Colin Byrne Caddie's roleThere will be days like this, but hopefully not as many as the weatherman is predicting.

There was a wind that would blow a dog off a chain and many limbs off the mature trees on the K Club estate yesterday. Those of us approaching from the north were well protected from flying debris in the secure environment of the Weston Aerodrome. Nobody was allowed on the property early yesterday and those had made it there before this decision was taken had to evacuate soon after.

I have witnessed many tents and hording taking off at the rate of knots in previous tournaments over the years and you do not want to be in their tumbling path.

I was happy to do some safe plane spotting instead. A line of helicopters were wobbling in the gale force westerly that buffeted the airfield.

The small jets beside them looked secure, but the light aircraft beyond looked like airfix models about to lift off in the relentless wind.

When we finally got the all-clear for entry to the course we all shuffled up to the snaking bus queue and listened to a bit of diddly-eye music as we idled though the ticket check line and onto the K Club shuttle buses.

Not being a fan of the mega event and its inconvenience, I couldn't help but marvel at the infrastructure and overwhelming size of this spectacle in little old Ireland.

This thing is bigger than Christmas. Presidents Cups, Masters, US Opens are all massive events where there are makeshift structures like temporary train stations built specially for the event. This was the case in Shinnecock Hills on Long Island a couple of years back. If you went there now there would be no sign of the six carriage long platform that had been erected for the 2004 US Open.

So when we return here for the European Open next year it will be interesting to see if the undergrowth has reclaimed the North Bus Terminal that used to be an over-grown field.

The concern on the golf course, given the amount of rain that has fallen in Kildare in the past few days, is that there will be a lot of mud splattered over the players' golf balls. Motorists too may face a severe case of plugged automobiles in one of the many already-sodden designated parking sites. The golf ball caked with mud is an added variable for both player and caddie to try to come to terms with when making a club decision. There is a general rule, which is hard to rely on 100 per cent, that when there is mud on the left of the ball, it should fly hard to the right. Similarly the lump of mud on the right should steer the ball towards the left.

When the mud is on top of the ball it frequently falls out of the sky a lot quicker than normal.

Sometimes it does none of the above.

Such is the concern of the players that already they are talking about the lift, clean and place policy being enforced for the matches on Friday.

As the Ryder Cup is marketed as the greatest event in golf, it is hard to believe we will see players sticking a peg by their golf ball, picking it up, scraping the rich Kildare soil off it and then propping it up in a preferential lie.

Most tournaments will do everything within their power to avoid that spectacle. I have never been to a major in the past two decades that has had a placing policy in operation. The decision will finally be made by the chief referee, Andy McFee from the European Tour.

He will consult with the two captains. That is the theory. By the sounds of the rumblings from the team members, particularly the most influential ones on both sides, this is the one event where the players' wishes will be granted. It is in no professional's advantage to second guess the careerings of a mud-ball.

The sight of the Ryder Cup being decided by balls nose-diving into the river Liffey like wounded ducks because of mud does not seem at all appropriate.

The spectators would not want such a capricious way of deciding the event any more than they would want to watch a tractor extracting their car from a quagmire of a parking lot.