Sibling rivalry no handicap

Nick Faldo met the Conaty family again last month. It was during the Faldo Junior Series at Saunton, Devon, and Dawn Marie Conaty was among the representatives from this country, in her capacity as the reigning Irish Girls' champion. Her father, Tom, was also there. The meeting prompted decidedly mixed emotions, ranging from profoundly sad memories of the death of his son Paul, through cancer, six years ago, to the remarkable kindness of Faldo at that time.

During a brave, six-year fight against the illness which ultimately claimed him, young Paul, playing off six, won a Metropolitan Trophy medal with Clontarf GC in 1994. Little more than 12 months later, however, the battle was almost at an end when he received a surprise phone call from Faldo at Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin.

They chatted for more than half an hour, mainly about the Ryder Cup the previous week at Oak Hill, where the Englishman had been one of the heroes of a triumphant European side. Before hanging up, Faldo promised to ring back. But when he made the call four days later, a nurse informed him: "I'm sorry, but Paul died this morning."

A year later, when friends at Clontarf GC organised a special charity day in aid of the hospital, an auction took place which included several items presented by Faldo, notably a signed XXL shirt and a bound, autographed chronicle of his first US Masters triumph in 1989. Tom Conaty bought them all for £2,250.

Five years on, I saw all the items again during a recent visit to the Conaty home at Coolquoy, The Ward, Co Dublin. They were in a specially constructed glass case in a recreation room, as a shrine to Tom and Lily Conaty's departed son. One particularly charming item was a mahogany plaque which once hung over the entrance to the little chipping, putting and bunker area which Paul built at the back of their former house. On it the teenager had chiselled: "Augusta National, The Home of Good Golf. Paul Conaty & Associates."

Life goes on. Paul's bravery and golfing skills have since become an inspiration to his siblings, who are achieving notable success at the Royal and Ancient game he loved so well.

They could hardly wish for a better golfing environment. Their home is located one mile from Corrstown GC and four miles from Ashbourne GC, while the Ward Driving Range is only a mile down the road. And there is no shortage of encouragement from Tom, who is a 10-handicap member of Corrstown and Clontarf GC, and Lily, who plays off 23 at Ashbourne.

Dawn Marie, an eight-handicap member of Ashbourne, was a month short of her 16th birthday when she won the Girls' Championship at Belvoir Park last July, following in the illustrious footsteps of Josephine Mark, Rhona Hegarty, Laura Bolton, Carol and Phyl Wickham, and Bridget Gleeson.

Now in her transition year at school, she had changed into the more casual attire of a Faldo Series shirt prior to my visit. "There isn't too much pressure on me this year, so I'm using the time to play plenty of golf," she said with a smile. "In the longer term, I'm thinking about going for a golf scholarship in the US, but in the meantime I can have two more chances at the Girls Championship."

Almost predictably, her school, the Dominican College on Griffith Avenue, have benefited significantly from her presence - they secured a victory in the Leinster Colleges Championship earlier this month.

While Dawn Marie was performing splendid exploits at Belvoir Park, her 22-year-old brother Cathal, who plays off one, also had his sights set on a grand prize as a member of the Barton Shield squad at UCD, where he is doing business studies. The omens were especially promising when he partnered Justin Kehoe to a 100 per cent record from three matches, en route to the Leinster pennant at the K Club.

But the return of youth international Mark O'Sullivan meant that he missed out on the national semi-finals and final at Newlands last month, when the students triumphed for the first time in their history. Still, there was a major compensation. Having excused himself from my company, Cathal returned a few minutes later carrying his coveted Barton Shield medal.

"Because of his illness and the amount of time he spent at the game, Paul was really responsible for getting the rest of us into serious golf," said Cathal, who is a member of Ashbourne, Corrstown and Royal Dublin, apart, of course, from UCD. "I suppose more than anything, Paul taught me to be competitive, though I would never have dreamed of beating him, for fear of being hit!

"I actually started at Ashbourne playing off plus two. They told me that if I filled in a card for handicap purposes, they could take 10 strokes off my gross score and that would be my handicap. So, when I went around in 79 gross, they decided I should be plus two. I don't think they knew very much about how the system worked and after two weeks I had gone out to seven, which was a lot more realistic."

His enthusiasm for the game was reflected in his presence earlier this month at Castlerock GC, where he caddied for the Ashbourne professional John Dwyer in the Irish Professional Championship. And in other spare moments, he is available to coach Dawn Marie and his younger brother Breffni.

With a name that betrays Tom's Cavan origins, 17-year-old Breffni is also a member of Corrstown, where he plays off five. He, too, has been drilled into acquiring keen competitive instincts, which were evident when he captured the Corrstown Junior Cup last year.

It is hardly surprising that there is no shortage of cut crystal or bronze golfing figures around the Conaty household. And pride of place on the hall table is the Irish Girls' trophy. "How about that?" said Tom with obvious pride.

"Golf has brought great joy to this house and it proved to be a great consolation to Lily and myself when we lost Paul. So, apart from the tremendous enjoyment I have got from the game myself, I have always encouraged Dawn Marie and the lads with their golfing activities."

After the tragic events of six years ago, Tom remarked: "I've never met Nick Faldo and have never had anything to do with the man, but I deeply appreciate his gesture to Paul, who idolised him. It meant a huge amount to Lily and myself."

Since then, the parents have had the opportunity of meeting Faldo during a Murphy Irish Open at Druids Glen and also when he posed for a photograph with Tom and Dawn Marie at Saunton.