K Club fans get to share errant Goosen's brolly

Caddie's Role: I couldn't quite figure out what the two spectators behind the sixth green were up to last Saturday on the Smurfit course at the K Club.

You see, my player had hit his approach shot over the green. I know I should not be admitting we hit it long, but I actually think the ball hit the downslope of the trap short of the pin and kicked on. It's what happens when things are not just going your way - that's my excuse anyway.

It had started to rain, the south-west wind that had blown all week long finally bringing precipitation. It all happened as my man had air-mailed the green. Me clutching a gust-busted umbrella and him contemplating a downhill lie in the rough to a tight pin was not the occasion for light-hearted banter with some hardy members of the crowd.

I held the shaky parasol and took two steps to the side as Retief prepared for his chip shot. As I did so I realised there were two blokes under our umbrella and neither of them employed me. I had assumed they were seeking temporary shelter from the rain. Not so. Obviously enthusiasts, they were just taking advantage of Goosen's errant approach to snoop in his golf bag. The shelter was just a decoy for a goo in the bag.

They must have seen the dark clouds of the Irish summer roll by earlier in the day which prompted them to gather a bundle of brochures on golfing in Turkey. The bag they had stashed them in was not resilient to the Irish summer, my man did not get up and down so we battled our way up to the seventh tee as my two umbrella mates considered the benefits of a holiday on the Aegean coast or a new set of TaylorMade irons. With rain pelting sideways I know what I would have advised.

My man arrived in Ireland last Tuesday to play in a select pro-am in Portmarnock organised by Dermot Desmond. It was a balmy summer links day. Short sleeves and very little wind turned the links into a very pleasant walk. Those who do not get much chance to experience seaside terrain are open to the opportunity to play a links course in the run up to the British Open.

I could see Retief musing over his chip shots around the subtle Portmarnock greens with added concentration. The right option around links greens is never that obvious. Particularly when you play homogenized thick rough week in week out. So I could see that Retief was enjoying the special links challenge and I know he viewed it as excellent preparation for Hoylake.

It was an elite gathering and a simple way for the invited guests to raise a generous amount by the time they sat down to a late lunch in the clubhouse. The charity Respect which provides homes for elderly learning disability people were grateful for the efforts of Mr Desmond.

We moved west to Kildare, obviously to an inland course for the European Open, but it was of a different nature to the course we had left two years previously. The Smurfit had matured greatly with thick fescue grasses framing most holes on the surrounding banks. The fairways were firm and fast, the putting surfaces were good, but seemed to have developed some grain in them in the interim. It meant they did not roll as fast as they had before.

By the time we got to the windy weekend many players had paid a visit to the long, twisting fawn grasses that were very much on the periphery of the holes. The forecast for Saturday was such the authorities decided not to cut the greens. Given the severity of the wind, it turned out to be a good decision.

Golf, as most of us know, is an extremely fickle game. You arrive back to a venue where you were victorious, as Retief was here two years ago, and it can be the time to pull out of a bout of bad form. Retief had had a break for the two previous weeks and was looking forward to coming out of his temporary slump. Given the talent of these golfers and the game's nature it only takes a week to make up for a run of bad ones.

We tinkered with different irons, a putter he had won in the States with and had a diligent attitude every day. It didn't happen, no matter how many chances Retief created, the putter just refused to convert them. Retief has won at Loch Lomond, so we will be there this week in search of the week to turn the year around and get back on course.

The European Open is one of the bigger events on the European Tour. It attracts the Tour's best players. For some reason, it does not seem to attract many spectators. Thanks to one of the events sponsors, Ulster Bank, however, there was an unprecedented atmosphere last Thusday as 29,000 people passed through the gates. The bank had run a promotion for customers to apply for free Thursday tickets. It turned out to be a great idea and certainly made the following days' attendances look sparse in comparison.

In the run up to the Irish Open in May there were those who claimed it had become a "non-event". For those of us who remember the good old days in Portmarnock, it was certainly an "event" then - whereas the European Open in Ireland has struggled to attract a sizeable group of spectators since it started in the K Club.

With the amount of events on tour these days and, of course, with all of them being televised it is very difficult to make an event interesting for the live spectator. Free entry may well be the way to go in the future.

My mates behind the sixth green last Saturday were undoubtedly enthused by the proximity gained to the fourth best player in the world, and they gained shelter from his brolly as he was hitting a shot. I wonder if they opted for the clubs or they are looking forward to a golf holiday in Turkey?