Golf was far from Joe King's mind when he headed with his wife Monica for a week's holiday in Portugal last November. He was paralysed from the knees down and had been saved from life as a quadraplegic only 14 months earlier by the skills of a neurosurgeon.
Monica had packed her own clubs and with the unquenchable optimism of a loving wife, decided to throw a few of Joe's into her bag. So it was that on the fairways of San Lorenzo, he made an extremely faltering comeback to the game, slashing quickly at the ball before he overbalanced.
Yesterday, Joe was informed by Portmarnock honorary secretary, Moss Buckley, that his handicap had been cut from 18 to 15. In a way, it was no more than he expected. After all, he had fulfilled the ambition of a lifetime last Sunday by winning the club's Gold Medal matchplay tournament.
The return to golf by this extraordinary man is a story of amazing determination, ingenuity and raw courage. It is the story of a man who had been a three-handicap left-hander for 20 years and was still a formidable competitor off five when disaster struck him at Easter, 1995.
"I developed back problems in January of that year and was confined to bed for six weeks on medical advice," he recalled. "Then, on Easter Saturday, a disc burst inwards, squashing the spinal cord. I was totally paralysed from the waist down. It seemed inconceivable that something like that could happen without having a serious accident, like falling off a roof."
After being moved from Beaumont Hospital to the National Rehabilitation facility in Dun Laoghaire, disaster struck again, in September 1995. This time, he was at home for a weekend when he had a bad fall and broke a vertebra in his neck. His left arm was paralysed.
"Fortunately, through the skill and quick action of the surgeon, I was saved from being a quadraplegic," he said. "The operation was a complete success and I soon embarked on a full programme of remedial exercises, including weight training. Gradually, 50 per cent of the feeling between my waist and my knees was restored, but there was no feeling from my knees down."
Though informed that nobody with his disability had been known to return to golf, King was undeterred, even to the point of putting his name among 200 entrants in the Gold Medal in January. "The breakthrough was my discovery that a German, similarly afflicted, had gone back to skiing," he said. "Having done a bit of skiing myself, I suddenly realised that the support of the ski-boots was crucial."
Prior to that, King was devastated by the realisation that at his beloved Portmarnock, he couldn't reach the fairways from the tee at six holes - the second, fourth, fifth, eighth, 10th and 11th. The fact that older members of the club were also unable to do so was no consolation.
"Balance was the problem," he explained. "Once I got out of the buggy, the only way I could remain upright for more than a few seconds, was by leaning on a club. It was like trying to hit shots while standing on a surfboard. Then it came to me that supports for my legs from the knee down could be the answer."
They could indeed. With the help of Paddy Brock from the Rehabilitation Centre, removable casts for King's legs from the knees down were constructed from fibreglass and graphite. He had found the answer. He could swing and still retain his balance.
So, with a handicap of 24 he returned to competitive golf. By the end of February he was down to 20. And while making steady progress through eight rounds of the Gold Medal, he had 39 points in the Captain's Prize, losing the chance of victory by an inability to maintain balance on the uneven surface of an 18th hole bunker.
But his reward came last Sunday with a 3 and 2 win over Tom McAleese. "Now, I realise that golf can be enjoyed at any level," said the 58-year-old retired dentist, who won the 1983 Milltown Mixed Foursomes with Ita Butler. "If I didn't have it as a goal, I'd still be in a wheelchair."
By way of reminding Jack Nicklaus of opening rounds of 69 and 66 in the British Open last year, David Begg, the press officer at Royal Troon, suggested to the great man: "You had a bit of fun over the first two days at Lytham." To which Nicklaus replied: "You don't have fun over two days of a golf tournament. You have fun over four days."
On her way to a 68 for a share of the first round lead in the US Women's Open earlier this month, Susie Redman had a hole-in-one at the short 15th at Pumpkin Ridge. And she and her caddie suddenly realised they were in for a handsome little bonus.
As it happens, the caddies on the LPGA Tour run a hole-inone pool for a daily entry fee of $2. And since nobody had won the pool since the Nabisco Dinah Shore in March, the pot had grown to more than $1,700.
All of which went to Redman's caddie. Who happened to be her husband Bo. So, with the player's reward of $3,411 for a share of 56th place behind Alison Nicholas, husband and wife netted more than $5,100 between them. Which causes me to wonder how the caddie's percentage worked out.
While watching the British Open on television last weekend, former amateur colleagues had contrasting memories of tussles with Darren Clarke. For instance, there was the de- served pride with which Niall Goulding could recall a 3 and 2 semi-final win over Clarke in the Irish Close Championship of 1989.
Then there was the rather different experience of another international, Mick Morris. It happened in the 1987 Close at Tramore, where Morris had encouragement from an unlikely source before a third-round match against Clarke. " `Don't worry Mick', Arthur Pierse assured me," said Morris. " `This fella's a flash in the pan - you'll take him handy.' "
Morris went on: "When Arthur saw Darren birdie the first two holes, he was a little less enthusiastic. `He seems to be on it today, Mick'," he said. As it turned out, Darren birdied the first six holes and the ninth to be six up at the turn.
"And when he almost drove the green at the 12th (350 yards) it was all over. In fact I shook hands with him on the tee: 7 and 6. He had just given me one of the biggest hidings of my career." Morris concluded with a grin: "But I know my friend Arthur meant well."
Johnny Miller, who was 50 on May 29th, is currently making his US Seniors' debut in the Franklin Quest Championship in Utah. But there's an unfortunate clash. His youngest son, Todd, happens to be challenging in the US Junior Amateur near Philadelphia.
"It's going to hurt not being there, because I love Todd and the US Junior owns a big piece of my heart," said Miller this week. His feelings about the championship are hardly surprising, given that he won it as a 17-year-old in 1964.
Though many golf clubs have passed through Miller's hands since then, he still has the MacGregor driver he used that week. "I also have my old Tommy Armour irons and my Bulls Eye putter," he said. "And I think my dad still has the shoes I wore."
Miller concluded: "All in all, I wouldn't mind being in Philadelphia. You can bet I'll be wearing out the phone lines, trying to reach Todd to see how he's doing."
A Hollywood production company has taken out an option on the rights to Tiger, the biography of Tiger Woods by John Strege. The plan is to turn it into a movie for the US cable TV channel, Showtime.
This day in golf history: On July 26th 1947, Bobby Locke was emphasising his dominance of US golf in the $10,000 Columbus Open. With a seventh victory in 12 tournaments since arriving in the US on April 1st, the top cheque of $2,000 made him the season's leading money winner with $20,537.50. While in South Africa the previous year, Sam Snead had encouraged Locke to try his luck in the US. Later, the other American professionals were wishing he had kept his mouth shut.
Teaser: In a match, A played his second shot towards the green but he could not find his ball. He conceded the hole to B, whose second shot was on the green. The following players then found A's ball in the hole. What is the ruling?
Answer: Since a player may not concede a hole after conclusion of the hole (Rule 2-4), A holed out in two strokes and won the hole if he made a claim before B played from the next teeing ground (Rule 2-5). If A did not do so, he lost the hole.
