ACCORDING to resident professional Bernard Gallacher, it presents a challenge that never palls. "You become aware of the trees and the heather and quite soon a kind of claustrophobia sets in," he said. That is the famous West Curse, where an elite field, including 12 Irishmen, will set off this morning in the £1 million Volvo PGA Championship.

A German namesake, Bernhard Langer, will be defending the title at a venue he has graced with distinction over the years. "I can't really explain my success here, other than the fact that it demands precise iron shots and a particularly strong short game, he said. Never were these talents better exemplified than in 1987 when he had a record aggregate of 270 18 under par.

It is a statistic that has left Padraig Harrington completely baffled, since making acquaintance with the course three days ago. "I can't understand how anyone could produce that sort of scoring on such a difficult course," he said. "It's one of the best I've ever played. In three practice rounds, I haven't managed to break par.

In an intriguing presentation last evening, Langer received a pair of golden golf shoes to celebrate 10 years' association with his sponsors, Adidas. During that time, it is estimated that the German walked more than 15,000 miles in pursuit of 28 titles, including a second US Masters, and $10 million in prize money.

Among the other leading challengers, including Nick Faldo, there was almost palpable relief at the nature of the challenge compared to the bleak expanse of The Oxfordshire, which inflicted so much grief last weekend. "This is totally different a classic course with trees," said the reigning US Masters champion.

Ireland's representation includes Eamonn Darcy and Desk Smyth, both of whom have had a hand on the trophy, only to be denied in sudden death. They are joined by Ronan Rafferty, Philip Walton, David Feherty, Harrington, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Raymond Burns, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Jimmy Heggarty and the lone club professional, Brendan McGovern, who will be using the broom handle putter for the first time.

Walton started something rather special here last year when sparkling form brought him to seven under par, only two strokes short of the winning target, at an early stage of the final round. Though his challenge petered out, the touch held good a week later when he captured the Murphy's English Open after a play off with Colin Montgomerie.

"I'm fine tuning this Rolls Royce," he smiled, during a brief break from practice yesterday under the watchful eye of his coach, Bob Torrance. "This and the (British) Open are the ones to win. I had a chance last year but I didn't finish it off. I've always liked it here, from the time I shot a last round of 65 in 1986."

Last year will also be remembered for the sparkling play of joint runner up Michael Campbell, who holed a seven iron second shot for an eagle two at the 15th on the way to a final round of 67. Since then, the gifted New Zealander has been affected by tendinitis of the left wrist, which caused him to take two months off at the start of this season.

The winds at The Oxfordshire last weekend played havoc with an attempted swing change and led to a wretched 84 in the first round. Now, he is looking to better things as he prepares for the US Open next month, after which he will return to this part of the world for the Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen.

Wentworth is also a source of inspiration for McGinley, who had a memorable debut here in 1992 when he reduced the par five fourth and the short fifth to figures of 3,1. Both efforts were the product of splendid four iron shots, the first of which was drawn to one foot from the pin and the next one faded straight into the cup.

"I've always done well here," he said. "I certainly need something to happen after missing my last three cuts. The problem has been my putting. Instead of 28 to 30 putts per round at the start of the season, I'm now taking 33 to 35."

Feherty, who missed the cut last year, is embarking on a new partnership with Mike Donaghy, the former caddie of Jesper Parnevik. After five years together, the UIsterman parted company last week with Rod Woooler, who had been with him on both sides of the Atlantic, until their relationship grew stale.

Meanwhile, only four days after incurring a two stroke penalty for kicking sand in a bunker at The Oxfordshire, Montgomerie continued to dig holes for himself. This time, the subject was practice, which he claimed "too many players overdo."

He explained "There are a lot of guys out there beating balls until six at night, which will leave them stale. I think they're wasting their time. One of the reasons why I've been successful is that I concentrate on practice only when I have a problem. That way, I have always been relatively fresh."

By way of emphasising the point, the Scot will go into action today having played only seven holes in practice, on Wednesday. "There is nothing I don't know about this course, so I think I'm doing the right thing," he said. And I shall do the same at the British Open in which I will limit myself to one practice round."

Clearly, Montgomerie has yet to learn that there is an inherent danger in making such dogmatic statements. One wonders, for instance, how his good friend and idol, Faldo, would react to such a proposition.

In this context, it was equally interesting to note the application of Clarke, who has been working here for the last two days with Monrtgomerie's caddie, Bill Ferguson. The scene of their activity yesterday afternoon was the putting green where the Ulster man worked painstakingly on achieving the correct alignment.

After the experience of playing with Faldo last week, Harrington has another good draw in the company of current Ryder Cup players Costaintino Rocca and Mark James for the opening two rounds. But the 24 year old Spanish Open champion is clearly anxious to return to some sort of normality.

"I'll be happy to make the cut here," he said. On the West Course, that of itself can be quite an achievement.