If hardly a mere formality, the odds on a Leinster triumph in this week's AIB Women's Interprovincial matches must be overwhelming: not alone have they won the title for the past six successive years, but they have amassed 24 wins (out of 29) since 1964.
Also, Leinster this year are in a position to include Australian Rebecca Coakley, the recent runaway winner of the Irish women's strokeplay title, in their seven-strong team for the matches which begin in Portstewart tomorrow.
Coakley (19), may well declare for Ireland (with the possibility of Curtis Cup representation to toughen her up prior to an anticipated move into the professional ranks), but playing with Leinster is certainly a positive step in acclimatising to the Irish setup.
Coakley, a plus-two handicapper playing out of Carlow Golf Club, is joined on the Leinster team by a mixture of youth and experience which has provided the province with a winning mix throughout the 1990s.
Ulster, who have Irish champion Alison Coffey as the on-course inspiration, will probably emerge as Leinster's main rivals and, fittingly, that encounter has been reserved until Friday's final day of competition.
Apart from the interprovincial title, players will be seeking to impress the watching national team selectors. The Irish team for the Home Internationals at Royal St Davids (on September 13th-15th) will be finalised after the championships, although a couple of players who will be absent from the interprovincials - namely Curtis Cup player Susie O'Brien and in-form teenager Martina Gillen - can expect to be included in that team, which will be captained by former international Eavan Higgins.
Gillen's absence from the senior interprovincials can be explained by her participation in the British Girls' championship, which starts at Blairgowrie today.
Last week, Gillen, from Beaverstown, finished runner-up to Denmark's Lisa Holm-Sorensen in the Doug Sanders European Girls' Championship at Aberdeen. Gillen had rounds of 70-67-66 for 203 in a tournament curtailed to 54-holes by the weather, which left her two shots behind the winner.
Gillen is joined by Maria Dunne (Skerries), Michelle Holmes (Enniscrone), Sarah Gallagher (Claremorris), Susie Hayes (Hermitage) and Heather Nolan (Shannon) as the Irish representatives in Blairgowrie, a course where Claire Dowling won the British strokeplay in 1986.
Meanwhile, the ILGU has announced a team of three to compete in the British women's strokeplay championship at Royal Co Down from August 30th-September 1st. Although there will be a larger Irish entry, the official team is O'Brien (Milltown), Coffey (Warrenpoint) and Yvonne Cassidy (Dundalk).
On the men's front, Irish champion Graeme McDowell will seek to continue his quite remarkable run of form in recent months when he competes in the European Individual championship which starts at Murhof, Austria, tomorrow.
McDowell, a student at the University of Alabama, is joined in Austria by a large Irish contingent seeking to emulate the feat of Paddy Gribben, who claimed this same title two years ago.
The official six-man party of McDowell, Michael Hoey, Ciaran McMonagle, Noel Fox, Eamonn Brady and Andy McCormick will also have back-up from Tim Rice, who led the qualifiers in this year's British amateur championship, Peter Martin and Colm Moriarty, who have travelled under their own steam.
A busy few days also lie ahead in Portmarnock where, starting tomorrow, Ireland will attempt to gain some measure of revenge on Scotland who beat them in the final of the European Boys' Team Championship last month. In last year's Boys' Home Internationals, Ireland actually finished with the wooden spoon, but there are high hopes for considerable improvement on this occasion.
