry’s Fionn Hickey and Knock’s Lee Mitchell who both carded four over par 76’s while eventual winner Dylan Keating had to settle for a 79 as the vast majority of the field failed to break 80.
Day two saw a huge improvement in the weather with ideal golfing conditions and little or no wind, which was reflected in the scoring, with several players breaking par.
Keating fired an impressive seven under par 65 which included six birdies, an eagle and a dropped shot, to bring him back to level par and hold the second round lead by seven shots from Roscommon’s Thomas Higgins who opened with a 78 and a 73 as the top 45 players and ties made it through to day three, with the cut falling at a whopping twenty-three over par 167.
Friday brought heavy rain in the morning, but Keating held his nerve to fire a level par round of 72 to win by five from Higgins who carded a final round 70 and Edmonstown’s Liam Abom who carded a 69.
It was a very poor tournament from a Kerry point of view with just Ballybunion’s Phillip Byrne and James O’Callaghan teeing it up, as the Dooks pairing of Daniel and Jack McGillycuddy were late withdrawals.
Sadly, both Ballybunion boys had a tournament to forget, with Byrne firing an opening round of 88 and O’Callaghan a 91, while both failed to return a score in round two.
As mentioned last week, the Munster Boys is on a rotational system with the three other provincial boy’s championships and this year’s winner Dylan Keating will only hold the title for six months as the 2020 Munster Boys will be played at Easter.
One would have to question the logic of this rotational system for the fact that the title winner will only reign for six months in this case and because of the high possibility of poor weather ruining a championship being played during the Halloween mid-term break.
Our main boys championships should be played during the summer holidays, in my opinion, and I’m guessing that I’m not alone in thinking this.