and Zane DeSilva are aiming to once again represent the Island in the 1999 Simon Bolivar golf tournament.

When the duo left for South America just over a week ago their aim was to improve on Bermuda's previous best efforts in the event -- and they feel that they accomplished their goal.

While their 25th placing put them two positions behind Henry Ascento and Bill Pitt in the previous appearance by a local team, Mansell and DeSilva had a final total score of 614 -- far better than Ascento and Pitt's 654. Mansell, who led Bermuda's charge this time by placing 42nd in the field of 66 players, and DeSilva (57th overall) are both determined to make a return appearance.

"I would love to give it another shot,'' said the two-handicapper Mansell.

"I wouldn't mind giving it a try again.'' Battling food poisoning from the outset, Mansell finished with rounds of 72, 76, 77 and 76. DeSilva was the one experiencing early jitters with rounds of 85, 81, 74 and 73 on the par 71 Legunita Country Club course.

"I certainly will be aiming to make the team in two years time. I wish I was a little more consistent down there. The course was challenging, it wasn't nearly as tight as I thought but it was fairly long and the greens were tough to putt on,'' said DeSilva.

The pair also had to make another big adjustment: Being competitive at an international level for some time.

Actually it was a bigger burden on the four-handicapper DeSilva, who was making his debut internationally and not knowing what sort of pressure to expect.

"Playing in front of a few hundred people the first two days was really something new to me, and then the crowd increased to a thousand during the last two rounds which was quite an experience for me,'' said DeSilva. Mansell added: "Zane was a little shaky starting off, but on the last two days he shot well as he got used to the greens and the surroundings.'' "But in this tournament you need to shoot in the low 70s for the whole four days in order to do well. The first day I shot a 72 and was in 17th place, so you can see there were a lot of good players down there.'' The players had no qualms with the weather conditions, saying it was cool in the mornings and early evenings but very hot during the days.