Listowel Pitch & Putt club pay tribute to true stalwart – ‘He did everything for the club'

Irish Independent

4 days ago

A Listowel native, Kevin was a well-known and well-liked member of the local community who, not only through his own brilliant skill on the course as a juvenile player, dedicated 40 years of his life to helping out with the club that he held so close to his heart.
As an adult, he held every committee position that the club had to offer and represented Listowel at the highest level of the game on the course for many years. His crowning glory came when he became Munster Senior Strokeplay Champion in 1993. The Championship was played in Ashgrove in Waterford and it was here that Kevin won a six-man playoff having finished -12 for 36 holes.
At the time The Kerryman reported that Kevin 'beat possibly the classiest field of players ever assembled for the Munster Championship'.
Not content with success domestically, Kevin also played the game at an international level but interestingly, not for Ireland, but for England. It was while he was living and working in the UK that he was selected to play for England. Playing against Ireland, Kevin was drawn to play against his fellow Kerry man, and good friend, Derry McCarthy.
For many years he worked tirelessly on the club's course to help make it the course it is today. He had a massive appetite for work and was involved with everything from scarifying to seeding or sanding greens.
Only a week later, he returned to work on the course after shooting a fine of -4 in the second round of the Bob Casey Inter-Club competition in Castleisland.
In their tribute, the club said that the feeling that Kevin possessed in his talented hands meant that he was also a great man to cut greens. They said that you would always know when Kevin cut the greens; they seemed to run so smoothly.
Speaking to The Kerryman, Club Captain from Listowel Pitch & Putt, Ger Guerin, said that Kevin's passing is a massive shock and loss to the North Kerry town and the wider community.
"He was a lovely, lovely fella. It [his passing] is a big shock to the club and to the wider community. It's just come out of the blue,' he said.
'He was heavily involved with us here in the club. He was a stalwart of the place. He did everything for the club. He took great pride in doing the greens and the fairways. He was always looking after them. He always had the place looking in top shape for scratch cups and competitions,' he continued.
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Myself and Kevin would have travelled a lot together playing pitch and putt. We travelled to Holland twice playing at the international level. He was just a great character around the place. He always took great pride in his son, Bobby, who is himself a great player. Bobby was the apple of Kevin's eye. As a club, we'd just like to offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends,' Ger added.
Kevin will be reposing at Lyons Funeral Home, Derry, Listowel, on Wednesday evening, June 25, from 5pm to 7pm. His funeral will arrive at St. Mary's Church, Listowel, on Thursday morning at 11.15am, with the Requiem Mass for him being celebrated at 11.30am.
For those who cannot make it, the funeral will be live-streamed on the Listowel parish website and it will be followed by burial afterward in St. John Paul II Cemetery, Ballybunion Road, Listowel.