A strong south-westerly brushed the Castlerock links yesterday and got parkland players thinking of old-time skills.

Philip Walton adapted better than most, to birdie the last three holes and lead the opening round of the £110,000 Smurfit Irish Professional Championship with a two-under-par 71.

In these circumstances, it seemed highly appropriate that 61-year-old Hugh Jackson should have carded an admirable 73, while working the ball around these ancient dunes.

And playing partner Jimmy Kinsella gained the distinction at 62 of being the only player in the field to birdie the 200-yard short fourth, the notorious Leg o'Mutton.

"Though the wind was blowing hard from right to left, I hit a four-iron high and straight at the pin," said the Skerries professional. "Then I rolled in a 35-footer."

Jackson won this title at Massereene 31 years ago. "It's bloody marvellous - and I missed a couple of three-footers."

Walton leads by a stroke from Paul Russell and Michael Allen. Then a group on level-par includes defending champion Paul McGinley and five-time winner of the title, Des Smyth. And none of them felt they had been cheated.

"Get on the wrong side of this course and you could do well to break 80," said the Malahide man who captured this title at Belvoir Park in 1995, when it was last played in Northern Ireland. "Of course, it would be a great confidence-booster to win again, but Mr McGinley will be tough to beat."

A miserable start pushed Walton to three-over-par after only four holes and he reached the turn in a dispiriting 39. From there, however, he proceeded to reduce the longer homeward journey to a sparkling, best-of-the-day 32.

Birdies at the 10th and long 11th were followed by four solid pars. He then sank a six-footer to birdie the short 16th; was on the green at the long 17th with a five-iron second shot and went on to sink a 15-footer for another birdie at the last.

But even a player of Smyth's wide experience found the adjustment difficult in relentless crosswinds. "The conditions had me struggling on the back foot all day," he admitted after chipping and putting for birdies at the long 15th and 17th.

"I haven't played links golf for a while and it doesn't come any more traditional than this."

At it happened, the leading players, who set off in the hour before lunch, got the best of the conditions. Earlier, the wind was especially fierce when Philip Farrell of Ardglass carded 10 on the long 15th, en route to a 79. Tony Mulholland of Killymoon suffered the indignity of running up an eight at the short fourth, with the out-of-bounds railway to the right and a lateral water-hazard left.

"Nothing would surprise me," admitted McGinley, who endured his own grief with a double-bogey seven at the 15th. A drive into rough down the right, initiated a struggle which culminated in his taking four to get down from wide of the green.

Then came three putts from the back of the short 16th, which meant that the hot favourite had gone from one under to two over without doing anything drastically wrong. But he recovered from the jolt to be on the long 17th with a three-iron second shot for a welcome birdie, and he also birdied the last by holing a 25-footer.

"It will take me a day or two to adjust to the challenge, especially the crosswind," he said afterwards. Then he added: "We're not going to experience these conditions in normal European Tour events, but golf shouldn't be one-dimensional. The skill is in making the adjustment."

With a modest, overall length of 6,713 yards, Castlerock is not supposed to stretch the capabilities of big-hitting, modern players. But the wind cannot read.