The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
117 HOLES FOR 117 YEARS
KENMARE GOLF CLUB HOSTS A MARATHON FUND-RAISER
THE COVID-19 lock-down has been challenging for all golf clubs, but especially so at Kenmare. Thankfully though, it seems there’s no shortage of care for the club’s future – and not just amongst the 14 golfers who completed a unique golfing marathon at the course last Friday.
As planned, stalwart members completed 117 holes each between dawn and dusk on the day, and from the first strike of the ball by James Murphy to the final putt by Cindy Freeman – captains both – the spirit of the club was on full show amid a happy and positive atmosphere.
The 117 holes were a nod to each year of the club’s existence. Kenmare was already reeling from COVID-19 restrictions, but the destruction caused by a blaze at the club’s iconic, long-standing clubhouse earlier this month compounded worries. A GoFundMe page has been in action in recent weeks and will remain open for a short time more, and it has so far garnered more than €60,000 thanks to a hugely generous public.
A host of very hardy perennials from families steeped in the club – O’Shea, McSwiney, Daly, Brosnan, O’Dwyer, Mac Gearailt, Maye, Duggan, Lucey, Murphy, Dale – were at hand for Friday’s marathon fund-raiser, Charlie Vaughan of Kenmare Golf Club explained, while a few wellknown faces joined in at points along the way.
“The 14 set off in groups of four, so there were two free slots rotating throughout the day between some special guests,” he told The Kerryman. These were made up of Kerry GAA stars past and present, many of whom hail from the Kenmare district itself.
“We are really delighted with how it has gone, and we are overwhelmed at the level of public support we have received. We really want to acknowledge that, and thank the public”
Golf-focused fundraising efforts are set to take precedence over the next month, Charlie explained. Among these events, the club has ambitions of hosting Munster’s biggest golf classic of the year next month, the week of July 20, with further details to follow in times ahead.
Updates on re-building and re-development plans will also be made available in the coming weeks, Charlie added, to members and through the club’s website, kenmaregolfclub.com.
And as if the 14 golfers hadn’t achieved enough over the course of the day, one of them, Tomás Mac Gearailt, had an extra claim to fame.
“Tomás only lost one ball over the course of the whole day,” Charlie joked. “And I wouldn’t mind, but he was giving out about that one ball afterwards!”