Having both claimed silverware already this season, Tracy Eakin (Dooks) and Shane Kenneally (Kinsale) go in search of more success as the Irish Senior Men’s & Women’s Amateur Close Championships get underway in Kilkeel tomorrow.
Six rounds of golf lay ahead for the eventual winners of both titles, with two rounds of stroke play under a shotgun start on Tuesday and Wednesday before the focus switches to match play with the final rounds teeing off on Friday.
Monaghan native Eakin sealed her first championship win in almost three decades when lifting this trophy last year in Strandhill, a victory which meant much more than just another title.
“When you haven’t actually lifted a trophy in 30 odd years it’s great, absolutely,” said Eakin.
“It’s what comes from it really, it’s the fact that you get picked on a team and you play on the Europeans, and you play on the home internationals, it’s a means to an end not an end in itself. Nearly everything you play in is a means to an end.”
While Dooks is Eakin’s home course, as a member of Killarney also she has been working closely with coach Mark Heinemann there, finding that a lesson a month ago “twigged” something with the Connacht Senior Champion. “Focused quality practice” being essential in her bid for back-to-back success.
With both stroke play and match play formats being played, the challenge to become champion this week is to “be an all-round golfer” with a good attitude and a strong competitive nature key for Eakin when she tees up on the county Down course.
“I think it’s the best format probably that you are getting the mixture of the two because they are completely different. For any golf tournament you play in you have to have that competitive thing in match play as well as stroke play,” said Eakin.
Kenneally too relishes the dual format element of the Men’s Amateur Close Championship and just over a month removed from his victory in Lough Erne is hoping his rich vein of form continues.
“I have been practicing probably six or seven days a week, probably one to three hours practice mixing it up between short game, putting and long game but the form is good. It’s consistency, it’s just trying to hold it and hopefully the form keeps going,” said Kenneally.
“It’s pressure from the very start, you can’t take anything for granted it’s a strong field, there’s no guarantee that anyone is going to make the top sixteen so you have to stay focused to play and then match play is always enjoyable and you never know what the outcome is going to be especially in 18 holes, anyone can win a match and go through but it is a nice format.”
For Kenneally’s stroke play rounds he will tee it up alongside two players he has faced recent on-course battles with, having been pipped to the Irish Senior Men’s Amateur Open Championship by Stephen Browne (Hermitage) in Moyvalley and most recently Eddie McCormack (Galway Bay) whom he faced in an epic playoff when taking the Irish Senior Men’s Amateur Close Stroke Play Championship title in Lough Erne.
While Kenneally’s mind is firmly set on making the top-16 and booking his spot in the match play rounds, the true highlight would be for himself and wife Sylvie, who also tees it up this week in the Women’s event, to be competing come Friday afternoon.
“I remember from years ago it was always don’t get your wife into golf; biggest load of rubbish ever, it’s the best thing. She loves the game and its enjoyable,” said Kenneally.
“The hope is that I play good golf and that hopefully gets me into the top-16. My target is that I would like Sylvie there coming home Friday evening. That’s the hope but anything can happen but its head down, play good golf and see what happens but I’m hoping to be still playing there on Friday.”
The Irish Senior Men’s & Women’s Amateur Close Championships gets underway at 8.30am tomorrow morning with Annette O’Reilly (Headfort) and Elsie Campbell (Royal County Down) setting off from the first while Darryn Lowans (Dun Laoghaire), Peter Sheehan (Ballybunion) and Alan Doherty (Corrstown) begin from the 10th.
Follow all the action here