Portmarnock a test for the best
Well, if yesterday's pro-am conditions are anything to go by, the competitors in the Nissan Irish Open beginning at Portmarnock this morning need have no worries. For the great North Dublin links, hosting the event for the first time since 1990, was swept by a 30 mile per hour south westerly that made conditions verging on the impossible for many amateurs and stretched the professionals to make the carries at the 2nd and 5th holes, to name but two.
The forecast for the tournament itself is a little more encouraging but the reality is that anybody who believes modern technology has rendered courses like Portmarnock redundant will most assuredly have to think again. It's is in terrific condition, the greens are putting beautifully and the rough by and large is relatively wispy but at 7,365 yards and protected as always by is strategically placed bunkers and swales, it remains a formidable test.
