Templemore's coming of age may have come four years late, but - on the 25th anniversary of the club's affiliation to the Golfing Union of Ireland - victory in the BMW Irish Mixed Foursomes was about as good a way as any to confirm their arrival on the national stage.

Indeed, the scenes that greeted their unlikely success in the finals at Strandhill (where Templemore defeated Tullamore 3 1/2 - 1 1/2 in the final showdown) demonstrated just what victory meant to the Tipperary club who were maintaining a rich tradition in the event by clubs from that county. And when Seamus Bourke holed out a short putt on the first extra hole of the third match to secure victory, it sparked off great celebrations. "Reminiscent of Hale Irwin's US Open lap of honour," was the rather apt description of club honorary secretary John Moloughney who spurred on the revelry by playing the bagpipes as the team entered the clubhouse for the presentation.

It was heart-stopping stuff for the Templemore team. Tom McGrath and Biddy Gleeson were four down after 13 holes in their match but levelled matters on the 18th and eventually took victory at the 19th to give the team their first point and, after Dinny Tuohy and Kathleen Maher closed out their match on the 17th, it meant that the number three match involving Bourke and Anna Stapleton was all-important.

One down playing the last, Bourke and Stapleton used their shot advantage to send the match into extra-time and then sealed the win at the first tie hole to give Templemore a national pennant . . . and prove the wisdom of the enterprising members of An Garda Siochana who, when attached to the Garda Training College in the Tipperary town in the early 1970s, formed the club.