Hallowed ground priced out of bounds

IT seemed a perfectly reasonable request. But when Declan O'Donoghue attempted recently to arrange an outing for the Dublin based Legends Golf Society on the Old Course at St Andrews, he found himself confronted by figures ranging upwards of £40,000. And that was the cheap deal.

Our man was encountering firsthand, a highly controversial, year old arrangement that has brought a storm of protest in the Auld Grey Toon. And the opposition has been so trenchant that a 10 year, £5 million deal with the Keith Prowse travel firm, may be scrapped in 12 months' time.

As founder of the Legends, which honoured Royal and Ancient secretary Michael Bonallack in Dublin earlier this year, O'Donoghue has arranged overseas outings for his members to such venues as Quinta do Lago and Valderrama. But his burning ambition was a Scottish trip to major venues like Carnoustie and, Muirfield and culminating in a visit to the Old Course at St Andrews.

"When I approached Ewan MacGregor of the St Andrews Links Trust, I expected to be quoted the normal green fee of £60 per head," he said. "But on mentioning numbers of 32 to 40, I was shocked to learn that they couldn't deal with us at all.

"Once we numbered more than eight people, we were considered to be a commercial group, so we had to deal with Keith Prowse." They offered him two options - the so called Old Course Experience, costing £1,150 per head in high season, or the Chairman's Programme, costing £1,595.

Granted, these were two day programmes including accommodation and meals at the five star Old Course Hotel. But there was only one round of golf at the Old Course, plus a round on the New or Jubilee course. As it happened, O'Donoghue wanted only a simple green fee - but he couldn't have it.

It seems, however, that things may be changing. Last weekend, John Lindesay Bethune, chairman of the Links Trust, admitted that Keith Prowse had not reached their target for this year - from an allocation of 800 tee times, the Trust received £300,000 rather that the anticipated £500,000.

As a result, a re negotiated contract means that Keith Prowse is to pay a smaller premium for 50 fewer tee times in 1997. And Lindesay Bethune warned: "If they cannot deliver, we can withdraw from the contract on an annual basis." This would open the door to local tour operators who claim they can offer deals ranging from £210 to £395.

"If that were to happen, we would certainly give it another look," said O'Donoghue. "But as things stand, the sad fact is that the most hallowed course in golf, is out of bounds." Just so.

"The inevitable result of any golf lesson is the instant elimination of the one critical, unconscious motion that allowed you to compensate for all your errors." Mulligan's Laws of Golf.

AN erudite reader - of which we have many - was curious as to why I failed to note the recent passing of Joan Hammond, the celebrated Australian soprano. And it was a quite legitimate criticism, given that the great diva also happened to be a very accomplished golfer.

She first saw the light in Sydney in 1912, a vintage year for golfers in that it also marked the birth of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. Having learned the game as a child, her interest in it was heightened when she went to work as a sports reporter on the Sydney Daily Telegraph.

Winner of three New South Wales women's titles, she represented her country in matches against Britain and New Zealand. And when the Australian LGU raised sufficient money in 1936 to allow her continue her musical studies in Europe, she was rather proud of being a two handicapper - "the lowest of any woman player in the country."

Despite all that success, however, she insisted: "There was never any difficulty in choosing between singing and golf. Singing was my first love." Yet she later saw fit to repay what she perceived as a significant debt to golf, by giving concerts to help finance overseas trips by Australian women players.

My memory of her has not the slightest connection with golf, other than the fact that enthusiastic practitioners such as Danny Kaye and Bob Hope had trod the same boards in Dublin. As a lad in 1956, I sat in the "gods" of the Theatre Royal on our annual family outing to "The Messiah", in which she was one of the soloists.

INTERESTINGLY, there was nothing especially unusual about the fact that this year's major championships produced three first time winners - Steve Jones (US Open), Tom Lehman (British Open) and Mark Brooks (USPGA Championship). It has happened twice before in this decade alone.

But the 73rd birthday last week of Art Wall, brings to mind the last occasion that the major championships produced four first time winners. It happened in 1959 when Wall got the process under way. Six strokes behind joint leaders Stan Leonard and Arnold Palmer after 54 holes, he shot a closing 66 to capture the US Masters title by one stroke from Cary Middlecoff, with Palmer third.

The other first time winners that year were Billy Casper (US Open), Gary Player (British Open) and Bob Rosburg (USPGA Championship). Since then, the longest succession of first time major winners has been five, from Greg Norman's British Open triumph of 1986 to Nick Faldo's win in the same event at Muirfield the following year.

IN 1970, Arnold Palmer, an Tony Jacklin were on a promotional tour of Australia where they met up with the erstwhile CBS golf pundit, Ben, Wright, then with the Financial Times. It seems that all three were having a fairly grim time, even when attending a gala function in the governor's mansion.

Things began to look up, however, when a spectacularly attractive blonde made a grand entrance. At the time, the woman in question was the wife of an Australian cabinet minister, but she would later achieve considerable notoriety through a couple of lucrative marriages.

According to the author of the story: "Our three heroes, Wright included, fell over themselves in their efforts to make her feel at home (she already was; they weren't). All three managed to surround her when they sat down to dinner, Palmer and Jacklin on either side, Wright banished to the opposite side of the table. The meal progressed convivially as the three men vied to be the most brilliant conversationalist.

"Then, without warning, the elegantly clad woman rose about six inches from her seat, impressing Wright with the profundity of her decolletage. Turning to Jacklin and Palmer she said: `Sorry boys, I've got to let one go. With that, she broke wind loudly and unhibitedly. According to Wright's account, never was the ardour of three men frozen more rapidly."

This gem is taken from Myles Dungan's latest offering, Preferred Lies: A book of Golf Anecdotes and Trivia (Poolbeg Press, £12.99). The title does, scant justice to the delightfully varied offerings within. And yes, it will fit perfectly into a Christmas stocking.

A death notice in this newspaper last Tuesday, marked the severing of a direct link with a momentous event at 19 Grafton St, Dublin, more than 111 years ago. On May 5th, 1885, John Lumsden, manager of the Provincial Bank of Ireland at College Green, launched what would later become the Royal Dublin Golf Club.

Last Tuesday's notice advised us that Leslie Elkington had died peacefully, aged 98 years, at Angmering, Sussex. She was the eldest daughter of Sir John Lumsden and consequently a grand daughter of the founder of Royal Dublin.

Lumsden, a Scot, pursued a banking career in his native country and in India before coming to Ireland in 1867, when he joined the Provincial Bank. In common with other Scots of that period, he brought with him a book on golf along with some clubs and balls. And on Easter Monday 1885, helped by his two sons, he set about laying out a rough and ready course, west of the Phoenix Cricket Club. The so called Dublin club had its first home.

TEASER: In foursome strokeplay, A plays in correct order but from outside the teeing ground. B, his partner, then plays from within the teeing ground, whereas A should have done so. What is the ruling?

Answer: The side is penalised two strokes for playing from outside the teeing ground (Rule 11-4) and two strokes for playing in incorrect order (Rule 29-3). A must now play another ball from within the teeing ground. Otherwise, the side is disqualified.