McEvoy conquers adversity

Four years ago, Mandy McEvoy was battling against ovarian cancer and unsure of what the future held.

Yesterday, at Clandeboye, the mother of 18-month-old triplets - who were present in the arms of their dad on the first tee - played with all the assurance of someone who knows about surmounting life's obstacles to claim a place in the semi-finals of the Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship, sponsored by Lancome.

On a day when the shocks, anticipated but slow in arriving, finally came to reduce the championship pretenders to a mere four, McEvoy's exploits were the stuff of sporting romance. In conquering Alison Coffey, the current Ulster and Leinster champion, by a 3 and 1 margin in her quarter-final, McEvoy earned a last four showdown with former British champion Lillian Behan, while Paula Gorman deposed holder Suzie Fanagan-O'Brien to earn a meeting with Oonagh Purfield.

Of them all, McEvoy's progress was least expected. As a nine-handicapper - in a championship that included a number of scratch players and, in Behan's case, a plus-one handicapper - McEvoy, who lives in the nearby seaside resort of Bangor, set out to qualify and then "to see how far I could go."

Such an attitude was entirely understandable, given that golf slipped down the list of priorities in recent times. After winning her traumatic fight with cancer, and being told that it was unlikely she'd ever have children, McEvoy gave birth to triplets (two boys and a girl) just over a year and a half ago. And last year, after three years away from a course during which time her handicap drifted out to close to double digits, she started to play again.

However, yesterday's efforts surpassed all her previous golfing endeavours. In the past, she'd earned a junior international cap but, she explained, "the selectors never thought I was long enough off the tee" to win a full cap. "But I lost a bit of weight during my illness and came back stronger than ever." The results were evident in yesterday's fare where, after beating Helen Jones in the morning, she followed up with victory over Coffey. "I knew I had it in me. I'd nothing to lose, kept my head down and made sure I stayed out of trouble," said McEvoy. The ploy worked and, although the match was pretty much nip-'ntuck over the front nine, McEvoy made her move with back-to-back wins at the 13th and 14th, and finished off the match when conceded a five-foot birdie putt on the 17th.

Her semi-final opponent Behan, meanwhile, defeated the host club's Nikki Moore at the second tie hole. The Curragh player had to show resilience of her own to come from two down with two to play to keep her dream of a national title alive. Behan won the 17th and birdied the 18th to force sudden-death, and booked her semi-final place with a winning par at the second tie hole.

The tales of resilience continued in the other quarter-finals too. Twelve months ago, Purfield had her wrists encased in plaster for five months from injuries incurred playing hockey. Yesterday, the Co Louth player - who won an Eastern District Senior Cup with her club last week - inflicted a two-holes win over Yvonne Cassidy in an intriguing encounter.

And, in doing so, Purfield produced a quite majestic finish. "It was a Darren Clarke shot, or maybe an Olazabal one," quipped the sales manager with MacGregor Ireland of the eight-iron shot of 156 yards that finished a mere six inches from the pin for a tap-in eagle that closed out the match.

Gorman, too, had to demonstrate great courage. Her season thus far has been blighted by "flu and colds of one sort or another" but she showed her current wellbeing with a one-hole win over Fanagan-O'Brien.

Gorman was four up after seven holes but, standing on the 18th green, had been hauled back to all-sqaure. However, she produced a super three-iron 165 yards approach shot, off an uphill lie, to 10 feet for a two-putt birdie that enabled her to claim her place in the semi-finals.