Child's play has daddy as caddie

"Look here son, you're being very unfair. Just this once, why won't you be a good lad and come and play golf with me?" Strange? Indeed it is. Yet that sort of pleading by an embattled parent could easily occur at a rather special golf course on the east coast of Scotland.

With a recently-installed watering system, I'm assured it is a charming, nine-hole stretch in splendid condition. But it presents a problem for us grown-ups. The fact is that any adult wishing to play there had better ensure they're in the right company. Which means they have to be accompanied by a child.

David Huish was telling me about the Children's Course at North Berwick. He happens to be the long-time resident professional there and, as it happens, is also a member of the Ryder Cup committee. Indeed it will be recalled that when Seve Ballesteros was throwing around accusations about the committee's favouring of Valderrama for 1997, Huish threatened to "punch him on the nose".

But the Scot is essentially a gentle soul. And one of the keenest members of the course he created is his own, eight-year-old son, Oliver, who apparently plays a very useful game off 16, having come down from 26 earlier this year.

"It used to be a nine-hole pitch-and-putt course which was owned by the club but became neglected," said Huish, who played in the inaugural West of Ireland Seniors last weekend. "About 10 years ago, I had the idea of turning it into a children's course - and the result has been amazing.

"We now have 120 members, ranging in age from five to 13. They pay £7.50 a year and on supplying us with two passport photographs, we give each player an identity card for their golf bag. We keep a copy of their membership card on file. One of our stipulations is that a parent can act as a caddie only for a child up to the age of eight.

"Every hole is named after a famous Scottish course such as Muirfield and Dornoch. Everybody's very proud of it. In fact we were able to install the watering system recently after receiving two anonymous donations totalling £3,000."

"Vijay has had an enormously difficult road to pick up that title." - Steve Elkington, the 1995 winner, referring to the many trials of Vijay Singh before he captured the USPGA Championship at Sahalee last Sunday.

While competing at East Clare GC last weekend, Bobby Verwey was talking about the tendency among tournament professionals to play down their own, special talents. And he recalled two related exchanges during the 1994 Senior British Open at Royal Lytham to illustrate the point.

"While I was chatting to Christy (O'Connor Snr), he suddenly remarked `isn't it amazing how often Gary gets up and down from around the green'," said Verwey, whose sister Vivienne is married to Gary Player. "Later that day, I happened to be talking with Gary when we saw Christy walking past. `Did you ever notice how often Christy gets up and down from around the green,' said Gary. That's professionals: I could only smile."

It seems like only a few months since we were leaving Valderrama, celebrating a splendid European triumph. But the Ryder Cup juggernaut is on the move again. In fact qualification for the 1999 staging at Brookline begins on September 3rd.

That is when the European Masters gets under way at Cranssur-Sierre. Pounds for points will be the prime consideration at four further tournaments this year - the One 2 One British Masters, the Lancome Trophy, the German Masters, Belgacom Open and the Volvo Masters.

Meanwhile, other Ryder Cup business is to be sorted out in Munich next Wednesday, on the eve of the BMW International Open. At 2.30 in the afternoon, Jim McDaid, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, is due to sign an agreement confirming details of an eight-year marketing strategy building up to 2005.

Then, at 3.0, the newly-appointed captain of the European Ryder Cup team will be introduced. At this stage, there seems little doubt but that the choice is Mark James, who is the current chairman of the tournament committee of the PGA European Tour.

Lee Trevino once remarked that real pressure was having a $20 putt on the 18th with only $10 in your pocket. Vijay Singh experienced that feeling in a highly-charged, potentially traumatic situation which did much to prepare him for the closing holes of the USPGA Championship in Seattle last Sunday.

Indeed, anytime the Fijian has been confronted by pressure in tournament golf he instinctively thinks back to his days of isolation in Borneo. That was where he served out a two-year ban for allegedly improving his score by a stroke before signing his card during the 1985 Indonesian Open.

Given his background as a tournament professional, it was inevitable he would become involved in money matches. And one such match happened to be against the boss of a local lumber company. Playing the 18th knowing that there was about £400 at stake if he lost, Singh had to face the stark reality of having only £5 in his pocket.

"It was a par five and I hit the first shot out of bounds," he recalled. "As I stood over the next drive, it was the worst feeling I have ever experienced. I thought `what happens if I lose? Will it cost me my job? What am I going to tell my wife?' "

Almost numbed by this mental torment, Singh still managed to steel himself for his second drive. And he struck it perfectly to set up an eagle three, giving him a par at the hole. As things turned out, it was enough to beat his opponent and take the money.

"Whenever I'm in contention, I think about that moment," said Singh. "It gives me strength." I'll bet it does.

This day in golf history . . . . On August 22nd 1964, Barbara McIntire captured the US Women's Amateur Championship by beating JoAnne Gunderson in the final at Prairie Dunes. The venue will forever be etched in British and Irish minds, however, because of the historic Curtis Cup victory there two years later - the first time the visitors had won on American soil.

Meanwhile, McIntire was recently in the news as non-playing captain of the US team which regained the trophy at Minikahda CC, Minnesota where Ita Butler led the visiting lineup. McIntire holds the distinction of having made here debut in the US Women's Amateur as a 15-year-old, beating the legendary Glenna Collet Vare in her opening match. In 1960, she beat Philomena Garvey in the final of the British Women's at Harlech.

In Brief: With the support of Mitsubishi Motors, Des Smyth will be playing host to his annual Celeb-Am Golf Classic at Royal Dublin on Monday when the beneficiaries will be Respect and the Special Olympics . . . George Balfe informs me that the CBC Monkstown Park Union are staging their fourth annual golf outing at Dun Laoghaire GC on September 4th. Further details from (01) 2808347 . . . . Menni Services are having a Charity Golf Team Classic at Edmonstown GC on September 14th.

Teaser: A player shanked a ball and there was a good chance that the ball came to rest out of bounds. The player then dropped another ball and played it. It was clear that the player intended the dropped ball to be a positional ball, but he did not inform his opponent, marker or a fellow-competitor that he was playing a provisional ball. In such a situation, can a player's actions constitute announcement that he is playing a provisional ball?

Answer: No. Rule 27-2a specifically provides that the player must inform his opponent, marker or a fellow-competitor that he intends to play a provisional ball.