Bandon man Keohane elected President of Pitch & Putt Ireland

BY JASON O’CONNOR

BANDON’S Mark Keohane was elected as President of Pitch & Putt Ireland at their recent annual convention in Templemore, Co Tipperary.

A member of the sport’s National Executive since 2016, Keohane defeated Westmeath’s Davy Reddin in a ballot for the position by 56 votes to 31.

He becomes the first president of Pitch & Putt Ireland from a Cork club since St Annes’ Liam Houlihan held the role for a second time between 1989 and 1991. Cobh native Billy Lynch held the role between 2004 and 2007 as a member of the Royal Meath club in Clonee, Co Meath.

Keohane is a member of the Rocklodge club and has been involved in the sport at an administrative level for over 15 years having been elected to the county board in Cork for the first time back in 2007 as competition secretary.

A former Cork County Board Chairman in this sport between 2015 and 2020, he first served as Munster Co-ordinator on the sport’s National Executive between 2016 and 2019 before serving as the sport’s Vice President from 2019 until the recent convention. During his time in the game nationally Keohane has been involved in a managerial capacity with two winning Irish Pitch & Putt teams.

The first was in 2016 at the World Cup event in Xixerella in Andorra while in 2018 he travelled with the Irish team for their European Championship victory at Urduna in the Basque Country. Keohane has also represented Ireland at International FIPPA Meetings since becoming a member of the NEC as he will be serving a three-year term in the role of President as per the organisation’s constitution.

He is also prominent in a number of other activities locally, namely the sport of darts, as he hopes to make the most of his three years as President of the organisation.

‘I am absolutely honoured and humbled by the trust put in me to lead our sport for the next three years,’ Keohane said following his election to the role.