I was introduced to golf when I was five years old. Over the following years, I played many sports but golf was always something I returned to. And starting young, while not essential — Pádraig Harrington was 16 when he picked up a club — is the key to unlocking talent as well as a child’s lifelong passion for the game.

Seeing as not one bookmaking firm has put up prices for the Red Mills Irish Laurels, we will try to sort out the likely ante-post fancies for the classic which commences on Saturday at Curraheen Park.

A CORNER of Kerry is this week remembering one of its own who died after an eventful life in Pakistan which saw her become a tribal elder, member of the national assembly and friend to the powerful.