Though he could hardly be considered entirely impartial, European Club commander-in-chief Pat Ruddy makes a very fair point about the contributions by golf clubs to fund-raising for charity. Indeed his case is made for him by the publication Lifeboats Ireland 2001, which informs us that our golfers contributed £79,469 to the cause of safety at sea, this year.

This figure happens to be in excess of 25 per cent more than the £60,962 which was raised for the Lifeboats by the country's sailing, boat and yacht clubs combined. Not surprisingly, seaside courses dominate the golfing list, which is headed by: European Club (£5,385), Royal Portrush (£4,597), Seapoint (£4,335), Old Head (£4,260), Ballinspittle (£4,088) and Youghal (£4,000).

In all, 15 golf events raised a minimum of £2,000 each, compared with 10 sailing clubs, headed by Sail 2000 who, it must be acknowledged, raised the top sum of £9,475.