When Randal McDonnell packed away his hurley about four years ago to join the newly-opened Gracehill golf club near his home in Ballymoney, the former Antrim goalkeeper - who played in an All-Ireland semi-final - wasn't quite sure what his new sporting pursuit would deliver.
He needn't have worried. From an initial handicap of 13, McDonnell - a noted bighitter which he attributes to his hurling background - is now operating quite successfully off five. And, in partnership with the Heggarty brothers, Norman and Michael, the trio combined to win the Ulster final of the Musgrave Crumlin Children's Hospital Club Challenge at the Nuremore Hotel and Golf Club.
Apart from the honour, the win also earns them a weeklong trip to the Algarve region of Portugal next month for the national finals of the competition.
Having emerged from their own club qualifying, the Gracehill teammates were unsure about their prospects in the provincial final. Yet, with McDonnell providing the backbone, the two Heggarty brothers - Norman, playing off 21, and Michael, off 18 - managed to make vital contributions in the rumble format competition to give them ultimate success.
Gracehill won the Ulster final with a total of 83 points which left them two points ahead of runners-up Banbridge, who included scratch player Stephen McVey in their side, and host club Nuremore, both finishing on 81 points.
The Banbridge players - McVey, Terry Grant and Conrad McInerney - were left kicking themselves for a disastrous total of just two points on the short par four 17th hole (with all three players counting) which, effectively, lost them the chance to win.
The winners started in some style, with Norman Heggarty - who also took up the sport when Gracehill, a privately-owned course, opened for play - making a quite remarkable impact. He had three pars in the first four holes - at the first (where he took what he called "the scenic route" after hooking his drive onto the 18th fairway but managed a superb 3-wood recovery), third and fourth holes. But the piece de resistance arrived at the seventh when he chipped in from 20 yards for a birdie.
Another relatively new club, Dublin Mountain, emerged as winners in the Leinster final at Mullingar, where heavy rain forced the competition to be curtailed to 15 holes. Nevertheless, Dublin Mountain ran up a quite remarkable 80 points to leave them a staggering 12 points clear of their nearest pursuers Grange (Percy Vince, Hugh Millar and Plunkett Walshe) on 68 points.
Third-placed Kilcoole (Brendan Martin, Peter Day and Eugene Doyle) finished on 64.
Among the feats performed by the Dublin Mountain trio of Eamon Haughton, playing off 15, Niall O'Reilly, off 21, and Pat Purcell, off 24, was a score of nine points on the index-two 10th hole at Mullingar where Purcell had a birdie (nett albatross) and O'Reilly rowed in with a par (nett eagle).
The Grange trio were almost playing a different course despite six-handicapper Millar contributing four birdies in a brave, but vain, attempt to take the crown.
