Early morning flights to Heathrow can be surprisingly informative, if one happens to hit on the right company. And having had the good fortune to do so earlier this week, I discovered why Mary McKenna has been forced to end an unbroken sequence of 30 Irish Close appearances and why Richard Coughlan is about to have a new caddie.
Both items have their source in the same project - the Bank of Ireland soccer clubs' four-match tour to San Diego and Santa Barbara on America's Pacific coast. McKenna was part of it as the bank's Manager of Sports and Social Activities. And Coughlan's prospective caddie was in the group of 27 players.
It was at Lahinch back in 1968 that McKenna, a raw but richly-gifted teenager, made her Irish Close debut, losing in the final to Elaine Bradshaw. But she quickly gained compensation for that loss by winning the title at Ballybunion a year later. And a measure of her subsequent dominance of the women's game here was that she took the title for an eighth time in 1989, at Westport.
With the event scheduled for Clandeboye next week, she has now become an unavoidable absentee. Yet she took the disappointment with a philosophical shrug. "It would be a much greater wrench but for the fact that I've played so little golf over the last two years," she explained.
The erstwhile queen of Irish golf has some interesting memories of playing in California, notably her involvement in the 1974 Curtis Cup in San Francisco. Indeed that particular experience takes on a rich irony in view of plans to acclimatise the present squad in a special environmental facility at Loughborough University, as preparation for anticipated muggy conditions in Minnesota in August.
"We were so sure of beautiful sunshine in San Francisco, that we didn't bring any sweaters, official or otherwise," recalled McKenna. "And we were freezing, under overcast skies. But the Americans saved the day when Judy Bell, who is in the clothing business, came up a full set of white sweaters. Granted, they didn't have any crests on them, but they kept us warm."
Meanwhile, Robbie Sheils is on this week's trip because of his soccer skills. But he also happens to be an eight-handicap member of Birr GC and a close friend of Coughlan's. "After our tour is over, I'm staying on in the States for a bit of a break," he said. "And I've arranged to caddie for Richie in the Knoxville Open on the Nike Tour at the end of May."
Sheils concluded: "It's just for the one tournament, but I'm really excited about it." And McKenna's absence is just for the one tournament. In her case, however, the break means the end of an era.
we have seen nothing yet. We are going to get a Michael Jordantype athlete who'll carry it 30 yards past where Tiger Woods is now landing the ball." - Gary Player.
More than 30 distinguished members are expected to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the World Golf Village in Florida on Monday next. In a once- in-a-lifetime tribute to the game's greatest players, America's Johnny Miller, who was elected in 1996, will be honoured along with Britain's Nick Faldo.
Seve Ballesteros, elected with Faldo on last year's inter- national ballot, will be inducted next year at his own request. Due to a series of previous commitments, including the Benson and Hedges International at The Oxfordshire this weekend, the Spaniard asked for a 12- month postponement.
"It's a tremendous honour, one of the most significant of my career," said Ballesteros. "I know Monday's ceremony will be a very special occasion for both Johnny and Nick, two gentlemen for whom I have great respect." Faldo was similarly upbeat. "This is the greatest accolade a golfer can receive and obviously I am extremely excited and honoured," he said.
As many as 71 existing members will be "transferred" into the new facility from previous homes in Pinehurst, North Carolina and the LPGA Hall of Fame. Among those expected to attend a ceremony which will be televised live on the US Golf Channel are: Gene Sarazen, Kathy Whitworth, Sam Snead, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Betsy Rawls, Arnold Palmer, Nancy Lopez, Hale Irwin and Patty Berg.
Future induction ceremonies will be held each March on the Monday following the US Seniors' Liberty Mutual Leg- ends of Golf tournament to be played at World Golf Village. This is also the Monday prior to the Players' Championship at nearby Ponte Vedra and will fall on March 22nd next year.
It may have something to do with the notion of being forced to play on one's own. Either way, the prospect of solo golf on some exotic island does not generate the sort of appeal one might expect. This has been established from the long and distinguished history of "Desert Island Discs", now presented by Sue Lawley every Sunday on BBC Radio 4.
Over the years, it has been calculated that when it comes to the luxury item imagined castaways would most desire to have with them, golf clubs and balls ranks a modest eighth. In fact the cumulative list, in order, is headed by a piano, followed by writing materials, a bed, a guitar, a typerwriter and paper, a radio receiver, champagne and golf.
Even the guilty have [ROnothing to fear if they happen to see binoculars trained on them as they forage in the rough at their local club tomorrow. Observers will be on the look-out for birds, not bandits.
A total of 27 Irish clubs will be among more than 100 from 19 different countries taking part in the first European Birdwatching Open. From Ice- land to Hungary and from the Canaries to Estonia, teams of birdwatchers will be scanning fairways and rough in the biggest-ever single-day census of birds on golf courses.
One of the participating clubs is Dun Laoghaire, where the captain, Eddie Ahern, spoke for his golfing brethren throughout the country when he said: "This is one situation in which we won't be competing with other clubs. What matters is finding out the types of birds who visit our course and what we can do to help promote local wildlife."
So, a group of members will be joined tomorrow by local ornithologist George Osborne. And similar groups will have their eyes peeled at clubs such as Courtown, Tullamore, West- port, Carne, Co Louth, Skibbereen, Kilkee, St Anne's, Bandon, Cushendall, Kilkenny, Hermitage, Newtownstewart and Oughterard.
Elsewhere, the line-up of clubs includes such celebrated establishments as Loch Lomond GC, the new Dukes Course at St Andrews and last year's Ryder Cup venue, Valderrama, which, as our erudite readers are no doubt aware, is one of the few European habitats for the white-rumped swift.
"We hope Aaron will one day become El Bosque's touring professional and market the name of the course around the world." That was how a doting Scottish mother, Heather Howard, explained her decision to pay £4 million sterling for the 450-acre development near Valencia in Spain.
Whatever about the success of Mrs Howard's venture from a financial standpoint, her son would appear to have a difficult road ahead. At 18, Aaron is playing off a handicap of seven. Which is about 10 strokes higher than Ronan Rafferty was capable of when, at the same age in 1982, he was ranked 48th in the European Order of Merit and ended the season by winning the Venezuelan Professional Open.
Could it be possible that mother doesn't always know best?
This Day In Golf History . . . On May 16th 1982, Kathy Whitworth shot a 54-hole total of 207 in the Lady Michelob to win her 82nd LPGA tournament, tying Mickey Wright for the all-time record. As it happened, Whitworth didn't break the record until 1984 when, aged 45, she captured the Rochester Invitational.
In his classic work "The Story of American Golf" Herbert Warren Wind wrote of her game: "The difficulty is that Miss Whitworth's skills are not as directly visible as in the great champions who preceded her. From tee to green, her game lacks style and her swing does not have a pervasive rhythm.
"Because she is a good, strong athlete, Kathy hits the ball solidly with all the clubs and gets her tee shot out a helpfully long distance. She has a lovely touch around the greens but it is on the greens that she really comes into her own. It can be stated categorically that there has never been a better woman putter."
Teaser: A and B were partners in fourball strokeplay. At the 11th hole, A picked up and B holed out in four strokes. The marker inadvertently recorded a score of four for A. The card was returned. What is the ruling?
Answer: It was A's recorded score of four which was the side's gross score to count. As this was lower than the score actually taken by A, the side is disqualified under Rule 31-7a.
