COURSE FOCUS: Mount Juliet John O'Sullivan visits the Kilkenny course which will stage the World Championship next week.

When Dr Tim Mahony first glimpsed the Mount Juliet estate he was captivated by its splendour. So much so that after approaching Jack Nicklaus to design a golf course, the Irishman made what was at the time a silent promise: if the Golden Bear wasn't as enthralled by the raw material, Mahony wouldn't ask him to design the course.

Nicklaus was impressed and remarked: "This is as fine a piece of property as I have ever worked with". He would visit the site on 13 occasions when at the time four or five was a standard input from any course designer.

Mahony expressed one further stipulation. He told the great American that while he wished him to create a championship course, he must also produce a lay-out, that he, Mahony, who played off a modest handicap, would enjoy rather than endure.

Nicklaus, happy to acquiesce, has certainly fulfilled the original remit.

The quality of Mount Juliet has long been recognised, manifest in the staging of three Irish Opens and the Shell Wonderful World of Golf event, but in terms of world recognition it enters a different stratosphere when hosting the American Express World Championship next week. The presence of Tiger Woods, participating in his first competitive tournament in Ireland, and pretty much the top 64 players in world golf, underline the latent prestige.

The preparation of the property is well advanced, a work in progress that began over two years ago when Mount Juliet was awarded the tournament. Kate McCann, director of marketing for Mount Juliet and Fota Island, has recently returned to the company after a two year sabbatical. For the previous 10 years she was an integral part of the Kilkenny venue.

She catalogued the changes, most notably the reseeding and resurfacing of all 18 greens under the supervision of greens superintendent Aidan O'Hara. "The work on the greens started in September 2000. What had happened over the years is that the top dressing programme that is required to maintain the greens - twice a year in April and September - actually levels out the greens, flattening them over a period of time.

"The 11th green would be a classic example. When the course opened initially, the 11th green had a very pronounced three tiers to it. By the time it came to change the greens in 2000 it had become one gradual slope. It was decided then to go back to the original blueprint, check the specifications and redo the greens to exactly those parameters.

"The way that Jack Nicklaus designed his greens was that he had several landing areas: within five feet of a pin position should be a reasonably flat putt but within 10 feet you won't have one. You won't have ridiculous pin positions on the side of slopes. Nicklaus was consulted regularly during the development of the new putting surfaces and he took a big interest. Jeff Howes, who originally worked on Nicklaus's design team, oversaw the work on the new greens."

O'Hara boasts a simple ambition for next week's tournament. "I want Tiger Woods, and the other top players in the world, to be walking out of here thinking these are the best putting surfaces they have ever played on."

The grass that adorns the putting surfaces at Mount Juliet is Creeping Bent Penn A4, a genetically enhanced strain of the original grass. One of its benefits is it achieves double the plant density; in layman's language it guarantees the new greens can be mown appreciably tighter. O'Hara has been asked to have the greens running at 11.5 on the Stimpmeter; he maintains that it wouldn't be a problem to have them at 14 or more.

There have been other changes to the course, mostly subtle a bunker on the 16th, narrowing a handful of fairways. They have also introduced several new back tees. At face value it would appear just another knee-jerk reaction to the arrival of Woods, trying to Tiger-proof the environment. In reality, the perspective is completely different.

The course has been lengthened by 168 yards to 7,280 yards but the tweaking is not about extra distance. Rather it is trying to change the perspective of a hole. A classic example is the 17th hole. The new tee from which the players will hit is only about 10 to 15 yards further back but crucially it has been moved to the left thereby bringing the huge tree to the left of the fairway into play; likewise the lake that borders the fairway on that side.

McCann asserts: "There really aren't huge changes to the lay-out in terms of the new tees - the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th and 18th will have new tees for the tournament. It hasn't added a massive distance in terms of yardage. Golfers are going to be asked to either shape the ball a little more or exercise prudence. I think the biggest difference will be the greens.

"The central reason for changing the greens was the fact that we were going to host the World Championship event at Mount Juliet. It had been mooted before that we were going to have to do it at some stage but not this quickly."

"The course is set up to the specification of the joint tour organising committee - the director for the tournament in Mount Juliet is Peter Adams. They specified that the rough must be six inches deep. There is consultation on everything."

The rough is exactly that, deep and cloying, and, if there's rain, extremely punitive for the errant golfer.

IT'S 7.20 a.m. on a Thursday morning and the roadway from the clubhouse to the first tee is deserted. The trappings of the event are easily discernible from the temporary stands - they stand sentry over first tee, ninth green, 10th tee, 16th green, 17th green, 18th tee and 18th green - to the corporate marquees.

Corporate hospitality has been completely sold out for some time, vouchsafing the assertion that this is probably the biggest sporting event to grace Irish shores this year. More than 800 people per day will be wined and dined at a cost of approximately €510 per head: this doesn't include another 200 who will be guests of the sponsors.

The organising committee has intimated a daily crowd limit of 25,000 people will be imposed, although the venue easily accommodated over 30,000 during the Irish Open. The ease with which the estate assimilates all the attendant demands is evident from housing all bar four of the 64-man field on site to public car-parking, exemplary practice facilities and a huge tented village.

Some of the players will enjoy the luxury of Mount Juliet House (32 rooms) - Tiger Woods has earmarked his lodgings - while others will enjoy the salubrious surroundings of the Rose Garden Lodges (10 two-bedroomed apartments) and the Hunter's Yard. Some players have rented houses that overlook the fairways. While the Irish public salivate over the prospect of getting near Tiger and his pals, the tournament marks a benchmark for Mount Juliet. They boast a huge American clientele, and have done since the radio show Good Morning America was broadcast from Mount Juliet House when it opened in 1989.

For a club that derives 25 per cent plus of its annual green fee traffic from the USA, the exposure received over the duration of the tournament is a huge incentive to have the facilities gleaming.

McCann admitted: "The biggest thing for us personally is the television coverage. The American network, ABC is covering the tournament live for two hours on each of the first two days and then four hours over the weekend. Out of that there will be a one-hour summary package that you will see on airlines and other places like that.

"It represents a ratification, if we did need it, that we are on the world stage. The Irish Open puts you up at a certain level but this tournament is top echelon; world golf's stars are coming to Thomastown. Look at what Tom Watson did for Ballybunion. He went there and loved it and it became a huge player in the American market as a result of his patronage.

"Rosses Point is a great golf course but outside Ireland very few know of its quality. It is not the most accessible but if someone like Tiger Woods went and said they loved it, bingo. There is no way of quantifying from a financial perspective, the immediate benefits of the event to Mount Juliet. It's more a long-term thing. It's not to make business better for next year but to improve it ad infinitum."

Would Mount Juliet like a second bite?

"One year is all that is agreed. They haven't announced where it is going in the future. I think, without any hidden agenda and from my experience, it is always so much easier second time round and you get double the exposure. There are so many other partners in this that you'd have to see what they want and whether the event was a success. So far it has gone extremely well."

The course closed yesterday and by next Monday when the first of the players arrive into Thomastown it will be ready. The financial boom for the area can be gleaned from the fact Abbey House, a local guesthouse run by Helen Blanchfield, receives 10 phone calls a day enquiring about accommodation.

Everything appears set for a sporting extravaganza, most of all Mount Juliet itself.