Known locally as Harps, they have their own, special corner in the locker-room, adorned with symbols of the motherland. These are the San Francisco Irish, who are certain to extend a warm welcome next week when Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington represent the ould sod in the US Open at the Olympic Club.

It will be their first opportunity to fill such a role since 1981. Interestingly, their guests on that occasion also were a Northerner and a Dubliner, as Ronan Rafferty and Philip Walton competed on the famous Lake Course in the US Amateur Championship.

That was the week following the Walker Cup at Cypress Point, where the two Irish teenagers rocked American golf by recovering from three down after three to beat Hal Sutton and Jay Sigel 4 and 2 in the top foursomes match on opening day. And they were to experience sharply contrasting fortunes in San Francisco.

Of course the US Open has been played at Olympic since then - in 1987 when Scott Simpson captured the title. However, the field on that occasion included no survivors of the British and Irish Walker Cup side of six years previously, though four of the American line-up played. The best of these was Jodie Mudd, who finished in a share of 17th place, while Sutton was tied 31st. Joey Rassett shot rounds of 75 and 73 to miss the cut by a stroke while the fourth, Corey Pavin, withdrew during the first round.

This was the Olympic Club, which was founded in 1860 and which I first became aware of when watching the movie Gentleman Jim. Playing the eponymous hero James J Corbett, who would go on to become heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Errol Flynn had a memorable scene in the Olympic Club where, to attract attention to himself, he would repeatedly pay a youngster to page him.

From a backyard gym which consisted of one horizontal bar, it had rapidly developed into a major sporting amenity. And its members would later be known as "downtowners" when golf became part of the club with the opening of the Lake and Ocean courses in 1924. In the meantime, however, the club was engulfed in the major disaster which befell San Francisco on the morning of April 18th, 1906.

That was when the great earthquake struck. And the club's widely-read magazine, The Olympian, later recalled the scenes of devastation: "Olympians that day found themselves without a home, although they were fortunate enough to obtain temporary accommodations in a private house.

"The situation was dark: insurance companies crashed with almost as loud a bang as had the walls of hundreds of San Francisco buildings in this great earthquake and fire. Furthermore, many members suffered heavy, personal financial loss. The future appeared hopeless."

Things were indeed bleak, but in this grim period of their history, the members, who included many of the top business, government and civic leaders of the city, state and nation, responded with indomitable courage and perseverance. And when the doors of a new downtown club were opened on June 12th, 1912, a great institution lived on.

Enthused by this phoenix-like reawakening, many of the club's 400 members expressed a desire for a golf course. So, in November 1918, Olympic took a two-year lease on the Lakeside Country Club, with an option to buy, which they later exercised. Land for the Ocean course was bought soon afterwards and in 1924 the complete 36 holes were ready for play.

After shooting a 75 over its tree-lined fairways, the great Bobby Jones described the Lake Course as "the best in the west". With this sort of praise being bestowed on the splendid facility in the south-west corner of San Francisco county, it was hardly surprising that its reputation quickly spread far and wide.

The reputations of Walton and Rafferty were of much more recent vintage, when they arrived at the Olympic Club for their first challenge in the US Amateur. Naturally, the Harps made a big fuss of them but it seemed that the entire golfing community of San Francisco was talking about "the Irish kids".

They had captured everybody's imagination with their Walker Cup exploits the previous week when they chipped in for winning birdies at both the short 15th and 16th for a stunning success against the two best amateurs of the day. Apart from the remarkable achievement of winning both their foursomes matches, they earned an additional point when Walton went on to beat Frank Fuhrer 4 and 2 in the singles on the second day.

But the Lake Course was vastly different to Cypress Point. "It's tough and very tight," said the Dubliner after a practice round. "There are trees on every hole and they make accuracy off the tee even more important than it would be at Grange, for instance. You've simply got to keep the ball straight." Rafferty echoed those views while expressing disappointment with the greens, notably their susceptibility to spike-marks.

The apprehension of the Irish lads was well founded. With 282 competitors engaged in strokeplay qualifying over both the Ocean and Lake courses, performances on the Lake stretch would be critical. As it turned out, Walton shot a 78 there and Rafferty had an 80.

Their problems came as no surprise to Johnny Miller who, as a 19year-old local amateur, was so keen to be a part of the 1966 US Open at the Olympic Club that he signed up for caddie duty. But after shooting 143 in the 36-hole qualifying tournament, he was able to trade in his caddie's bib for a competitor's badge and went on to finish in a tie for eighth behind Billy Casper.

"It has no water hazards and no out of bounds that come into play," he said. "But there isn't a single hole on the course where you can afford to spray your tee-shot. My peers on the tour feel it is one of the toughest, yet fairest courses they will every play. Skill, rather than luck is the key element in one's scoring."

Ironically, it was the Ocean Course that proved to be Walton's undoing as he had a wretched 84 there. It meant that he made an early departure from San Francisco to start a golf scholarship at Oklahoma State University. Rafferty, on the other hand, shot a 75 on the Ocean and, remarkably, still got among the 64 qualifiers with an aggregate of 155 - 15 over par.

On my return home, I remember hearing that Joe Carr had thought the newspaper reports about the scoring must be wrong: as a former semi-finalist in the event, he couldn't imagine such high scores qualifying for the matchplay stage of the US Amateur.

But that was a measure of the Lake Course. Sutton, the defending champion, could do no better than a 78. Indeed more than a few eyebrows were raised when the little-known American (at that time), Robert Wrenn, equalled the par of 70, which was four strokes better than any other player could manage.

Generally, the course continued to take its toll in the matchplay rounds, though in that particular exercise, scoring was largely of academic interest. Rafferty, for instance, was five over par for the 16 holes he needed in a 3 and 2 first-round win over the American John Hamarik. And the Warrenpoint youth was six over par for 17 when beating Walker Cup colleague Ian Hutcheon in the second round by 2 and 1.

The remarkable 17-year-old was the only member of the British and Irish team to reach the third round. And it is revealing to note that the side contained such names as Paul Way, Roger Chapman and Peter McEvoy.

Through the week, Rafferty's driving had been decidedly wayward, even when he switched to a three-wood. So, as balls clattered off the ubiquitous trees, there was a certain inevitability about his third-round defeat by 19-year-old American David Tentis.

Victory went to the Old Groaner's son, Nathaniel Crosby, who produced as remarkable a putting performance as has ever been witnessed in an important amateur tournament. He could hardly have won otherwise, given his modest golfing pedigree and the extreme difficulty of the course.

The Harps will be watching out for Clarke and Harrington next week. And, no doubt, there will be those among them who will remember the events of 17 years ago, when two carefree Irish lads challenged the fearsome Lake Course. And, ultimately, how they were forced to admit defeat.