What's an addict to do?

It's an impressive statistic, playing 260 rounds of golf each year, especially at the venerable age of 71. Even John Curran was impressed at the golfing activity of Arnold Palmer. And the Elm Park one-handicapper was lost in admiration for another US Seniors' competitor, Dana Quigley, who plays 340 rounds a year. On going in search of an Irish golf enthusiast who might approach those sort of figures, I wasn't surprised that Curran's name kept cropping up. Mind you, there was no chance he could match the astonishing activity of 55-year-old retired American real-estate agent, Porter Thomas, who informed Golf Digest that he played "about 600 rounds" last year. And Thomas had the effrontery to add: "That was one of my slow years." But Curran is in there with the serious souls. Maybe fanatic might be more appropriate? "I suppose you could say that," replied the 38-year-old managing director of a Dublin money-broking company, who won two rounds in the South of Ireland Championship in 1994, only five years after taking up the game.

Having been a highly competitive tennis player, his approach to golf didn't surprise his friends. It explained why, as a 16-handicapper, he insisted on playing level matches against British Boys' champion Leslie Walker, an accomplished scratchman. "No, I wouldn't take any shots," said Curran, "because I wanted to see how long it would take me to beat him."

So it was that he lost 50 successive matches against Walker, each with a little monetary interest on the side. And when Curran eventually won their 51st encounter, his handicap had come down to four. No doubt the tuition he received from former Grange professional Watty Sullivan would have helped. At the latest count, those lessons exceed 300. "Though I wouldn't play anything like 260 rounds a year, I have never gone more than seven days without playing since I took up the game," he said. "And a day never passes that I wouldn't hit a ball, either on the practice ground or driving range, usually in the evening after work.

"It may have something to do with the fact that at 28, I was a late-starter to the game. I suppose I would play about 150 rounds a year and I have always sought matches against players better than me. For instance, I can remember holing a six-foot putt on the 18th green at Mount Juliet to halve with Padraig Harrington." Meanwhile, it may be of interest that at 88, Sam Snead still plays about 10 times a year. Which is more than the eight times this year by Butch Harmon, who has more pressing commitments as coach to Tiger Woods and Darren Clarke. And what of Woods's caddie, Steve Williams? "Maybe 10 times a year, if that," said the New Zealander. "I race cars, mate. Golf's not my game."