THE British Masters got off to an inauspicious start at Collingtree Park yesterday where some of the poorest greens ever seen on the European Tour failed to withstand three short rainstorms, and the first day's play was abandoned with only half the field completing 18 holes.

This is the 30th event of the 1996 schedule and the 15th that has been badly affected by weather. Last Sunday's final round of the Volvo German Open had to be abandoned because of thunderstorms, and if there are many more in the English Midlands before the weekend it is doubtful whether the first event of the Ryder Cup qualifying series will run its full course.

Weather permitting, the first round will be completed this morning, and the second round will commence immediately afterwards. Last night so many greens were unplayable that tournament director, Michael Stewart, decided to suspend mopping up until most of the surface water had drained away.

In any case the putting surfaces are so poor that they would be unlikely to stand up to extensive work by greenstaff. By mid afternoon yesterday after a second stoppage for lightning, then rain, they were spiking up badly and had slowed considerable in pace from the morning when South African Gavin Levenson scored 66 to take a two stroke lead over Colin Montgomerie.

Padraig Harrington opened his Ryder Cup account with a solid 72 while Des Smyth and Eamonn Darcy both shot 74 before the rains came. The rest of the Irish contingent played stop start golf, going out to complete a few holes then being shuttled back to the safety of the clubhouse in a fleet of courtesy cars.

Paul McGinley was two under par with two holes to play at the abandonment, while Philip Walton was three under after 12 holes. Darren Clarke was level par alter 13 and Ronan Rafferty one over at the same stage.

Walton coped best with the greens, holing four from around 20 feet in the first 10 holes. He had birdie threes at the third and sixth, dropped a stroke when he missed the short eighth, but got it back immediately with another long range effort to birdie the ninth.

At that point he was halted for an hour, but on resuming struck again by holing with his long putter from just off the 10th green. Two holes later he was heading back to the clubhouse once a gain, and ordered to resume at breakfast time this morning.

Feherty also enjoyed a measure of putting success, getting down from 30 feet at the short eighth, but he promptly three putted the ninth for a par five, and that meant an outward 39.

He had run up an eight at the long fourth, when he hit his second shot out of bounds, and then failed to make much headway with his next, because of a piece of wood chipping behind his ball.

Clarke holed from 15 feet for a birdie four at the fourth, and got down from six feet for a two at the eighth, but he then drove into the water hazard to lose a stroke at the ninth, and three putts on the 10th green brought him back to par for his round.

McGinley played much steadier golf in company with defending champion Sam Torrance and New Zealander Michael Campbell who was runner up last year. The Dubliner had three birdies in an error free outward 33, but then also fell victim to the 10th green before settling back to a run of six successive pars.

Raymond Burns and Francis Howley both started at the 10th and laboured out in 41, but Burns in particular struck back after the turn. He got on the fourth in two big shots for a birdie, then holed from eight feet at the sixth to get back to only three over before he was stopped by the rain.

David Higgins played the outward half from the 10th in 33, marking four birdies on his card. But after starting back with three pars, the Waterville youngster was in two bunkers to bogey the fourth, and took a double bogey at the short fifth where he failed to hit the green, and then three putted it.

Levenson, now 42, is very much a part time tourist these days for he is working with fellow South African Justin Hobday on helping the development of golf at home. He was fifth reserve for this tournament at the start of the week, not having played in one since the French Open. But he proved the sharpest of all around the greens, especially with his sand and pitching wedges.

Although he holed three putts of 20 feet, two of them for birdies, and one for par, he failed to hit the target 11 times. His total of 22 putts spoke volumes for the recovery work that created eight birdies.

Montgomerie admitted it was difficult to concentrate because of his concern over the health of his father James who is recuperating in a Glasgow Hospital after his heart attack last week. "My mind was not always on what I was doing," he said, "but it was nice to get back into things in Europe."