Tralee successfully hosts the County Strokeplay Championships

LAST weekend’s staging of the County Strokeplay Championships got competitive Pitch & Putt back underway beyond club level as both days of play saw the host clubs dominate.

At the Mens events in Tralee on Sunday double figures won each of the three categories. Jason Cregan from the hosts was one of a number of players to secure a Hole-In-One in the senior event as rounds of four and nine under par gave him a winning total of 13 under par.

That was four shots clear of last year’s Intermediate winner and clubmate Eamonn Sheehy who had a great second round of eight under par in claiming the runners-up prize. The Intermediate grade also went to Tralee as a returning Michael Conway had rounds of five and six under par for his winning score of 11 under as he was three clear of Deerpark’s Lorcan Martin in second on eight under par.

A clean sweep of the grades for Tralee on Sunday was completed by Paul O’Shea in the Junior as his score was better than that of the Intermediate winner. Rounds of five and seven under par gave him a total of 12 under par.

Countback was needed to decide second between Listowel’s Jake Shine and another Tralee player in Keith O’Brien after both posted scores of nine under par. Eventually it came down to the back nine in favour of Jake as he and Lorcan were the only non-Tralee prize-winners on Sunday.

Saturday’s Under 16 event in Deerpark was dominated by the hosts in Killarney as for the first time in nearly 20 years, more than three clubs entered players for an Under 16 event in the county.

Ella Moynihan of Tralee became the first girl to enter in over eight years as she won the Beginners prize on the day with a score of 145. Deerpark locked out the rest of the prizes as Cillian Courtney won the overall prize with a score of six under par, three clear of Robbie Harnett on three under par.

Fintan Martin started a good weekend for his family after the performance of his brother the day after in winning the 14-15 section with a score of two under par, 10 shots clear of his clubmate Ryan Neeson.

Consistency was the order of 10-13 grade as Joey McCarthy had matching one under par rounds to win the section with two under par as Brian McCarthy in second had matching one over par rounds to take second on two over par. The County Board would like to thank both Tralee and Deerpark for their set-ups at the weekend and thank all players for adhering to the public health guidelines while playing.

This Bank Holiday Monday sees Tralee host their 36 hole Scratch Cup. Entry has to be pre-booked in advance and can be done through the club. We ask all players to support this event on Monday.

Elsewhere we wish to confirm that the National Matchplay Qualifiers will take place in Castleisland on Friday evening, August 21. It will take the form of a 36 hole Strokeplay Qualifier this year. Also the County Under 16 Matchplay will take place in Tralee on Saturday, August 29. Entry for the National Strokeplay and Matchplay events at both adult and Under 16 level is also available through clubs at present.