Pitch & Putt Ireland2022 National Gents Strokeplay Facts and Figures
John Manning takes through what last weekend means
John Manning takes us through what the results in both Ringcommons and Killineer last weekend meant.
Senior
Sean Goggin becomes the fifth Co. Louth player in history to win the National Gents Strokeplay Championship (senior grade). He is the first Co. Louth winner not to have represented the Killineer or Cement club.
Sean completes the Leinster Strokeplay/National Strokeplay double in the same calendar year – a feat not achieved before. It is the first time that Wee County players have won consecutive National Gents’ (Senior grade) Strokeplay championship titles.
It’s the first time since 1993/94 (Sean Downes at Irish Ropes and St. Patrick’s) that Leinster players have won successive National (senior grade) Gents’ Strokeplay Championship titles.
Sean is the 8th player in history (Kevin Rogers, Pat O’Brien, Robbie McCarthy, Andy Dempsey, Donal Long, Eddie Carey and Darren Collins are the others) to win the National Gents Strokeplay Championship (senior grade) having previously been National Matchplay runner-up.
The nine year gap (2022-2013) between those two performances by Sean is second only to Eddie Carey (2010-1997).
(Ten other players, Kevin McDonnell, George McMahon, Ray Murphy, Jack McCormack, Sean Downes, John Walsh, Chris Scannell, Bryan Delaney, John Cahill and Michael Forrest have been Matchplay runner-up after previously been crowned Strokeplay champion).
A runner-up in the Intermediate championship in 1998, Gary Healy achieved his best finish in this championship on his second appearance in the Last 18.
Gary Healy joins John Ross Crangle (x2) and Anthony Lynch as Loughlinstown runners-up in the National Gents Strokeplay Championship.
Gary is the first runner-up in the National Intermediate Strokeplay championship to later finish runner-up in the senior grade.
It was a Leinster 1-2 in the championship for the first time since 2005.
James Cleary becomes the sixth player (following Ray Murphy, John Walsh, John Ross Crangle, Damien Fleming and William Buckley Junior) to achieve second and third place finishes in the National Strokeplay championship (since third place was officially awarded in 1987).
On his sixth appearance in the final round, James became the first Tipperary player to lift the National Strokeplay bronze medal since third place was officially awarded in 1987.
2017 winner Mark Millar finished fourth in the National Strokeplay championship as he made the play-off round for the seventh time.
Former two-time National Matchplay Champion, Mark has now had first, third and fourth place finishes in the National Strokeplay.
2020 Intermediate Champion Michael Conway captured the Senor Best Nett award, maintaining Munster’s stranglehold on that prize since it was introduced.
Ray Murphy qualified for the National Gents’ Strokeplay championship final round for the 20th time since the 54-hole system was introduced in 1995.
Sean Goggin is one of two players to have made the cut at Ryston in 2019,at Navan last year. and at Ringcommons. Jason O’Regan is the other.
The senior cut fell at 94 in Ringcommons – the same as at Fermoy in 1999 and Navan last year. The low cut remains at 93 (Ryston 2010).
The three stroke spread between the 36-hole leader and the cut is the lowest since the championship reverted to 54 holes in 1995.
Intermediate
Killian O’Gorman is the fourth Kerry player (and the second in three stagings) to win the National Gent's Intermediate Strokeplay championship.
Killian is the first Listowel club member to win the championship. Declan McCarron is a native of Listowel but he was representing Tralee when he won at Ryston 12 years ago.
Emphasising the ultra-competitive nature of the National Gents Intermediate Strokeplay championship, 2022 represented the fifth staging in a row where the event required a play-off or the winning margin was only one stroke.
The leading 36-hole total (99) in 2022 was the same as Gavin Farrissey’s winning score when the Championship was played at the venue (over the old two-round format) in 1986.
Liam O’Mahony is the fourth Rocklodge member (and the first since 1966) to achieve runners-up position in the National Gent's Intermediate Strokeplay Championship. Liam finished second in the National Gent's Intermediate Strokeplay championship 38 years after he was runner-up with Dunlops in the 1984 National Club Tournament at Catholic Institute.
Dermot Tuohy is the first Co. Clare registered player to finish third in the National Gents Intermediate Strokeplay since Clare Road’s Eoin Phillips at Lucan in 1998. (Gerry O’Brien of Ardnacrusha finished third in 2002 but Ardnacrusha is considered Limerick for Pitch and Putt purposes).
Junior
Glen Martin is the first Louth player to win the National Gents Junior Strokeplay championship since Daniel Clinton in 2010. Glen makes it four wins in the National Gents Junior Strokeplay championship for members of the Killineer/Cement club.
He is the sixth player representing a Co. Louth club to win the National Gents Junior Strokeplay Championship. Glen’s score of 146 ties the lowest winning 54-hole aggregate in history, matching Darren McCann (Cement, now Killineer) who scored 146 at Tullamore in 2003.
Former Leinster Juvenile Inter-County winner (with Louth), Glen joins Chris O’Sullivan and Cian O’Callaghan as National Junior Strokeplay winners who were also part of All Ireland Schools’ tournament runners-up teams.
Junior runner-up John Conaghan matches club-mate’s Jack Carr’s 2021 second place finish.
The same club provided the runner-up in the Junior Championship in consecutive years for the first time ever.
John Conaghan is the fifth player from the Killineer/Cement club and the sixth in all from Co. Louth to take silver in the National Gents’ Junior Strokeplay Championship
It was a same club 1-2 in the National Gents’ Junior Strokeplay championship for the first time since Tullamore 2016 and for the fifth time in all.
Robbie Harnett finished third in the National Gents’ Junior Strokeplay Championship in the same year that he won the All Ireland Schools’ tournament with St. Brendans, Killarney.
Robbie is the second player representing a Co. Kerry club to win bronze in the National Gents’ Junior Strokeplay championship in the last three stagings of the event.
Junior 36 Nett winner Glen Buckley set the new low scoring record for this category with his 78 return.
St. Patricks supplied the Junior 36 Nett winner for the second successive year.
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