Dooks win Kingdom Intermediate Shield

DOOKS lifted the Kingdom Intermediate Shield last weekend in an exciting tussle with Tralee who were of course looking to do the double having previously lifted the Senior Shield this year with victory over Ceann Sibeal in the final.

Dooks held a one-hole advantage after the first leg of the final on their home turf and one could be forgiven for thinking that this may not have been enough against their opponents on the magnificent Barrow links, which was in pristine condition.

However, Dooks had other ideas as both sides served up some super golf in the opening nine holes which saw the top match all-square between Tralee’s Pat Williams and Hugh

O’Farrell and the Dooks pairing of Brendan Foley and Karl Griffin.

Dooks held a decent advantage in the second Match where John Collins and Owen Aherne were three ahead of Tralee’s Jerry Moloney and Kieran Ruttledge at the turn while in match number three, James Long and Kieran Foley of Dooks were one up at the halfway stage against Michael O’Halloran and Liam Hussey, to leave Dooks five ahead overall in the aggregate scoring.

So, Tralee were up against it but given the difficulty of the back nine at Barrow, Dooks knew that a big effort was needed on the home stretch to prevent a Tralee comeback.

In spite of a great effort by the home side however, the Dooks men held firm and eventually ran out winners by a seven-hole margin to lift the title in a game that was played in a wonderful sporting manner with great banter between the two clubs and especially their managers John Noonan of Dooks and Tralee’s Martin Mitchell.

So that’s it for 2019 from the Kerry Federation with all events completed on time and in a most professional manner by the Federation host club Kenmare and their team of David Dwyer, John Barry and Bernard Hourihan, to whom I would like to add a special note of gratitude for their help and co-operation throughout the year.