When the wind blows

There is no possibility that Bernhard Langer’s winning total of 19 under in 1987 will be equalled at Portmarnock this week,insists Charlie Mulqueen.

IT'S been 13 long years since Portmarnock Golf Club last hosted the Irish Open. The championship's once-spiritual home had slipped into the background where big time golf is concerned since Jose-Maria Olazabal captured the title in 1990 and, while several other outstanding venues throughout the country were afforded the privilege of hosting the event, one always sensed it would make its way back to Portmarnock.

It has now come to pass, even if there was something just a little fortuitous about the decision to bridge that 13-year gap. The Irish Open was desperately searching for a sponsor and when Gerard O'Toole of Nissan Ireland finally saved the day, it was only on the basis that the event would return to Portmarnock.

That in itself presented a few problems for the club and its members the starting date for the €5m refurbishment of the clubhouse was pushed back from June to August especially in the much-publicised equality area, but one and all are now looking forward to an exciting week. As Hon Secretary Joe McAleese put it: "It's tremendous for everybody but especially the ground staff. Nothing has been going on here except for a few small amateur tournaments and stuff like that. They now feel that all the work they've been putting in will be shown off to the thousands who turn up for the Irish Open and the millions watching on television."

It is interesting that McAleese should place the emphasis on the feelings and emotions of the ground staff rather than any other element of the club. Portmarnock has a reputation for being snobbish and their problems with the equality situation are so many and so well-publicised that there is no need to go over them here. But much that has been said and written about Portmarnock is a long way from reality and I am satisfied that everybody attending the Irish Open will be made to feel very welcome.

As for the players, they will be greeted by a course with a delightfully "linksy" look, the fairways having been turned a natural khaki colour by the sunny, dry weather of much of the past few months. It looks very much as it used to do through the 1970s and 80s, when the Irish Open was virtually an annual occasion there. But appearances can be deceptive and the links is currently undergoing "a little tweaking and tightening" as secretary/manager John Quigley puts it.

Martin Hawtree, the English architect who has been so widely and rightly applauded for his transformation of the links at Lahinch, was brought in to upgrade Portmarnock as well. While the work isn't on anything like the scale we have seen at Lahinch, it has meant a lot of subtle change and has also stretched the course to a massive 7,365 yards from the championship tees.

And you know for sure there is no chance of a repeat of Bernhard Langer's remarkable 19-under par winning total of 269 in 1987. Around seven or eight under is what I have in mind provided we have a half decent wind in off the Irish Sea. European Tour tournament director David Probyn has paid a few visits to the course in recent times and liked what he saw. Paul McGinley and Roger Chapman, two tour professionals, also left satisfied having come to play the links and to discuss fairway widths and so on.

"I think they've been quite generous in that regard but I imagine they are conscious that if it gets very windy here, they could be in trouble," says Joe McAleese. "We're confident they will like what we have done. The early work turned out so good we decided to do the 13th and 16th., slightly featureless par fives, and that was a success. We then went for 13 more changes and some of those are still pending. But there was never going to be any alteration to the configuration. That was sacrosanct."

The biggest change of all comes at the very first hole, so easy in the old days that the pros could all but drive the green with a following wind. So Martin Hawtree came in and realigned the fairway 20 yards further right, a lot closer to the foreshore which, in certain wind directions, can now come into play.

There is also a new green closer to the sea and surrounded by mounds, hollows and bunkers. It certainly is no monster at just 405 yards but a more worthy start to the course for all that.

No 5 is the only hole at Portmarnock with a blind tee-shot. The marker has been pushed back a full 45 yards stretching the distance to 442 yards; again nothing out of the ordinary with the advent of modern equipment and the improvement of the golf ball but as Joe McAleese points out: "You're 228 yards to the top of the hill at the entrance to the fairway. The hole is played into the prevailing wind and the pros might have trouble getting out. Will they agree to the back tee? They could well complain. But I hope they do.

"It's a great tee box. And if they have television cameras up on the tee, they can swivel around and shoot some glorious views of the Irish Sea."

The 8th used to be a relatively short par four with a difficult enough pitch to a narrow green. Now, however, Hawtree has introduced a new tee that adds 30 yards and shifts the landing area further away from the 11th tee on to a more receptive section of the fairway. The 8th and also the 9th have been strengthened with bunkers aimed at trapping over ambitious tee shots although for those who haven't been to Portmarnock for a year or two, the next major change comes at the superb par three 12th. This was always a favourite gathering place for spectators, especially on a fine day, and that is sure to remain very much the case this time round.

"It used to be a small green so we lifted it and extended it by about 12 yards," explains McAleese.

"The appearance from the tee is exactly the same, the mound and slope at the front are still there as well as the four bunkers. This was the first part of the alteration programme to be completed and it went down so well that we kept going.

"The 12th may well emerge from the championship as the feature hole. It has become increasingly popular.

"It makes for a great, great tee shot and could require and two or three iron in the wind we have today. It will never take over from the 15th in popularity but it's a wonderful hole all the same."

There are 500 acres at Portmarnock accommodating 27 holes. Rather than spoil what they already have, it was decided against extending to 36 and it means there will be plenty of space for all the tentage inevitably part and parcel of a modern-day Irish Open and for the many thousands of people who will swarm over the imposing dunes and sandhills throughout the championship. The championship is back where it belongs it only remains to be seen how the professionals cope with the 'new Portmarnock'.