Tralee Pitch and Putt Club was officially opened on Saturday, July 31st 1971. The ceremony took place at John Mitchels Football Club grounds in Boherbee, with the course blessed by Dean of Kerry Msgr. J.J. Murphy and officially opened by Lord Mayor of Kerry, Cllr. J.J. Murphy.
The founding chairman was Jimmy Leahy, with Phil O'Sullivan serving as PRO. Other founding members included Donie Quirke, Gabriel Curran, John Kinch, Paddy Griffin, Joe Dineen, Christy Lyne, Derry O'Mahony, and William "Pop" Ryle.
The original 9-hole course was open to the general public, with green fees of 5p per round. Competitions were held every Sunday, and the club quickly established itself within the local sporting community.
The first Annual General Meeting was held at the Grand Hotel in Tralee, drawing a good attendance and lively discussion about the club's future. The main concern raised was the need for more regular competition and greater member participation.
The following officers were elected as the Club's inaugural committee: Phil O'Sullivan (Chairman), C. Lynch (Vice-Chairman), P. O'Brien (Secretary), B. Sheehy (Treasurer), M. O'Connell (Men's Captain), and N. O'Connor (Ladies' Captain). The committee included J. Kelliher, P. Lynch, P. Hawkins, P. Dowling, P. Seymour, B. Mullins, D. Switzer, and Miss C. Barrett.
By the mid-1970s, development at John Mitchels' grounds meant the club needed to find a new home. As the GAA club expanded, it required the land for additional juvenile playing pitches. The committee and members had long wanted an 18-hole course, and the opportunity arose when the site of the Old Presentation Novitiate in Oakpark became available.
Five and a quarter acres were purchased from the Urban Council at a cost of £10,000. Work began immediately on constructing the new 18-hole course, with more than £2,000 spent on shaping and modelling the layout, all done by hand by club volunteers.
The Boherbee course closed its gates, and by early 1978, Tralee Pitch and Putt Club had a new permanent home in Killeen, Oakpark, the same grounds the club occupies to this day.
During this formative period and the decades that followed, two members in particular left an indelible mark on the club: Bob Casey and Teresa Broderick.
Bob was heavily involved in the administrative side of the sport at club, county, provincial, and national levels, serving across all committee positions at one point or another. Bob also served in a number of roles on the County, Munster, and National fronts. He died suddenly at the age of 59, but his contribution to the club was vast and he is still fondly remembered today. The club's Senior Scratch Cup is named in his honour.
Teresa is still involved in the club and has served across a number of committee positions over the years. She is a long-time trustee and treasurer, currently serving as the club's Honorary President. Teresa was one of the leading female players in the country during the 1980s and 1990s, winning a Ladies Inter-County title, as well as finishing runner-up in the National Ladies Strokeplay in Listowel by a single stroke and claiming another runner-up finish on a separate occasion.
In 1986, a purpose-built clubhouse was completed with assistance from AnCO (the Industrial Training Authority). The impressive facility measured 2,500 square feet and included dressing rooms, toilets, a kitchen, offices, and a lounge with a balcony overlooking the course.
For a number of years, a bar was situated upstairs in the clubhouse, but the licence was eventually sold. The upstairs area, known as the pavilion, now serves as a gathering and meeting place for the club's adult and juvenile members.
The new facilities put Tralee on the national stage. In 1988, the club hosted the Carrolls Irish Pitch and Putt Strokeplay Championships, the biggest event in Irish pitch and putt at the time.
Club Treasurer Donie Quirke was singled out for his outstanding work preparing the course, while Captain Matt Walsh noted that despite wet weather in the lead-up, the course would be "in its best-ever condition." The course was closed from 6pm on the Friday before the event to ensure pristine playing conditions.
The Kerry Gents team narrowly lost the Inter-County event by a single shot, while the Ladies finished in 10th place.
Tralee hosted the National Inter-County Championships again in 1995 and this time, the home support was rewarded. The Kerry Ladies team were victorious, with the winning side featuring Tralee's Teresa Broderick, Marian O'Brien, and Bridie O'Sullivan, alongside Castleisland's Julianne Broderick and Deerpark's Norma Lynch.
