Deerpark's Damien Fleming earns place on Irish team for European Championships in July
Last weekend in pitch and putt was a notable one inside and outside the county, as along with the County Strokeplay Championships being down for decision, a number of Kerry players headed to Lakeside in Templemore on Saturday for the Irish Men's Team Trial for the upcoming European Championships in Lucan next month.
It was a trip to in Tipperary to remember for Damien Fleming of Deerpark as he finished top of the 54-hole trial on the day to pick up one of two spots on offer for the day. Fleming finished with 17 under par, and a year after representing Ireland for the first time in their World Cup win in Spain, he will be part of a six-man team trying to retain the provincial title for Ireland on home turf next month.
Fleming's qualification for this event comes 20 years after club-mate Derry McCarthy captained Ireland to win this very event back in 2005 in Holland.
Kerry P&P chairman Chris Gibney reached the final 18 play-off at the Irish Team Trial, and that set him up well for the following day at the County Strokeplay Championships in Tralee as Darren Goodall and himself pushed Jason Cregan all the way in his eventual victory in the Senior men's event.
Cregan was three ahead in the closing stages but some late bogeys brought him back to 17 under par but it was still good enough to hold off both of his nearest challengers who finished on 16 under par. Gibney finished second on countback in the event as Tralee's Thomas Roche won the Final 18 prize with five under par.
The Intermediate men's saw Tralee secure a 1-2 finish with Michael Creagh winning on 11 under par, three clear of Eamon Sheehy on eight under par. Bobby McCarron of Listowel won the Last 18 prize with level par.
The Junior men's event was won by Deerpark's Brian McCarthy by a grand total of 12 strokes. McCarthy had a 54-hole total of one over par as he finished ahead of both Tralee's Gerry Lee and Listowel's John Heffernan. Lee's better Final 18 saw him finish second with Heffernan winning the Final 18 prize itself.
The Ladies event saw Lisa O'Connor of Tralee win the Gross event with +8 with Deerpark's Eileen McCarthy winning the Nett prize with 107.
Tralee is the venue again this weekend for their Scratch Cup on Saturday.
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