depart for Venezuela and the Simon Bolivar Amateur Championships.

The two will try and improve on the performance of Henry Ascento and Bill Pitt two years ago.

But DeSilva and Mansell realise that in order to climb above the 23rd placing turned in by their friends that their game has to be sharp, especially with a formidable international field expected to participate.

The Central American tournament will once again attract top players from 28 countries, including the United States, Japan, Argentina, Brazil and Holland.

On the tight, par-70 layout of the Iscaragua Country Club course two years ago, Pitt spearheaded the Bermuda's challenge with rounds of 82, 80, 82 and 74 for a four-day total of 318, good for 39th place out of 56 in the individual standings.

Ascento had rounds of 87, 87, 79 and 80 for a 333 which put him in 49th place.

But he pulled off some heroics in the last round by scoring a hole-in-one, just the second ever ace in the event's 14-year history.

"Neither of us have played down in South America,'' said DeSilva, a four-handicap.

"When we've played abroad, it's mostly been in North America, therefore this is certainly going to be one of our biggest challenges in golf.'' Added Mansell, a two-handicap: "We want to try and shoot respectable golf, if we can keep our scores under 80, which is an attainable goal, we can improve on Bermuda's previous position.'' One concern, though, is that both players have been unable to get in the practice rounds they would have liked as a build-up for Caracas.

But they still are looking forward to the challenge.

"My game is in a fairly decent shape. I tend to be a little inconsistent because I don't get to play as often as I should; even so, I am going there with a positive attitude,'' said DeSilva.

Mansell has been able to do some extensive putting to improve on his short game, but he too would have liked to have had more regular playing rounds.

"Yes, I have been laying off my game a bit, but I have been able to work on my short game and hopefully that will benefit me down there.

"I have been playing quite well when I have played full rounds though. I haven't been getting the ball into trouble too much and I will try to do the same down there.'' An added challenge for DeSilva and Mansell is having to play under the team format with the combined scores counting over the four-day period.

"We have both played in medals, but not a format like this,'' said DeSilva.

"It should be very interesting.''