When it's not healing wounds, time can allow old professionals reveal some of their most closely-guarded secrets. And as Ed Sneed illustrated in a fascinating chat at Gulf Harbour this week, it is decidedly prudent to keep such incidents to oneself, if cherished, contemporary illusions are not to be shattered.

Sadly for him, Sneed is remembered largely for missing a short putt on the 72nd green which would have given him victory in the 1979 US Masters. His miss involved him in a three-way play-off with Fuzzy Zoeller and Tom Watson, which ultimately gave Zoeller the title.

Later that year, he and compatriot John Mahaffey came to Portmarnock to compete in what was then the Carrolls Irish Open. Neither player distinguished himself in the early stages of the event, Sneed carding an opening 75 to Mahaffey's 74. But the crowds were drawn by the warmth of a player who had suffered so acutely at Augusta.

Here at Gulf Harbour as a member of the Fox Sports television commentary team, Sneed takes up the story: "We still hadn't made a move after 54 holes on the Saturday. Anyway with a few hours to kill before a dinner date that night, John suggested that we visit some of the local bars on the way back to our hotel in the city."

So they went on a gentle pub-crawl, starting in Portmarnock and progressing to Baldoyle, having a beer in each and chatting to the locals. "It wasn't serious drinking, but we had a few," said Sneed. "Later that evening we and our wives went to dinner in the Mirabeau with Pat Heneghan (of Carrolls)."

He went on: "There, we had some exquisite wines and brandy with our meal and the upshot of it was that I was in a terrible state the following morning. In fact I was so sick out at the course that my caddie, Willie Aitchison, lay me down in the locker-room and applied cold towels to my face to try and bring me around.

"Eventually, when it was time to go to the first tee, I feared I couldn't make it. And I thought of the shame of having come all that way from the States at the sponsor's invitation. But somehow, I made contact with the opening drive and thinned the ball down the fairway.

"I remember the first was playing downwind and was no more than a drive and a wedge, but I needed a seven iron. And when the ball landed on the green I could see there was a little blob of mud on it but I was afraid to bend down to clean it. So I hit the putt and, remarkably, the ball went into the hole for a birdie."

From there, Sneed proceeded to play one of the finest rounds ever witnessed at the north Dublin links. With a seven-under-par 65, he equalled Gary Player's course record and claimed second place, only a stroke behind the winner, Mark James. As he reflected: "It was amazing. From a position of barely being able to play, I might have been Irish Open champion."

As a footnote to our chat, he told me of his delight in meeting Harry Bradshaw and of the pleasure he still gets from playing tapes of Harry's stories. Immodestly, I explained that I was involved in producing the tapes, 11 years ago. And we agreed, not for the first time, about the small world that golfers inhabit.

NB: Apropos those tapes - Michael Neary of "Golfing Memories" in Bray, tells me he has unearthed a limited supply of them with the accompanying book, for anyone who shares Sneed's interest in the Brad.

"Designing World Cup golf courses doesn't match the feeling of being in there chasing down a good score." Robert Trent Jones Jnr, course architect of Gulf Harbour, on being in last Wednesday's victorious pro-am team.

It seemed odd somehow to be sitting in short sleeves in the clubhouse bar, drinking a cold drink and listening to Silent Night from the club Tannoy. But this was the North Shore GC outside Auckland, where I had the pleasure of a delightful round, earlier this week.

When I remarked on the excellent condition of the course, club official Maurice Boland explained that it was playing host to the country's leading amateur event, the Interprovincial Tournament, over six days next week. Similar to the Irish Senior Cup, it involves 15 teams of five who compete against each other in matchplay on a round robin basis.

Also at North Shore, I met the remarkable Bob Glading, a sprightly 78-year-old, now a reinstated amateur with a very useful game off five. Which became easier to understand when I learned of his victories as an amateur in the New Zealand Open of 1946 and 1947 and then in the PGA Championship of 1948, after he turned professional.

"While on tour in South Africa in 1959, I met Max McCreadie, who was then a member of Royal Johannesburg," he said, recalling the former Irish international who won the British Amateur at Portmarnock in 1949. "He was a delightful man and a very fine golfer and thinking about him makes me regret never having had the pleasure of playing golf in Ireland."

Given that one of the all-time great New Zealand rugby players, Andy Haden, happens to be the event co-ordinator at Gulf Harbour, it comes as no surprise to find a rather special, All Black connection with the club. With the blessing of the New Zealand RFU, the All Black Golf Club (ABGC) has been formed, with Gulf Harbour as its base.

The idea came from All Black lock-forward Robin Brooke. "Since rugby turned professional three years ago, the All Black players have been using golf more and more to relax from the pressures of competition," he said. "And the link makes good business sense."

Naturally, the club are delighted. "Gulf Harbour and the All Blacks seem such a good fit," said an official. "New Zealand's most recognised brand linking up with New Zealand's newest and most prestigious golf course." Among the 35 members of the ABGC are such luminaries as Andrew Mehrtens, Sean Fitzpatrick and Jeff Wilson, along with Brooke.

New Zealand golfers are gathering here from far and near so as to have some involvement in the World Cup. They include Philip Tataurangi, a member of their victorious Eisenhower Trophy amateur side of 1992. Now plying his craft as a professional on the US Tour, Tataurangi has returned to his homeland to join the TV commentary team.

After his spectacular comeback in partnering compatriot Steve Elkington to victory in the Shark Shootout last Sunday, Greg Norman is guaranteed an ecstatic reception when he returns to Australia in two weeks. But he is determined not to take any risks with the left shoulder which required surgery earlier this year.

On Monday Norman will be in Vail, Colorado, for a check up with the surgeon who, against most predictions, appears to have extended the Shark's playing career. In fact Norman has bought a house in what is acknowledged as one of America's foremost skiing resorts, so as to be near the good Dr Hawkins.

He is also set to take delivery of a much talked-of $40 million Boeing 737 business jet, though it will be flown first to Basle in Switzerland for a fit-out to suit his company's needs. Ultimate delivery is scheduled for June of next year.

Meanwhile, Norman has been playing down Sunday's win. "It's going to take more than one tournament to get my old game back," he said. "I'm talking about the feel-shots and the imagination-shots that are second nature when you're competing regularly. The Shootout was only a step in the right direction."

This day in golf history . . . On November 21st, 1987, Wales became only the second team from these islands to capture the World Cup, emulating the achievement by Ireland's Harry Bradshaw and Christy O'Connor, 29 years previously. And victory by Ian Woosnam and David Llewellyn, came in remarkable circumstances at Kapalua, Hawaii, where they beat Scotland's Sandy Lyle and Sam Torrance in a play-off for the title.

Woosnam, arguably the world's best player at that time, totally dominated the event, capturing the individual award by no fewer than five strokes from Lyle. It was the culmination of an astonishing year in which he won seven tournaments and topped the European Order of Merit while helping Europe retain the Ryder Cup.

Commenting on the fragile support of his partner, Woosnam said afterwards: "David struggled a bit this week but he kept going like a true Welshman. That's what being Welsh is all about. We fight to the end."

Teaser: Is the use of a golf ball warmer or hand warmer during a round a breach of Rule 14-3 (Artificial Devices and Unusual Equipment)?

Answer: Use of a golf ball warmer is a breach of Rule 14-3. Use of a hand warmer is permissible.