Kelly's game kicks in on the back nine

It was a typical Irish autumn day, sunshine and showers, that greeted the finalists in the Mitsubishi Motors/The Irish Times Ladies Masters at Mount Wolseley last week.

Showers are the bane of any golfer's life as it necessitates putting on and taking off wet gear and trying to keep the grips on clubs dry.

However there was one more handicap that outweighed all others, namely the prevalence of wasps. It wasn't the challenge of the beautifully-manicured Mount Wolseley course alone that stung some of the ladies.

The showers meant those who erred from the fairway found the rough tough and clinging and the sensible option was to accept censure and wedge the ball back onto the shorter grass. It was appropriate that on the Christy O'Connor Jnr-designed parkland layout that the man in question was there to provide a little guidance.

O'Connor Jnr was on hand to provide encouragement, playing a couple of holes with each of the groups.

The regional qualifying at Glasson, set against a number of withdrawals meant that 26 ladies teed it up in the final at Mount Wolseley. The course playing every inch of the 5,600 yards from the red markers provided a difficult assignment, the pristine but sharply sloping putting surfaces, a test of nerve for the most resolute.

Achill's Elizabeth Kelly proved the most adept at handling all the demands, recovering from a slow-ish start to card a blistering back nine and a total of 38 points. Kelly, who celebrated her 26th birthday last Saturday, employed a positive outlook to the whole occasion. "I just looked on it as a day out, an opportunity to enjoy a new course and meet new people."

Elizabeth works part time for her father's Engineering firm, T Kelly & Associates, and divides her time between Achill and Malahide.

"Achill is the most westerly course in Ireland, set on the Atlantic coast; next stop Boston. It's a nine-hole links. Because it is built on commonage land, there are laws against building but there is a hope that one day it could be extended to 18 holes."

Since taking up the game five years ago Kelly has cut swathes from her handicap from a starting position of 36 to 15.5 (16), losing three shots in the last year. Three bogeys to start were followed by pars on the fourth and sixth before eventually turning with 16 points.

She explained: "I was disappointed not to have any birdies on the front nine but the important thing was that I didn't have any scratches. I knew that the course was playing quite difficult so I just had to try and score a little better."

She certainly managed that coming home with 22 points, the highlight of which was a birdie two on the 16th. "I had a 33-foot putt with a two-foot break from right to left and couldn't believe it when it dropped. I suppose thinking back I was probably in far too many bunkers. When Christy (O'Connor Jnr) came to join us on the fourth I had said to him bunker play must be the best part of his game because there were so many on the course. I think I was in about eight.

"I'm absolutely delighted. It's great but to be honest I would have enjoyed the day no matter what the outcome. This does make it that little bit better."

Kelly is most definitely a back-nine specialist as in the qualifying at Glasson she amassed 25 points on the back nine on her way to 39. On hand to help her celebrate was her sister Julie Hassett.

Kelly had one point to spare over Enniscorthy's Lucy Healy, the latter edging out Mary Power (East Cork) on the back nine. Healy, playing off 15, also managed a storming back nine of 20 points. Three pars on the way out was complemented by a birdie four on the third hole.

"I hit a drive, a bad five wood and an eight iron to about six feet and holed the putt. I was annoyed with the blank on the fifth because I had put myself in trouble off the tee. In fact I was in four bunkers on the one hole, which must be something of a record. I knew exactly what I had turning and was just hoping to try and match my handicap.

"We met Christy on the 10th and he said that he'd use a three iron off the tee to give us a chance. I was delighted when I managed to outdrive him."

Healy produced some wonderfully consistent play on the back nine, recording pars at 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 18. On the final hole she went down the shaft on a wood, just as her husband, two handicapper Mick had taught her, and the result was a birdie putt. It went over the hole but she tapped in for a par.

Healy, in her 13th year playing golf, plays four times a week including playing open competitions within a two-hour drive of Enniscorthy with several friends including Marie Clifford. An understanding boss, her brother, allows her to take time from running Astor Electrics in Gorey.

Mary Power will rue a couple of blanks on the front nine at the fourth and fifth holes.

"I hit a great drive on four, a super second shot but bladed a couple of chips either side of the green and missed a putt. On five it was more a case of driving into trouble and not getting out."

The 23-handicapper from East Cork atoned for these lapses with a four-point par on eight. "I was happy with that par on eight because it's the hardest hole on the course. I was striking the ball well and knew that in turning with 18 points I had a chance to be in the shake-up."

Power has only recently returned to golf this year having taken a six-year sabbatical to pursue a different sport. The French and Spanish language teacher from Midleton College in Cork is an international hockey umpire who has officiated all over the world. She was due to referee at two tournaments prior to the Olympics with the premise she would then travel to Athens but could not get time off from work.

She decided if she didn't pick up the clubs again this year she might as well throw them out. A one-time 18 handicapper she's determined to return to that level. "I made a great start but got a bit nervous. If that was two years ago I would have been a mess but I didn't panic. Once I got three points at the ninth I knew I was back in business."

She recovered from a blank at the 17th to narrowly miss her par at the 18th and with that bogey claim third place.

The Mitsubishi Motors/The Irish Times Ladies Masters, now in its sixth year, continues to go from strength to strength and on the evidence of this year's final, it still represents a notable landmark on the ladies' golfing calendar.