Meath men to the fore as Ireland bid for European glory
PITCH & PUTT
There will be two Meath men very much to the fore with the Ireland team at the European Pitch & Putt Team Championships that will take place at Luican this weekend.
Trim's Paddy Kelly is the manager of the Ireland team and his side includes Castletown's Eamonn Gibney.
Gibney met international colleague Kieran Earls in the 2025 All-Ireland Matchplay final at Erry, losing by 5&4, in the Meathman’s best performance to date in the championship.
Irish Open winner at Glenville in 2014, Gibney has also been runner-up at International Opens in Britain (2016) and in Chile (2018). He represented Europe in the 2018 Fernando Morgado Trophy against South America at Puerto Valero (in Chile), winning four matches out of four.
World Cup winner with Ireland at Xixerella (Andorra) in 2016, the Castletown player was a member of the successful Irish sextet in the 2018 European Team Championship at Urduna. His international Matchplay record (whilst representing Ireland) is: Foursomes: W5 L1 H1; Singles: W7 L0 H0.
A Leinster Inter-County winner with Meath in 2012 at Stackallen, Gibney played on the Royal County side that were narrow runners-up to Dublin in the provincial tests at Oldcastle last year.
Leinster Matchplay champion at Erry in 2024, Gibney reached the final as holder at Navan in May, before being pipped by new champion Stephen Murray (Old County), in a high quality match.
He was Leinster Strokeplay runner-up in three successive stagings – 2019 (at Collinstown), 2022 (Trim) and 2023 (Seapoint). Gibney played for Leinster in the 2023 Interprovincial challenge match with Munster at McDonagh.
Paddy Kelly has been a familiar face on Ireland’s Pitch and Putt courses over the past couple of seasons, acting as an empathetic and judicious referee of our major championships.
A former Captain of Castle Bearna Golf Club, Kelly linked with Evan Carry, Eamon Gibney, Paul O'Rourke, David Campbell and Evan Ganly on the Meath team that scored 447 to finish second (just a single stroke behind) to Dublin in the 2024 Leinster Inter-County championship at Oldcastle.
He teamed-up with Trim clubmate Bridie Cummins to capture first session honours in the 2024 Leinster Mixed Scotch Foursomes at Royal Meath with a stableford points return of 89.
Kildare County Board Intermediate Scratch Cup winner in 2024 at McDonagh, Kelly claimed St Patrick’s Intermediate Scratch Cup the previous year. He contested the 2022 Leinster Intermediate Matchplay championship final at St Bridget’s, losing narrowly by 2&1 to Ryston’s Daniel Condon.
Runner-up to Eamon Gibney in the 2023 Meath County Strokeplay championship at Stackallen, Kelly lifted Trim’s Intermediate Scratch Cup later the same year.
A loyal supporter of all championships and competitions, Paddy has also tasted success in the Short Grass and GRIP Scrambles alongside the likes of Mark Gibney, Trevor Cummins and David Campbell. 2022 Collinstown Intermediate Masters winner, Kelly has acted as an efficient Secretary of Meath County Board.
The European Team Championship is the sport's original international team championship, originally played once every two years and now every four years. It's Europe's premier Pitch and Putt event. Starting with six teams in 1999 it has now grown into a competition between nine teams including Britain, Galicia, Catalonia, Andorra, Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and France.
The firt five European Champions were won by Ireland before Catalonia broke that streak winning in 2010 and 2014.
Ireland regained the title in Urduna Basque in 2018, but this weekend's sees the first competition since the pandemic.