Caddie's Role:There is something strange about being connected to the world of professional golf and finding yourself back home for some down time during the week of the national Open and feeling so disconnected from it.
As with most people working for a long time in the same business, the chances are that you do not want to go to the office when it is closed. I had been asked by numerous players in the past month about Adare Manor. I had only ever driven through the town of Adare and I recall having seen a photograph of the manor and one of the finishing holes on the course. I had to respond that I just about knew where it was, I had no suggestions apart from the obvious about where to stay and couldn't comment on the course because I knew nothing about it.
I was slowly sucked into the Open by turning on the radio, television and opening the newspapers. There seemed to be some disappointment that the Irish Open was in danger of having a field full of unrecognisable names and so devoid of top world-ranking players that it might appear more like a second-rate challenge event.
The arguments ensued about the date that had been made available to the event. Squeezed in between The Players in Florida and the PGA Championship in Wentworth this week what hope did it have? There is some relevance to the date not being so suitable but there is always a way of luring most players; tell them you really, really want them to play and how much you are prepared to entice them to come and enhance your event. In a way this is what Tom Kane did at Adare. When I was at The Players I heard the rumour that 1 million was on offer for the winner of both the Irish Open and the PGA. I saw some surrounding players' ears prick up for about five seconds and then they went back to bashing balls; interesting but no guarantee.
I had heard Padraig (Harrington) telling inquisitive players about the course. He said it was a very good test and that he remembered it being a good one from the time the J P McManus pro-am was held there a few years ago. He was doing his best to promote the event, but with the intensity of the modern golfers' schedule the €1 million lure came a bit late. Perhaps the Irish Open should consider a date in October.
This is not as crazy as it might at first sound. The weather, despite the beautiful spring that we have enjoyed this year, is still never guaranteed at any time of the year here. So there is as much chance of a decent week's weather in October as in May. Some players are still trying to erase the memories of the climatically ill-fated Irish Open at Carton House last year.
The advantage of a late date in the year is two-fold: there is always a macabre interest in struggling players' individual quests for survival and securing some sort of playing rights for the following year. At the upper end of the money list those chasing pole position in the Order Of Merit can make lesser events a priority in an effort to sneak some order of merit points.
Adare enjoyed tropical weather compared to the windswept deluge at Carton House last year. I was enjoying the media coverage from a distance and Des Cahill's evening sports slot on the radio was like a diary of his Wednesday at the pro-am. It was interesting for me to hear an amateur competitor's impression of the weekly public relations chore that those on the other side endure most weeks.
Despite the rainfall he got to meet a "spaceman" (a retired astronaut), a blind golfer, the charming Nick Dougherty and his affable caddie, play golf and attend the pre- and post-golf functions. It actually sounded quite enjoyable.
Sometimes it's good to look at what you do from an outsider's perspective.
I was in Galicia, Spain last weekend to celebrate the wedding of Sergio Garcia's manager. We were around in his apartment on Saturday afternoon keeping him company in his final hours as a single man. His lounge was filled with caddies and managers. Someone switched the TV on and flicked through to the golf from Adare. It was a wild scene of viciously swaying trees, flag sticks flexed to their limit, crowds huddled together like penguins and the austere manor looming in the background with its grey facade throwing another cold blanket on the already unwelcoming scene.
The American managers kept on asking 'who is that guy, I never heard of him?' when the cameras cut to another obscure European golfer. Golf managers are a Blackberry-bedecked bunch, so when they relayed scores from the US event in Atlanta the names listed were almost as unknown. Coincidentally it must be one of those weeks in world golf when the superstars lay low.
The Irish Open has been finally rewarded for its persistence under the strain of trying to keep competitive in a tightly packed tournament schedule with a world class home winner in Padraig.
If you will believe it, the weather in the north west of Spain was even worse than in Co Limerick in the west of Ireland last weekend.
