The golfing excitement wasn't all confined to Valderrama last weekend. The Kilkenny Women's Scratch Cup provided its own drama before local member Eileen Rose Power took the honours to the delight of her club colleagues.

A lost ball at the second hole in the final round had threatened to ruin Power's day. But she battled magnificently to defy the windy conditions and finish with a level par back nine. This was a tremendous achievement as most of the back nine was directly into the strong wind. Her 36-hole aggregate of 150 was just one shot better than Belvoir Park's Brona McCann.

The difficult conditions were reflected in the high scoring, with just one player, McCann, beating the par of 73. The Ulster woman recovered brilliantly after a disappointing opening round of 79.

The first round leader, Elaine Dowdall (Wexford) struggled, however, to a five over par 78 for the second 18 and finished third, two shots behind the winner.

There were encouraging performances from some of Leinster's younger players. Tullamore's Una Marsden won the nett prize for the best second round of 74, while Beaverstown's Martina Gillen took the best gross prize with an 81.

Galway had a fine victory in the JB Carr Diamond Trophy at Woodenbridge. They beat Waterford by 4 1/2 to 1/2 in the final. Royal Tara beat Moyola Park 3-2 to finish in third place.

The best local professional golfers will be in action in Enniscrone on Thursday and Friday for the £12,000 Tower Hotel Group Challenge tournament. Included in the 110-strong field are the leading players in this year's Order of Merit, Paul Russell (Royal Belfast) and Leslie Walker (Foxrock). Russell is in form and finished second to Stephen Hamill in last weekend's pro-am at Shannon. Two of Ireland's best known seniors, Liam Higgins (Waterville) and David Jones (unattached) are also among the entries.

Irish ace, Valerie Hassett opens her defence of the women's British senior amateur open championship over the delightful Frilford Heath Course in Oxford this morning. The highly experienced Hassett won the title in dramatic fashion in Wales last year when she came from several strokes back to grab a sensational success by one shot from Angela Uzielli.

And this week Hassett, who plays off a handicap of one out of the Ennis club, will be among the favourites.