Barry Reddan, the 1978 title holder, will be drawing on inspiration from another former winner, when he competes this week in the Standard Life West of Ireland Championship at Rosses Point. At 55, Reddan will be the oldest competitor in the field, but it still represents everything he could wish for on an Easter weekend.
His latest challenge gained timely impetus last month when brother-in-law Des Smyth won the Madeira Island Open. "I was in tears when I got the news: I'm his biggest fan," he said of his fellow Co Louth member who, as it happened, captured the West of Ireland title in 1973.
Reddan went on: "I've been going to the West since 1970 and have missed only two years. The first was in 1980 when I was told my entry was too late and the other was when it moved to Enniscrone in 1997. I just couldn't get away that year."
He will be maintaining a traditionally strong Louth representation in this, the first championship of the men's amateur season. But the line-up will be without a long-time colleague, Seamus McParland who, as a member of the Greenore club, is inside the county's foot-and-mouth exclusion zone.
Following an approach by Connacht Branch chairman Michael O'Donoghue last week, McParland withdrew so as to comply with Department of Agriculture recommendations. He is replaced in the draw by Donal O'Brien of Laytown and Bettystown.
Further withdrawals have meant a call-up for James Fox, a two-handicap member of Portmarnock and younger brother of Noel Fox, winner of the title in 1998. James Fox had already been in the west to compete for Connacht Youths at Enniscrone last weekend.
Meanwhile, Reddan is already adjusting, mentally, to the growing disparity in age between himself and his considerably younger rivals. "I'll miss Seamus, whom I remember beating on my way to winning the title in 1978," he said. "But so many things have changed over the years.
"People ask me if I'm mad in the head but the fact is that I remain a very competitive person. I'm still capable of playing a useful game off one, but if I stopped competing in championships like this, I've no doubt I'd drift out to six or seven handicap in no time."
He went on: "The West epitomises amateur golf as far as I'm concerned. The sense of fun has changed over the years, insofar as the young lads nowadays take it a lot more seriously than we did. But it's still fun. And I will expect to get among the 64 qualifiers when the strokeplay finishes on Saturday evening."
His playing partners in the draw for strokeplay qualifying on Friday and Saturday will be the reasonably familiar figures of Brian McElhinney from North West and Connacht interprovincial David Dunne from Elm Park. But there will be quite a number of players in the draw strangers to the Drogheda man.
Given his reputation as a notoriously slow player, were the organisers not taking a chance in having him in the upper half of the draw instead of at the tail of the field? Reddan laughed. "Don't mind all that talk," he said. "When I beat Kenny Steverson in the final, we did the 18 holes in three hours 40 minutes. It's taking the youngsters well over four hours these days."
The GUI will send a four-man team to the World Junior team championships in Japan this summer. The top 15 junior golfing countries from six continents will contest a 72-holes medal play format. Ireland qualified by finishing third in last year's European Boys team championship.
The team to represent Ireland in the World Junior Team Championship, which will be played in Hyogo, Japan from June 15th to 18th is: Clancy Bowe (Tramore), R McCarthy (Forrest Little), Brian McElhinney (North West) and Philip McLaughlin (Ballyliffin).
