Hurling abuse no match for hurling prowess

We had been building up to the match for months, threatening all sorts of dire consequences for the opposition. Pat O'Donovan, an RTE colleague, was going to join forces with me in a battle royal against two of Kilkenny's greatest hurlers - D J Carey and Eddie Keher.

Eventually, we managed to get a suitable date and the match was arranged for Mount Juliet. I was first there and when D J arrived, I continued to wind him up as we'd been doing before.

But he turned the tables on me by inviting me to join him on the practice ground in preparation for the match. D J was off seven at the time and believe me, he takes his sport seriously, whether it's winning All-Ireland medals with Kilkenny or fourball matches on local golfing terrain.

Eddie was off 14, I was off 12 and Pat was the low man, playing off six. Even at this distance, it would be too painful for me to go into details of the match. Suffice to say that we got an awful hiding by a margin of 5 and 4 - I think.

Even allowing for all the ribbing that had gone on beforehand, I had expected a gentle day's sport in a delightful setting. Instead, Pat and me were confronted by two exceptionally competitive men who were determined to beat us by as wide a margin as possible.

It was wonderful to see the two of them together. D J will definitely become a scratch player but I don't think it's possible to compare the two of them as hurlers just yet, not until D J retires - for certain! After all, Eddie had a wonderfully long career from the time he made his senior debut in 1959 until his retirement from the game in 1977.

Interestingly, neither of them appears to have had any problem in adapting to the right-hand-be- low-the-left golf grip. I've been fortunate to play with some fine golfers over the years and D J's swing is as good as I've seen. Eddie, on the other hand, is typical of a man who took up the game later in life.

In fact, there's a group of players who golf together regularly and I've been happy to join them on occasions. They call themselves "The Hurlers" and include great names from the past, like Ned Wheeler from Wexford, Denis Murphy from Cork, Sean McLoughlin and fellow Tipperaryman Babs Keating, along with Ger Cunningham. Golf gives them a wonderful, sporting outlet.

One of my most regular opponents, however, is Mick O'Dwyer who, incidentally, was last year's captain of Waterville Golf Club. We've had the good fortune to play on some wonderful courses, as far afield at Pebble Beach and the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

He, too, is a tough competitor. I remember playing him for the first time at Waterville and we were level standing on the tee at the long 18th. When I asked Mick what was the best line to take, he suggested there was plenty of room down the left. I took his ad- vice and never saw the ball again.

I have also played him at my home club, Grange. Indeed we played there back in August 1994 on the same day that David Higgins reached the semi-finals of the Irish Close at Portmarnock. Before setting off, we asked for word to be sent to us if David got through to the final that afternoon.

As it happened, Mick was getting the better of me when we learned that our young Kerry friend was in the final against Padraig Harrington. So we abandoned our match and headed across the city.

Both of us had played golf with David and as fellow countymen, we naturally wished him well. So it was a pleasure to be there to congratulate him when he won. Come to think of it, now that he's turned professional, David could be just the right man to have as a partner for my next meeting with D J Carey.