There they were, those newspaper fellas up in Dublin, making headlines out of run-of-the-mill golfing stories. The Dunfanaghy official had to conclude that they must never have heard of Jimmy Brogan. God forgive their ignorance of a player, known the length and breadth of Donegal as the biggest wee man in the game.

In exasperation, Bernard O'Hanlon, the club's press officer, decided to put pen to paper. And by way of anticipating my scepticism, he suggested I confirm the details with GUI official Mick McGinley, category-one player, father of Paul and past captain of Dunfanaghy.

So it was that I came upon a truly remarkable golfer. Among other things, McGinley described Brogan as unquestionably the best player not to have competed in an important championship. "He's an incredibly modest man," said McGinley. "I twice entered him for the West of Ireland, but he was too shy to play."

As a three-handicapper, Brogan came from nine strokes behind to win last year's captain's prize at Dunfanaghy over the additional nine play-off holes. Incredibly, it was his sixth time to win the Dunfanaghy captain's prize and in most cases he was playing off two.

With membership of more than one club available for a relatively modest outlay in north Donegal, he won captain's prizes at Rosapenna and at Cloughaneely, for good measure. And by way of variety, Brogan also captured the president's prize at Portsalon, presented by the late Neil Blaney.

At five-foot-nothing, he lends telling emphasis to the concept of a pocket battleship. "I can't imagine any player of comparable built being such a powerful hitter," said McGinley. "What Jimmy lacks in height, he compensates for with wonderfully powerful arms, a product from his years working for the County Council."

As it happened, both men started out together as caddies in the Dunfanaghy area. And later on, Brogan became a significant influence on the golfing development of Paul McGinley, during the player's teenage years. Indeed they were partners in inter-county league matches.

Mick McGinley recalls occasions when, as a worker on Donegal's roads, Brogan would hide behind the hedges in case anyone saw him. "His fear was that people would start talking golf and he'd end up getting into trouble with the ganger," he said.

Now in his early sixties, Brogan remains a formidable competitor. Indeed the feeling around Dunfanaghy is that there may be further captains' prizes to be won. But, typically, he's too shy to make any predictions.

"If Nick called and asked me to put him right, I would do it. It would not be out of friendship, because that has ended. But I don't believe in bearing grudges."

David Leadbetter offering a helping hand to his erstwhile star pupil, Nick Faldo.

During a recent US Seniors tournament at Tampa Bay, Florida, Gary Player was guilty of putting both feet in it, in a manner of speaking. Using a locker next to Arnold Palmer's, he mistakenly put on his long-time rival's street shoes and walked off the grounds in them.

Now, even people of Palmer's wealth can wear only one pair of shoes at a time. So, in the absence of a back-up pair, he set a new altitude record for softspikes by flying his jet to Orlando that night in his golf shoes and then driving home to Bay Hill.

Remarkably, Player was still unaware of his foot-foul the following morning, despite Palmer's shoes being two sizes too big for him. But lockerroom personnel informed him of Palmer's plight and, sure enough, when the shoes were removed, there's was Arnie's name on the inside.

"I guess I did take them," was the nonchalant comment from the so-called Black Knight. To which Palmer remarked with a grin: "He's been trying to get in my shoes for 35 years . . . and he still can't fill them."

Much has changed for Brian Barnes since that August weekend in 1983, when he had a pre-round intake of six pints of Guinness "to calm my nerves", on the way to finishing runner-up to Seve Ballesteros in the Irish Open. Sober living has led to considerable success on the Seniors Tour in the US, where he has also developed a love of the open road.

At a cost of $150,000, Barnes has traded the nightmares of airline travel for a 38-foot motor home in which he now travels to US tournaments. "I mentioned it to my manager at the beginning of 1997 but like an idiot, I didn't to it until this year," said the Anglo-Scot.

Now, he travels with his caddie and fellow Briton, Phil Ramm, who loads the so-called RV with a full wardrobe as well as golf gear. And to further simplify life, Barnes keeps a set of clothing and identical clubs in England. "Whenever I go home, I just grab my briefcase, hop on a plane and Phil meets me with the RV at the next tour stop," Barnes explained.

The RV can sleep six and has sliding doors dividing the driving/living area in the front from the bedroom at the rear and the bathroom in the middle. "Phil and me both snore at night, but with the sliding doors we can't hear anything and we get a good night's sleep," said Barnes. "It's perfect."

He concluded: "For a while, I hated flying after a bad experience in New Zealand in 1982. Then there was the bother of late flights, missed connections and hanging around the carousel waiting for the bloody baggage which sometimes didn't even come out."

Which makes a lot more sense than what Barnes was saying at Royal Dublin, 16 years ago.

Jack Nicklaus made his first public appearance yesterday since hip-replacement surgery in Boston on January 27th. The recovering Bear threw the first pitch to open the Grapefruit Baseball League season in Jupiter, Florida. Meanwhile, he continues a rehabilitation programme at his North Palm Beach home with a view to a tournament comeback in the Memorial, in early June. But he is expected to attend the champions' dinner during US Masters week at Augusta on April 6th.

Philip Walton has written a congratulatory letter to Jeff Maggert, $1 million winner of the Andersen Consulting Matchplay at La Costa last weekend. Which was only natural, considering they had adjoining rooms as students at Oklahoma State University, 16 years ago.

"I've asked him for a loan of a few bob," said Walton with a grin. Then he added: "I was really delighted for Jeff. He's a very honest guy and we had some really great nights out together, especially on one particular trip to his home town, Houston, when we played in the Blue Bonnet tournament."

Walton was a year at Oklahoma when Maggert arrived in the autumn of 1982. Interestingly, the American wasn't considered good enough that season to make the college team in which Walton was a key member. "Since then, I've made a point of meeting him every year at the British Open," said the Malahide man. "The win at La Costa couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."

This Day In Golf History . . . On March 6th 1457, the Scottish parliament of James II decreed that "Futeball and Golfe be utterly cryed downe and not used." At a time when golf's growing popularity was interfering with archery training, it was seen as a necessary response to protect the security of the realm.

Further efforts to limit golfing activities over the following century were apparently to no avail. Edinburgh's town council even banned the game on Sundays and transgressors were obliged to confess their illegal golfing behaviour to church congregations.

Fortunately for the development of the game, however, these statutes became obsolete when the invention of gunpowder and firearms marked the demise of the bow. And the volte face was accorded the royal imprimatur when King James VI appointed a clubmaker in 1603 and a ball-maker in 1618.

Teaser: After an approach shot, a player's ball is overhanging the hole. The player walks up to the hole without unreasonable delay and notices that there is mud on the ball. The player marks the position of the ball and lifts it. He then cleans the ball and replaces it. The ball remains on the lip of the hole for about five seconds and then, as the player is preparing to tap it into the hole, the ball falls into the hole. What is the ruling?

Answer: Under Rule 16-2, if a ball falls into the hole after it is deemed to be at rest, the player is deemed to have holed out with his last stroke and he shall add a penalty stroke to his score for the hole. In this case, when the player marked the position of the ball, it must have been at rest. The ball must be considered to have been at rest when it was replaced; otherwise it would have to be replaced again (Rule 20-3d). Accordingly, the player is deemed to have holed out with his last stroke and must add a penalty stroke to his score for the hole.