Though there is no particular reason why we should expect a dramatic upturn in his competitive fortunes, this will still be a special year in the golfing life of Severiano Ballesteros. Indeed he has already marked this month as the silver jubilee of his entry into professional golf, in January 1974.

A special function in his honour in Madrid recently was presided over by Princess Christina, the younger daughter of King Juan Carlos of Spain. And when Ballesteros addressed the distinguished gathering, they were amused to hear him express concern about the sporting activities of his nine-year-old eldest son, Baldomero.

"He plays more football than golf," complained the father, who also has a six-year-old son Miguel and a four-year-old daughter, Carmen. "But I haven't given up hope and I believe he will take up the clubs again soon." No doubt when Racing Santander slip further towards the bottom of the Spanish League.

Meanwhile, after being unavailable to join Nick Faldo and Johnny Miller in last year's ceremony, the fading conquistador is now ready to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, on March 22nd. As it happens, the ceremony coincides with the first round of the Players' Championship at nearby Sawgrass in North Florida, where Ballesteros will be competing.

Also to be honoured at the awards ceremony as another new addition to a list of 73 legends will be Lloyd Mangrum, who is being honoured posthumously. Family members will represent Mangrum, whose 36 tournament victories included the 1946 US Open. He was 59 when he died in 1973.

On January 1st, 1974 Ballesteros was awarded his player's card by the Spanish Professional Golfers Association. Apart from coasting to victory with a 65 in his farewell caddie championship, he had returned satisfactory cards against SSS, had passed a written test on the rules of golf and had paid the necessary 5,000 pesetas membership fee.

At 16 years, eight months and 21 days, he became the youngest accredited professional tournament player in the history of Spanish golf. His first event was the Spanish PGA Championship which had a field of 110 at the Club de Golf de San Cugat in Barcelona. The outcome? Manuel Pinero, a fellow competitor, recalls how the youngster sat in the locker-room "sobbing, his head on his knees", after collecting 3,000 pesetas (about £15) for 20th place.

Pinero added: "He actually expected to win. He always expects to win." And Pinero was to fully appreciate that fierce determination when he and Ballesteros jointly savoured the sweet taste of success less than three years later. That was on December 12th 1976, when they gained a breakthrough victory for Spain in the World Cup at Mission Hills CC in California.

"I do love Indian food which, fortunately for me, is easily accessible, especially in England." - London-based Jeev Milka Singh, whose share of second place in the South African Open last weekend, moved him to 177th in the world rankings, making him the first Indian golfer to break into the top-200.

Two million competitors is the target for an event at midday on Saturday, June 24th, 2000, to mark the new millennium. After six centuries of golf at St Andrews, local players on the famous Old Course will face a shotgun start which will be filmed and fed onto the internet, then shown live all over the world on the website of the St Andrews Trust.

"Our aim is to have as many golfers as possible involved on one day - in a members' competition, charity day or pro-am," said Peter Mason of the Trust. "Every golfer who hits a ball in co-ordination with the starting gun at St Andrews, will be a participant."

The chosen Saturday is closest to the longest day in the northern hemisphere, so facilitating the maximum number of competitors. Meanwhile, to allow for time differences, there will also be shotgun starts at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on the Old Course, making it possible for clubs in the Far East and California to take part.

A response of 66 golfers from each of the world's estimated 30,000 courses would deliver the target figure of two million.

Surging adrenalin was evident in David Duval's five-iron shot of 218 yards for a magical, eagle-three finish to his 59 at PGA West last Sunday. Chip Beck would know the feeling from his exploits at Sunrise GC, Las Vegas in 1991. Having started on the 10th, Beck hit an eight iron of 160 yards to three feet for a closing three, albeit a birdie, on the 423-yard ninth when he too shot 59. In fact he finished with three successive birdies on a course measuring 6,979 yards, remarkably similar in length to PGA West at 6,950.

SMALL comfort it may be, but the fact remains that we're not the only golfers suffering with the weather. Our Scottish brethren have also been having it rather rough of late, notably those misguided half-wits who played in the recent golf writers' outing at Crail, 11 miles south-east of St Andrews.

Conditions were so horrific as to merit the full treatment from Ian Wood in The Scotsman. By way of setting the scene, he suggested that golfers in Scotland were so used to playing in wind that they tended to panic when faced with flat calm on an exposed links. Indeed he recalled standing on the seventh tee at Gullane number one and having to turn away from the wind in order to breathe.

Wood writes: "There have been days when it was difficult to think clearly; days when the very grass looked as if it was clenched and hanging on for dear life, while overhead, perspiring seagulls flapped against the fury of the gale, without getting anywhere. Compared with Crail, that was but a zephyr sent to cool the fevered brow."

We begin to get the drift when he goes on: "As far as the eye could see - which wasn't all that far, for the eye tended to water a lot - bent figures went about their miserable business, picking up fallen caddie-carts, attempting to get their bearings and chasing after airborne caps, tees, gloves, scorecards, handkerchiefs and dentures."

Then, the ultimate indignity: "On the green of a short hole, I was addressing a putt when I became aware of a degree of heightened tension on the part of my partners . . . In any case, I pressed on with the matter in hand and as I did so, a full bag of clubs blew past me going at a fair rate of knots." The bag belonged, in fact, to his partner, who had seen it coming but was faced with the old dilemma of whether to interrupt a stroke or hope for the best.

The incident reminded Wood of Spike Milligan's wartime experience when a mortar fell from a clifftop, narrowly missing his truck. The gist of the comic's reaction was that if things had reached the stage where guns were being thrown at him, it was time to pack it in.

Ah, but those Scottish scribes had never experienced Rosses Point at Easter. I remember a particularly wild West of Ireland Championship some years ago when, in an early round, Liam MacNamara battled to a win on the 22nd. By his own admission, MacNamara was 23-over-par for the holes played. And his handicap at the time was plus3.

This day in golf history . . . On January 30th 1955, Curtis Strange was born. And on the same date two years later, compatriot Payne Stewart first saw the light. Among other things, they went on to capture major titles in the same year, 1989, when Strange became the first player since Ben Hogan to retain the US Open, while Stewart won the USPGA Championship.

They also had sharply contrasting Ryder Cup fortunes at The Belfry that year. For Stewart it involved being brought back to all square in his singles when Jose-Maria Olazabal birdied the long 17th. Then the Spaniard won on the last, where Stewart drove into water and took three to get out, having rolled up his waterproof trousers to no avail.

Meanwhile, largely unnoticed in the final match, Strange birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th to take the lead against Ian Woosnam. And when the American hit a glorious two-iron approach to eight feet at the last, Woosnam conceded the match. It gave the US a tie overall, but Europe retained the trophy.

In Brief: This year's CRC Golf Classic will be at Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links on Thursday June 24th. Further information from Vivienne McCutcheon: phone (01) 8332206; Fax (01) 8335496.

Teaser: A player's ball lies in ground under repair through the green. The player elects to take relief and drops the ball in accordance with Rule 25-1b(i). The ball remains outside the ground under repair area but it rolls to a position where the player would have to stand in the area to play his stroke. Must the player re-drop the ball?

Answer: Yes. The ball has rolled "to a position where there is interference by the condition from which relief was taken" - see Rule 20-2c(v). The same applies if a player is taking relief from an immovable obstruction.