Carter passes the first test

The rolling hills of Glasson Golf and Country Club provided an idyllic setting for The Irish Times/Mitsubishi Motors Ladies Masters tournament yesterday. The beautiful backdrop belied the arduous test that faced the 84 qualifiers that competed at the semi-final stage of the event. At stake were 12 places in the final to be held at Killarney Golf and Country Club over the Mahony's Point course on October 22nd.

The torrential rain that afflicted the West of Ireland only briefly touched Athlone and even then was nothing more than a minor cloudburst. Despite brilliant sunshine for most of the day's play, a strong breeze ensured difficult scoring conditions over the excellent Christy O'Connor Jnr-designed course.

It was entirely appropriate that the man himself, one of Ireland's sporting icons, was on hand to provide the participants with both encouragement and a little tuition. O'Connor Jnr greeted every competitor on the 15th tee, offering a little advice and plenty of sympathy as the ladies negotiated the spectacular par three perched on the side of Killinure Bay.

While some suffered a watery grave 10 of the 12 ladies that qualified for the Irish Times/ Mitsubishi Motors Ladies Masters Final recorded a superb par three at the intimidating 115 yard hole that requires a carry over water of all but eight yards of that distance. It was also evident that those who qualified for the final heeded the advice given by O'Connor Jnr: everyone managed either a par or birdie over the closing four holes.

The wind, especially prevalent over the early holes, rendered the course long and exacting but never an unfair test. O'Connor Jnr has designed a course that requires the golfer to think over every shot, rewarding intelligence rather than brute force and using the resplendent backdrop of Lough Ree to great effect. His vision along with the prescience of owner Tom Reid has produced a championship quality course.

Mountrath Golf Club's Jean Carter led the qualifiers with an excellent 35 points in the Singles Stapleford format. The 23 year old trainee computer programmer with Glanbia in Portlaoise, enjoyed nines of 17 points and 18, pipping Dun Laoghaire's Niamh Giblin on the back nine.

Carter had only turned her attention to golf "in a serious manner" since March. "I had a set of clubs when I was about 10 but didn't really use them. I played a bit during one summer while in second year at school and dabbled the odd time while I was at college, during the summer.

"But it was only since March when I had a bit of time to spare that I really started to play and practice regularly." Since then she has reduced her handicap by four shots to 30 and hopes that it will continue to fall. Her pedigree suggests that she will have her wish granted. Brother, Stuart plays off one, father Cecil off five and mother Bridie, 12, making them a formidable golfing family.

Victory came as a surprise. "I'm stunned. I didn't think that I would be anywhere near to winning. I three putted everywhere. There was no excuse, the greens were excellent, like putting on timber floors but so different from Mountrath. It's very tough course and I didn't think that any of the high handicappers would have a chance of winning. I'm delighted and honoured. It was a great day and winning just made it that little bit better."

The par five sixth proved to be Carter's crowing glory as she negotiated the hole in regulation: she suffered only two blanks in the 18 holes. Giblin, playing off a handicap of 10, enjoyed a superb round amassing 10 pars after a slow start. Failing to score at the 10th and 14th cost her ultimate victory on the day but fails to diminish a fine effort.

Over 700 entries were initially received from 134 golf clubs who took part in the qualifying stages of the competition. A prerequisite of 41 points - a staggering 48 was the best qualifying mark - for a semi-final place underlines the quality of the event. The final should be no less keenly contested and promises a fitting denouement to what will become one of the most prestigious golfing tournaments in any lady golfer's season.