Bell's misery quickly turns to joy for Elmgreen

GOLF: It was an excruciating hour for Colin Bell. He tried to put a brave face on it but deep down he felt "gutted." He thought he had cost his Elmgreen team- ates the opportunity of winning the Leinster final of the Musgrave Club challenge in Mullingar.

The source of Bell's misery was some careless golf on one particular hole just after the turn. Greenside in two the 15 handicap golfer took a further four to get down, thereby blanking the hole in the Stableford Rumble format.

Playing partners Graham Temple and Michael Owens, who constituted the three man Elmgreen team - both recorded pars at the hole - were not amused.

Temple laughed: "We were very grumpy with him after that, got on his back a little bit over the closing holes." When the trio returned their card to the organiser Pat Cashman, they were casually informed that their score of 89 points was good enough for second place, two behind the leaders who had brought in 91.

Cue desolation on Bell's part. Forgiven by his team-mates he would not afford himself the same latitude, silently cursing his frailty on that hole. Unknown to the Elmgreen trio though was the fact that there was no team on 91 points (a bit of leg pulling) and they in fact had won the Leinster final by seven points from Dublin Mountain.

Temple explained: "It didn't register initially even when they called out the second placed team as having 82 points. Then I panicked slightly and thought that we must have been disqualified for some reason or other and it wasn't until the winning score was called out that I realised we had won.

"It was a fantastic feeling, especially because it had come as a surprise in the sense that we didn't know that we had won." It was an excellent score in trying conditions over the beautifully manicured Mullingar course . Sporadic heavy showers and a freshening breeze made for testing conditions, merely highlighting the quality of golf that the winners mustered.

There was a game plan going out as Temple explained: "With the one score to count over the first six holes, we reckoned that 18 points would be our target. Three birdies on successive holes, the fourth, fifth and sixth, recorded appropriately by Bell, Owens and Temple in that order allowed them to exceed expectations managing 19 points.

"With two scores to count over the next six we averaged five points a hole and then with three counting we thought we had blown it slightly when we could only manage 40. It was over those closing holes that we felt we could lose out. Thankfully that was not the case," Temple continued. It was a superb effort from the trio, all of whom are in their first year with official club handicaps. Temple, a former international and inter-county pitch and putt player who played off scratch, is a tidy 11 handicap while Bell and Owens (he was also a scratch pitch and putt players at the same Erin's Isle club) both play off 15. The shot of the day, after a moment's consideration, was bestowed on Bell who hit a five iron to 15 feet at the 189 yard, par three, second. It was Bell that had entered the team in the qualifying event at Elmgreen, which they won by a single point with 92. It is the first time that anyone from the club has entered a team in a charity event of this nature. The Elmgreen trio will now go forward to play in the National final which will be held in South Africa in November. Over 120 teams entered - with the winning team form each participating club competing in a provincial final. The money raised from the in-club tournaments goes directly to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, who also benefit from the considerable Musgrave sponsorship.

The four provincial winners go forward to South Africa to contest the national final.