Amateur Scene: Royal Portrush have their sights set on a third consecutive Suzuki-sponsored All-Ireland Senior Cup when they set-out in defence of their title at Woodstock Golf Club in Ennis on Friday.
Royal Portrush, the leaders in Senior Cup titles with 22, will be seeking a second hat-trick, having won in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Led by Ulster champion Gemma Hegarty, Portrush also include former international Helen Jones and Maura Diamond, just home from the SAAB Belgian Junior Championships, and 14-year-old Stephanie Meadow, in a team well capable of doing the treble.
Ennis have Irish Close champion Tricia Mangan and veteran campaigner Valerie Hassett in their ranks. The Ennis team's proximity to Woodstock makes them the side most fancied to upset the Royal Portrush campaign.
Co Louth qualified by beating a strongly fancied Island side boasting internationals Martina Gillen and Dawn Marie Conaty in their ranks. The 2002 champions are ably led by 2004 Close champion Deirdre Smith and recently capped Leinster champion Maria Dunne.
The Curragh have internationals Maura Morrin and Sinéad Keane in action. Relatively inexperienced at this level, the Midlands side are joined by Claremorris, appearing in the finals for the first time.
Two-handicapper Niamh Kitching is joined by the Gallagher sisters Sarah, Emily and Kate in the Mayo team, who will do well to make Saturday's semi-finals as they meet holders Royal Portrush in Friday's quarter-final.
Meanwhile the R&A, golf's world governing body, have announced revisions to the Rules of Amateur Status that allow amateurs receive payment for giving instruction and reduce the waiting time of those who have breached the Rules but wish to return to amateur status. The changes come into effect from January 1st next year.
A new Instruction Rule provides that, for the first time, an amateur may be paid for coaching golf as part of an "approved programme".
Under the new Rules on reinstatement, the time amateurs in breach of the Rules have to wait before regaining amateur status is reduced. The new guideline of one to two years brings the waiting periods in line with those for professional golfers returning to the amateur game. There will be a one-year wait for those who have been professional for less than five years and a two-year wait those who have been professional for longer than that
These are the principal changes to the R&A's Rules of Amateur Status after a two-year review.
The USGA's decision to make equivalent changes to its Amateur Code and allow amateurs in the US receive expenses in individual competitions (which has been allowed by the R&A's Rules for many years) means the Amateur Codes of The R&A and USGA are more closely aligned than ever.
The two Codes diverge on only one matter - hole-in-one prizes. In the new R&A Code, acceptance of an excessive prize remains a breach of the Rules but carries a much-reduced period awaiting reinstatement. The new USGA Code will allow amateurs to accept hole-in-one prizes of any value.
The R&A's Director of Rules and Equipment Standards, David Rickman, said: "The new Instruction Rule will greatly assist the worldwide development of the game by bringing coaching to remote areas where professional tuition is often not available. The R&A and USGA have made excellent progress towards a single Code for amateur golfers throughout the world."
The growing strength of Continental golf was again in evidence at Royal Porthcawl last week when the Continent of Europe beat Britain and Ireland in the Jacques Leglise Trophy. After sharing the opening day at 6-6 the Continent of Europe boys took a decisive 3-1 lead in the second-day foursomes and added five of the afternoon singles to pull away for an impressive 14-10 win.
Jesper Kennegard of Sweden was the star of the competition, the only player to win all four of his matches. Simon Ward from Co Louth claimed a point for the home side with a 2 and 1 win over Austria's Kajetan Kromer but lost a tense finish in his other singles match to Norway's Marius Thorp by one hole.
SENIOR CUP ALL-IRELAND FINAL TEAMS
Claremorris: Emily Gallagher, Kate Gallagher, Sarah Gallagher, Claire Geraghty, Niamh Kitching, Mary Walsh
Co Louth: Maria Dunne, Jennifer Gannon, Susan Mulaney, Patricia Nannery, Oonagh Purfield, Jackie Quinn, Deirdre Smith
Ennis: Sarah Cunningham, Valerie Hassett, Tricia Mangan, Maura McNicholas, Ann-Marie Russell
Royal Portrush: Maura Diamond, Roma English, Gemma Heggarty, Helen Jones, Stephanie Meadow, Naoimh Quigg
The Curragh: Marian Byrne, Ann Marie Dalton, Sinéad Keane, Mary McNally, Maura Morrin, Nicola Roughan
TIMETABLE: Friday - quarter-final 2pm - Royal Portrush v Claremorris. Saturday - semi-finals: 8am: Ennis v The Curragh; 8.40am: Co Louth v Royal Portrush or Claremorris. Final 2pm.