After Bob Casey's passing in the early 1990s, the club was stewarded through the rest of the decade and into the new millennium by dedicated members including Pa Lynch, Brendan Keenan, Brendan Hobbert, David Hobbert, Mike Falvey, James O'Sullivan, Pat Moynihan, Maura Casey, Eileen Moynihan, Owen Moynihan, Jason O'Regan, Tim McMahon, Des Hurley, Tony Blake, and many others.
In 2000, Castleisland were due to host the Munster Strokeplay events but heavy rain on Saturday meant only the team event could be completed there. The singles portion was moved to Tralee, and the home club made the most of the opportunity.
Tralee competitors Jason O'Regan and John O'Regan (no relation) won the Munster Senior and Intermediate titles respectively. A report in a local newspaper at the time described it as "the best day in the club's history to date."
Near the close of the 2000s, Tim Scannell, a former committee member, returned from abroad and assumed a leadership role in the club, one he would hold for more than a decade.
An engineer by training, Tim had previously been a member of the ESB club in Cork and had lived in England for a time. He brought an engineer's mind to the task and was an instrumental figure through these years, serving in numerous committee roles and almost single-handedly manicuring the course for several seasons.
Tim's contributions to the Club were monumental during a time when membership and volunteering numbers decreased. Tim unfortunately passed away at the age of 46 in 2022. In his memory, the Club erected a bench near the 13th green looking across the course and renamed the Club Fourball after him. The County Board paid tribute to his contributions to that organisation by renaming the Inter-Club Matchplay after him.
In 2009, Tralee hosted the National Strokeplay. A wet summer made preparations difficult, but the event went ahead successfully with Bryan Delaney of Cork claiming the Senior Gents title.
Around this time, Jonathon Goodall rapidly developed into one of the best in the country, ultimately reaching a ranking of No. 1 nationally. Among his successes were a National Strokeplay title and two Munster Strokeplay victories, one in Rocklodge and the other in Tralee in 2012, where he sealed the win with a chip-in on the final hole.
The Club entered a lull during this period with many of its members leaving the sport for various reasons, moving away, taking up golf, etc. Hard work continued on the course but there were ongoing problems impacting the Club. Juvenile numbers had fallen rapidly and the Club's finances were in a poor state. In addition, ongoing crow damage to the 11th and 12th greens had rendered them unplayable for a few years with members' repair efforts rapidly being undone. Members worked hard and continuously during this period to keep the Club going and to return it to its glory days.
The Covid-19 pandemic proved to be a blessing in disguise for the club in many ways. Lockdowns gave members the opportunity to carry out much-needed maintenance work while observing social distancing. Trees were manicured, damage to greens was repaired, and other key projects were completed.
The distance restrictions and the early reopening of pitch and putt as an outdoor activity saw green fee and membership numbers increase significantly, and the fortunes of the club began to improve.
Key figures during this period included Tim Scannell, Padraig Hobbart, Rodger Guthrie, Danny O'Leary, Tony Blake, David Hobbert, and Teresa Broderick. Pa Curran, son of founding member Gabriel Curran, also returned to the club and joined the committee. Before long, Pa became Chairman and worked alongside Padraig Hobbart, Jason Cregan, David Hobbert, and other committee members to push the club forward.
Tralee hosted its first major event in several years when the Munster Scotch Foursomes came to the course in 2022. It was a hugely successful day for the club, with seven of nine Tralee pairings winning silverware.
The event signalled to Pitch and Putt Ireland that Tralee was once again capable of hosting major championships, and this was rewarded with the hosting of the Munster Matchplay in 2023.
This too proved a successful event for the club on the playing front: Jason Cregan and Catriona O'Connor won the Senior Gents and Ladies Junior titles respectively, while Keith O'Brien was narrowly defeated in the Intermediate Gents Final.
A number of significant projects were completed during this period. Over the years, the course had become increasingly poor at shedding water, and the club successfully applied for a Sports Capital Grant to address the drainage issues. The funds were received and works were carried out in the summer of 2024. Another major project was the refurbishment of the tennis court, which had long been disused and overgrown.
Tralee played host to the 2024 Munster Inter-County, which was a massive success for Tralee members who represented Kerry in the event. The Gents Intermediate and Junior teams both won and the Ladies A team scooped the Ladies Nett prize.
Tralee was offered the 2027 National Strokeplay Championship at the end of 2025 and duly accepted the offer. It would be the Club's first-time hosting one of the big three National events since 2009.