The intermediate field at Deerpark is brimming with talented players.
Fittingly a local man (2025 National Mixed Foursomes session winner Con O’Sullivan) will get proceedings underway on the dot of 09:00.
Former Irish Intermediate Strokeplay champion Gerard Kehoe (E.S.B.) was a Munster Intermediate Inter-County winner with Cork in 2023.
Former Kerry Inter-County Under-21 footballer and leading basketball coach James Fleming is the second of eight host club players into action. A 2023 Munster Intermediate Matchplay semi-finalist, James was twice a Munster Intermediate Inter-County runner-up with Kerry.
Tralee’s Mark Lucey won a Munster Inter-County with Kerry juniors three years ago. Declan Kelly (Deerpark) was a Munster Scotch Foursomes victor in 2019.
Leading ex-juvenile (provincial Juvenile Matchplay champion in 2019) Bobby McCarron (Listowel) was a Munster Intermediate Inter-County winner with Kerry in 2024.
Another brilliant ex-Under-16 performer, Charlie Taylor (Tipperary Hills) won the Munster Juvenile Matchplay championship at Riverdale last year.
A Munster Schools tournament winner with St. Brendan’s, Killarney in 2013, Michael Cronin (Deerpark) seeks a quick double having impressively claimed the Munster Matchplay title two months ago at Fermoy.
Tim Crowe (Riverdale) captured provincial Intermediate Inter-County gold medal in 2025 while Alan Keating (St. Anne’s) was an intermediate Strokeplay bronze medallist twelve months ago.
Bruff’s Dominic Kavanagh is a former provincial Junior Matchplay champion as is Sean O’Neill (Larkspur Park).
Kavanagh partners 2025 Munster Scotch Foursomes winner Ciaran White (Bishopstown) and 2023 Kerry Matchplay runner-up Daniel Broderick (Castleisland), who helped the Kingdom to Munster Inter-County glory the same year.
2005 Munster Mixed Foursomes runner-up Billy Griffin (Cill na Móna) is a vastly experienced player (with considerable Inter-County success for Clare on his resumé) while Darren O’Leary (St. Anne’s) was 2022 Munster Matchplay champion and helped Cork to glory in the 2023 Munster Inter-County championship.
A Munster Matchplay semi-finalist in 2013, Aidan O’Sullivan (Bruff) was a session prize winner in the 2023 provincial Scotch Foursomes while Ken Hayes (Larkspur Park) captured Munster gold with Tipperary juniors in 2019.
Bishopstown’s Ian McCarthy who played so impressively with a 95 at Cunnigar in the regional qualifier, was a member of Cork’s 2025 provincial junior winning side.
Yet another former Juvenile star on view is A Jay Barrett (Listowel). A Jay won the 2022 National Juvenile Strokeplay championship at Deerpark. Twice a Munster Juvenile Inter-County winner with Kerry, A Jay was a Munster Juvenile Matchplay finalist at St. Stephen’s in 2023.
Barrett will play opposite 2022 National Scotch Foursomes champ George Goodman (Larkspur Park) and Colm O’Donnell, a team event specialist from Bishopstown, who was Cork Matchplay runner-up last year.
2025 provincial intermediate Matchplay finalist Marco Comerford (Hillview) plays with this year’s Junior champion Aidan O’Rourke (Cunnigar) and Gearoid Cronin (Deerpark), a 2018 Munster Intermediate Inter-County winner with Kerry.
Riverdale’s John Minogue is a former Munster Junior Matchplay kingpin and was also three times provincial Junior Strokeplay runner-up.
Minogue plays with 2022 Munster Inter-County winner for Cork, Donal Duggan (St. Anne’s) and 2025 Munster Junior Inter-County victor with the Rebels, Dave Connolly (Crosshaven), who claimed the Junior Strokeplay title at Collins twelve months ago.
Kevin Flynn (Ardnacrusha) will bid to go one better than his second place finish two years back. Daniel O’Regan (Fermoy) won a Munster Under-16 gold medal with Cork in 2011 while Deerpark’s Gerard Casey was a 2016 Munster Intermediate Inter-County silver medallist with the Kingdom.
Michael Creagh (Deerpark) was third in the 2023 Munster Junior Strokeplay championship while Stephen Donovan (Cunnigar) helped Waterford to second spot in the 2022 provincial Intermediate Inter-County championship.
Former Pitch and Putt Ireland President Mark Keohane (Bandon) has qualified and will play alongside championship holder Morty Ahern (Collins) and Larkspur Park’s Sean Cronin, who placed third in the 2009 Munster Juvenile Inter-County with Tipperary.
2022 provincial Matchplay semi-finalists Ger Guerin (Listowel) and Robert Ryan (Riverdale) are drawn together in the final group, joined by Declan Byrne a National Inter-Club finalist with Cunnigar last year.
Host club Deerpark will have a very strong hand in the junior championship with no fewer than seven contenders representing the Killarney club. Denis Duggan will be the first of these into action.
2025 Munster Scotch Foursomes winner and 2026 National Matchplay semi-finalist Paul Boreham (Bishopstown) will be a player expected to do well as will former Clare Inter-County player John Mulqueen (Ardnacrusha)
Michael O’Meara (Larkspur Park) finished in a very creditable fifth position in last summer’s National
Junior Strokeplay championship at St. Anne’s.
2026 National Matchplay quarter-finalist James Foley (Deerpark) features in a very strong group that also includes Mixed and Non-Mixed Scotch Foursomes specialist Thomas Roberts (Lakeside) who was Munster Junior B Strokeplay championship runner-up at Fermoy three years ago. That pair are joined by last year’s runner-up Ian Murphy (Claycastle), who is back in the final again.
2025 National Inter-Club winner Peadar McCarthy (Bruff) was Limerick Strokeplay champion in 2022 and helped Limerick to Munster Inter-County success the same year.
2024 National Junior B Strokeplay runner-up Brian Andrews (Ardnacrusha) is sure to be in contention as is Robbie Harnett (Deerpark), who delivered many strong performances as a juvenile, securing two National Inter-County wins and a brace of All-Ireland Schools Tournament successes.
2024 Munster Matchplay semi-finalist and Munster Inter-County runner-up Tim O’Connor (Bishopstown) is another very accomplished performer.
Alan Abraham (Fermoy) finished second in April’s Cork Strokeplay championship while John Clifton (Castleisland) was a 2009 National Scramble bronze medallist.
Derek Shelly (Larkspur Park) is a former National Mixed Foursomes winner (2022) and John O’Donovan (Ballinlough) reached the 2026 National Matchplay quarter-finals.
2025 Munster Juvenile Strokeplay runner-up Nicholas O’Toole (Larkspur Park) is in the field as is last year’s Munster Juvenile Matchplay Plate finalist, Luke Ryan (Tipperary Hills).
The home club assault on the title is completed by David Spillane, Bobby Kelly, Jason Reen and Paddy Murphy.
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