"I find that the hardest shot in golf is the hole in one, " said Groucho Marx. He should have played at Sutton, more particularly the sixth hole there, as it has been aced twice in recent weeks. First by Fred Wilson and then by Bob Fogarty.

PALMER'S DESIGN PARTNER PASSES AWAY

Golf lost one of its great personalities this week with the death at age 69, after a prolonged battle with cancer, of Ed Seay who was Arnold Palmer's long-time course design partner and whose work is found in Ireland at Tralee and at The K-Club.

Seay started his career at Pinehurst under the tutelage of Ellis Maples and he began working with Arnold Palmer in 1972 and they formed the Arnold Palmer Course Design Company in 1979. During his long career he played a part in the design of over 300 courses as far apart as Ireland, China and the USA.

K-CLUB AND ARMAGH REACH SEMI-FINALS

The K-Club and County Armagh are the first teams into the semifinals of the Miele Ladies Interclub Fourball having beaten Dublin City and Letterkenny in the Eastern and Northern finals respectively during the week.

The final is scheduled for Mount Juliet on September 15-16.

AGE NO HANDICAP FOR THESE YOUNG GOLFERS

The trend towards ever younger golf champions was brought to a new level last week with two 12-year-olds getting into the matchplay stages of the US Ladies Amateur Championship. No other preteen player had reached the matchplay stages of this event in the previous 106-years of the competition.

As luck would have it, the two met in the second round where Alexis Thompson, four months older than her opponent who turned 12 in June, beat Pearl Jin.

The latter is quite a veteran already as she took up golf at age eight having first earned a black belt in taekwondo.

Thompson eventually met her match in the quarter-finals when 15-year-old Ha Na Jang from South Korea birdied four of the "rst seven holes to take control. Yes, 15 beats 12 and it is the Woman's Championship of America.

Thompson was not too upset by the defeat, as she had been on the competitive road for a month, with her father as caddy, and admitted that she missed her mum and her cats, Angel and Smelly, and said she was glad to be going home.

Oh, yes. The championship was eventually won by an old lassy of 17.

Maria Uribe from Colombia employed her swing coach Pedro Rossi (no relation of Paddy Rossi of Irish Open fame) as her caddy all summer and kept in touch with her three sports psychologists throughout. These little touches can make all the difference.

WAKE-UP CALL FOR DUBLIN TEAM TROPHY

Selwyn Davies sends a wake-up call to neighbouring clubs at this time of year encouraging them to enter the Dublin Team Trophy at Edmondstown. Teams of four with handicaps from 8 to 15 on the day of the event which is Sunday, September 16. There, you have been awakened.

BIG SHOW FOR GIRL GOLFERS AT OLD CONNA

The big show for girl golfers this week gets underway at Old Conna tomorrow with the three-day staging of the Leinster Girls Championship. All the leading Irish girls, including the Maguire twins, will be in action from 9am and what an inspiration they will be to any kids brought along to have a look see. Entrance, of course, is free.

HENRY-BEZY BREEZES ROUND ASHBOURNE

Jealousy. That is the sentiment that sweeps through tired bones on noting that Niamh HenryBezy swept around Ashbourne in level par last week to amass 46-points off ten handicap and almost lap the competition.

Seriously, what a great display.

Congratulations. Now let's see you do it again.