Arguably the finest compliment to a course, is praise from a player it has treated rather shabbily. So, the organisers of the £108,000 Smurfit Irish Professional Championship had reason to be pleased with an opening round at The Island yesterday, when Neil Manchip swept into the lead on 67 - four under par.

On his return to the championship after a lapse of three years, Darren Clarke extracted the minimum return from notoriously tricky greens in a largely featureless 70. Yet he said afterwards: "The course is fantastic - a wonderful test. It's in unbelievably good shape and demands a wide range of shot-making."

Indeed The Island looked absolutely delightful when bathed in bright sunshine for most of the day. And even when the wind rose and the skies darkened later in the afternoon, it still retained the classic, bouncy feel which held so much appeal to lovers of links terrain.

Among them was Des Smyth, five times winner of this title. The Drogheda man shot a two under par 69 which, by his own admission, was about as much as he deserved. It contained a disappointing bogey on the 427-yards 17th, where he failed to reach the putting surface with a three-iron second shot and three-putted from off the front.

But this was minor grief compared to the suffering of others. For instance, Portstewart assistant Michael Langford started on the long 10th with a wretched nine and was 12 over par by the time he had completed his opening five holes. Not surprisingly, he later posted a no return.

Against that background, Manchip did wonderfully well in a homeward journey of 31, which included an eagle three at the 15th and a birdie at the next. Playing in the company of Clarke, the Edinburgh-born Manchip maintained admirable composure, which was hardly surprising, given his victories in the PGA Club Championship at Nuremore in July, and in the Irish Assistants' Championship at Kilkeel last week. "I suppose the key was that I didn't miss any putts I should have holed," said the 26-year-old afterwards. As for his esteemed company, he added: "I thought I'd be very nervous playing with Darren, but I was surprised at how quickly I settled down."

For his part, Clarke carded steady figures of two birdies and a lone bogey - at the second, where he three-putted from short of the green. His birdie at the first was the product of a 35-foot putt and the other was at the 11th, where he wedged to eight feet.

"Stunningly average" was how Clarke described it, before adding: "My touch wasn't quite there. I found it difficult to get the pace of the greens." The 1994 champion wasn't alone in that regard, insofar as the greens were slower than expected, because of recent sanding.