There aren't many golfers who would consider taking out a lob wedge on the pristine putting surfaces of Co Louth Golf Club and taking a divot to boot but they don't make many like Mark Roe.

There is a refreshing candour to Roe that raises the entertainment quotient in the generally mundane post-round pronouncements. The Sheffield-born player was universally acclaimed for the dignified manner in which he handled his disqualification after the third round of last year's British Open at Royal St Georges, following a scorecard mix-up with playing partner Jesper Parnevik.

Yesterday at Baltray, Roe faced the media in happier circumstances having shot a five-under-par 67 in the opening round of the Nissan Irish Open, offering dissertations on negotiating the steep inclines on greens, Eurodisney and Jurassic Park, K Club style.

The novel lob wedge usage happened on the 10th green, his first. "I hit it in the middle of the green and there is a hump in the way so I got the lob wedge out, chipped it off the green over the hump and stiffed it."

There were few to witness his sacrilegious act given his early start and he chuckled: "I took great care and attention to repair the divot; nice and tidy. I would like to have nipped it clean but I took one (a divot) about the size of a pitch mark."

His round contained seven birdies and a couple of bogeys, in marked contrast to his last visit to Ireland when two rounds in the 80s guaranteed a a missed cut at the Smurfit European Open. There are many things that enchant Roe about the K Club - from the fly fishing to the Palmer or North course - but he is not enamoured by the Smurfit course.

"I got there and couldn't see any way of playing it. I shot 80, 85 and finished last. Look, I love going to the K Club, love the whole week, the fishing the whole ambience, but I was very surprised when you cross the river and find a course that felt like it shouldn't be there. I guess I was even more surprised to find Jurassic Park on the seventh (hole). But you didn't have to queue on that one."

The last remark alluded to time spent with his wife Julia and two children, twins Alexandra and Emily at Eurodisney last week.

Roe returned to his favourite topic, his love of links golf, particularly Portmarnock and now Baltray. "I loved this course the second I saw it. It is a beautiful traditional links course."