Kearney in form at right time

Ken Kearney's year as Irish champion has been an odyssey of far-flung fairways in pursuit of golfing glory. Since capturing the crown 12 months ago, Kearney has competed in Venezuela and Australia - with some success - but he returns to more familiar climes this weekend when he sets out in defence of his Bank of Ireland Irish Close Amateur championship title at The Island Golf Club in Donabate.

"I've had a fantastic year," admitted Kearney, who showed his current well-being by taking the Scratch Cup over his home links at Rosses Point last Sunday. "I know there is always a bit of extra pressure on someone seeking to keep their title, but all you can do is go out and play. Fortunately, I'm also running into a bit of form at the moment."

Kearney's travels since taking the championship at Westport last year have seen him visit Caracas in Venezuela last November for the Simon Bolivar Trophy, a two-man world team championship where he partnered Walker Cup player Jody Fanagan to fourth place. And, more recently, Kearney was the lone Irishman on the European team that beat Asia-Pacific in the inaugural inter-continental team competition, an event based on a similar format to the Ryder Cup.

Into the bargain, Kearney was also an inspiring figure in leading Co Sligo to the Irish Senior Cup - so, all in all, he has enjoyed a very good year, and that despite playing with a strapped ankle, the result of some high-jinks with his club-mates in celebrating his national title win.

"We'd a bit of a ruck in the garden," joked Kearney, in recollecting the incident which led to his ankle injury. "I'm actually wearing straps all the time when I play because it hasn't fully cleared up. I'm okay just playing 18 holes, but it acts up a bit if I have to play 36 holes in one day."

Kearney will need all his endurance if he is to successfully retain his crown. In fact, the last person to achieve back-to-back wins was Joe Carr, who actually completed a hat-trick of wins with his success in 1965.

"I know it is going to be tough, with guys like Garth (McGimpsey), Bryan Omelia, Noel Fox and Jody (Fanagan) and many others all capable of a big show," said Kearney. "But I intend to try and enjoy it as much as I can."

He added: "I've been pretty busy workwise and I'm also in the process of moving house this week, so I won't manage to get a practice round in at The Island until Friday."

However, his win in the Co Sligo Scratch Cup, where he beat club-mate and international colleague David Dunne into second place, comes at a good time and indicates he is running into form at just the right time. Kearney's domestic outings so far this year have been confined to the West of Ireland, where he led the strokeplay qualifying before losing in the second round of matchplay, and the Irish Amateur Open strokeplay, where he missed the cut. Meanwhile, there have been four defections from the championship to date (the most notable being Dale Baker and Karl Bornemann) which has allowed the cut-off mark for the championship to move out to handicaps of 2.5. As a consequence, two more members of the host club, Eamon O'Sullivan and John Grant, have managed to get in.