Sydney was not the only place where gold medals were at stake recently. Last week, six members of the Charlesland club in Greystones battled out for the honour of Millennium gold medal winner.

In very testing conditions, Simon Murphy carded a nett 75 to win by two shots from Peter O'Hagan. The six contestants, who also included Vincent O'Gorman, Derek Dunne, Chris Upton and John McCabe, played in consecutive groups, so the contest turned into a matchplay event with golfer of the year points also at stake.

It was also the final day of the 12 golfer of the year events, and Murphy completed a memorable double when his score moved him from third place past longtime leader Michael Butler.