Caddie's Role: Weather for Ducks, the Carton Regatta, I do hope that the Monty at Carton is not going to become synonymous with wet, wind and weather for wading.
Given that it really only rained once last week, all week, it is a wonder the Irish Open was concluded before the change of the season. I took a trip to Maynooth last Friday to soak up some of the atmosphere and arrived in the squidgy car park to find low lying motorists being sucked out of the bog that became car park three and that was before the heavy stuff came down.
I do feel sorry for the Mallaghans who hosted last week's event for the second time. How often have we on tour heard the familiar greeting to a rain-swept event "you should have been here last week"? But really we should have, as those of us who were here will vouch. The dark cloud that follows the European Tour hit its target yet again.
The owners were upbeat despite the gloom, four-wheel drive sponsors' cars helped evacuate the players from the wind-swept inland links and the playing cards that the hosts so thoughtfully purchased last Thursday alleviated the boredom of a very unpredictable delay. There were various games being played in the clubhouse ranging from poker to whist. Just how many cups of tea can you drink in a day and Thursday is too early in the week to lose money you have not already earned.
My first thoughts are with the players and caddies, but given the idle time of reflection, those who are most affected by the deluge that ensued are the greens-staff and the tournament organisers. The boot-man in the locker-room got to test the extent of his shoe-shining skills over the weekend, the inland links was reflecting more of the yielding inland terrain than the sandy links soil it tries to emulate. The grounds-staff were on constant call to get the course ready for possible play. Given the depth of the bunkers on the course, draining those in a hurry was going to take a very big bail-out bucket. If the players had the alarm stuck on the 5am wake-up call, the greenkeepers would have considered it a lie in.
The tournament director cannot win for losing. Trying to appease tetchy golfers, expectant sponsors and the golf community in general is an impossible task. With quick turn arounds between the altered tee times, some players were finishing their rounds at morning coffee time but their stomachs were craving lunch. It's hard to cater for everyone's hunger under the circumstances.
I can imagine the requests in the players lounge being a little demanding. The waiting game is always the true test of the professionalism of a golfer. Hanging around is draining, to be able to energise and motivate yourself for intense competition after half a day in a "waiting room" is something that has always impressed me with the focused golfer. It is a distinguishing feature between the good and the average.
The waiting game tends to weigh more heavily on those accustomed to fair-weather golf, they will probably have less tolerance of inclement conditions.
The greens on the Montgomerie at Carton drain very well. However, the ball will spin more on wet greens. So those with a higher spin rate will struggle to keep the ball from spinning off the green. The back pin will always be an added challenge. The high-spin golfer will be forced to play half shots to many pins in order to stop the ball from sucking back away from the hole.
The locker-room attendants will probably have noticed a dearth of the regular supply of freshly laundered bath towels (as dry towels are key to successful caddying in the rain) and an over-supply of snoozing golfers in the most unlikely makeshift locker-room lair. All minor inconveniences in comparison to trying to balance on the tournament tightrope that David Probyn, the tournament director, had to tip toe on. The sponsors want to play 72 holes and get the maximum coverage for their event.
The players would want to get home on Sunday night and take a breather before Wentworth this week. The course being waterlogged by the weekend due to excessive rainfall and nothing to do with drainage presents a further dilemma for the authorities. It's unfair on the players to "play the ball down" or as it lies on the fairways as it is bound to gather a lot of mud as it lands. It's equally unfair on the course owners to have the players seen on TV lifting, cleaning and placing their ammunition on the short grass.
There is no doubt it takes away from the professional image and looks more like winter rules in your Sunday fourball. There are some major compromises going on with rain-hampered events and despite going through the usual procedures for reaching a fair conclusion to the event there will always be one party who has to compromise greatly.
There has never been a major event that has used placing as a way to complete the event due to waterlogging, it's just too great a stigma to bear for a major to be reduced to placing. Each event is a "major" to those who are hosting it so naturally they will push as hard as they can for "playing the ball down". Whoever hosts the Irish Open next year are sure to enjoy the third-time lucky philosophy either that or rename the event to the Irish Kayaking Championship.
