Texas Tech University Athletics
Keeling signs NLI with Red Raiders
December 21, 2023 | Men's Golf
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech men's golf head coach Greg Sands announced on Thursday that Sean Keeling inked a national letter of intent with the Red Raiders. The Ireland native will join the 2024-25 roster and is the fourth addition to Sands' squad since the National Signing period opened last month.Â
Of the previously announced newcomers – Luke D'Alise, Charles DeLong and Connor Graham – Keeling is quite familiar with Graham as the two were teammates in the Junior Ryder Cup on Team Europe this past fall. With those two additions, Texas Tech is set to bolster the No. 1 and No. 2 golfers in the U18 European Golf rankings on its roster next season as Graham sits atop the rankings followed by Keeling.
By qualifying for the Junior Ryder Cup, Keeling became just the fifth Irish-born player to compete in the event, following in the footsteps of his favorite golfer Rory McIlroy. He's also following in his older brother's footsteps, Patrick Keeling, by moving to the United States to play college golf as he is currently a freshman on the men's golf team at Louisville.
Tabbed as one of Europe's top young players, Keeling is a product of the Made in Holywood Golf Academy in Ireland, which has operated at Roganstown in Swords since 2009, where Geoff Loughrey, a former assistant to McIlroy's coach Michael Bannon, is the professional in charge.
Last year, Keeling was on the cusp of qualifying for the most prestigious event in golf in Europe, The Open Championship. He stunned a top-class field by winning the Regional Qualifier for the 150th edition of The Open, finishing with a sensational final round of 65 at County Louth Golf Club to progress to the final qualifying, where he ultimately fell short.
Earlier this year in April before his Junior Ryder Cup appearance, Keeling was the winner of the Scottish Boys' Open Championship at Lundin Golf Club, Fife, Scotland. He fired sub-par rounds on all four days to win the tournament 8-under-par.
Keeling attends Belvedere College, a secondary school for boys in the heart of Dublin city.
- TECH -Â
