So many wonderful things happened to me in 1986 that it must rank as my most memorable year in golf. It started with a win in the Hampshire Rose and seemed to get better as the months went by.

I suppose my friends would probably consider the highlight to have been winning the British Strokeplay at Blairgowrie. Certainly it was a significant milestone in my career, but the curious thing is that I don't remember very much about it, other than the fact that the great Jessie Valentine caddied for me.

Come to think of it, she must have been in her seventies at the time. A wonderful woman and such great fun to be with. Maureen Madill introduced me to her in 1982 and when the British came around four years later, Mary McKenna and I stayed with her.

But I couldn't believe it when she offered to pull my bag. And she was so enthusiastic about it that I've no doubt she helped me enormously through the tricky moments that inevitably arise when you're trying to win a championship of that nature. It was really lovely to share the victory with her when I beat Trish Johnson at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.

Anyway, strange as it may seem, the winning of a much-coveted British title didn't produce the sort of magic moments that are as fresh to me today as they were 12 years ago. I am referring to events of two months earlier that year, when the British Matchplay was played at West Sussex.

It was June and the importance of the championship was heightened by the fact that we were playing for places in the Curtis Cup team to travel to Prairie Dunes, Kansas. And like most of the inter- national players in Britain and Ireland, I very much wanted to be a member of the side, particularly having played in 1984 at Muirfield and in the Vagliano in 1985.

So I was determined to do well. My prospects of a long run, how- ever, didn't look too bright when I struggled to a first round win at the 17th against Claire Duffy. It wasn't a classic; far from it. But I got through.

For me, the importance of survival was a second-round match against Marie-Laure de Lorenzi. Not only was she one of the best amateurs around, but I envied nearly everything about her - her golfing talent and her femininity. Though she was invariably courteous, she was also somewhat aloof.

From a golfing standpoint, she had a fantastic rhythm and was just so elegant in everything she did. I remember watching her in the British at Woodhall Spa and I knew instinctively we were going to have a good match. And so we did.

I realised I would have to play well if I was to beat her. In the event it went all the way to the 18th and when it was all over, I remember leaving the last green as high as a kite. It was as if I had won the championship. Yet, I had actually been beaten. With a Curtis Cup place at stake, I was knocked out of the championship in the second round.

But there were compensations. The fact was that we had a fantastic match which produced a better- ball of 13-under-par for the 18 holes: I was six under and Marie- Laure was seven under. By the very nature of that performance, I had secured my place for Prairie Dunes, even though I was beaten.

Kansas was a marvellous experience, particularly with Mary McKenna and Lillian Behan also in the side. It's not often you get the chance in golf to be a part of history and we were in the first British and Irish Curtis Cup team to win in the US. Afterwards, we played in the US Amateur where I lost in the second round. Then it was home and off to Blairgowrie.

Little did I realise then that the year still had more to offer. It would come in the Home Internationals at Whittington Barracks where the Irish side, captained by Ita Butler, won the title.

So, I had come through a year which delivered personal victories in Hampshire Rose and the British Strokeplay and team wins in the Curtis Cup and at international level. And I know this must sound daft, but the match against Marie-Laure still stands apart. It proved that losing can also be an enriching experience.