The Roganstown star (17) sensationally opened with a bogey-free, one-under 70 and added a 72 to become the youngest Irish amateur to make the cut in the Irish Open since 16-year-old Ronan Rafferty did it at Portmarnock in 1980.
But while he followed a third-round 81 with a three-over 74 to finish 67th in the 68-man field on 13-over, he was looking at the positives as he prepares to jet back to Texas Tech University on Monday.
“Yeah, good week,” Keeling said. “I learnt a lot and played a lot of good golf, but just over the weekend, I made a lot of mistakes.
“I didn’t play my best, but making the cut was a good achievement, and then I take a lot with me from the weekend, positives and learnings. All together, I enjoyed the week. Really good experience.”
Keeling didn’t just learn he had to the game to go toe to toe with the top professionals, he also saw what he has to improve.
“I’d say just the importance of one shot on tour,” he said of the biggest lesson.
“Every shot matters a lot, so you’ve got to take your bogeys when you have to, and then around here, just hit the middle of the greens, and make as many pars as you can.
“On the easy holes then, today especially, I didn’t play very well. When you do get the chances, you have to take them, because there are not many. There are a lot of things that I can take with me and work at.”
He added: “I think especially from the first two days, you can take a lot of confidence because even though I was level par, I was almost a bit annoyed with that for the way I played.
“I thought I should have been a good few better. So I can take a lot of confidence from that and I did see the standard, I’m well able to handle it and play at this level.
“It’s just getting the experience and learning how to manage your ball around the course a little bit better.”
Pádraig Harrington played with Keeling, Max Kennedy and Conor Purcell on Monday and the youngster was reminded of the importance of staying mentally strong.
“Pretty cliché, but just be patient, resilient, and take the ups and downs with golf,” he said of Harriington’s words of wisdom, “because there are always ups and downs.
“You’ve got to just be able to roll with it and just learn and get better.”
As for his highlight of the week, he said: “First day, birdieing in the last in the dark was quite nice after making 17 pars. That was good.
“There were a few shots today, on 12, I hit a three iron from maybe 245, almost holed it, and went about six feet past. Yeah, there’s a lot of good moments and enjoyable times.
“So yeah, I’ll definitely look back on it with good memories.”
While players like Rory McIlroy, Rafferty and Philip Walton all missed the cut as amateurs on their Irish Open debut, Keeling can claim bragging right after making it at the first attempt.
“100pc, making the cut was definitely a good achievement and something I can be proud of.”
As for his next goal, making the starting line-up at Texas Tech is top of the list.
“Yeah, it’s competitive,” said the Dubliner, who is also studying Sports Management.
“You’ve got to play well to make the team, and then obviously you want to go and play well and hopefully win some tournaments.
“[The study] It can be good, I suppose. Keep your mind off the golf every now and then.”