Making one last quest in a heavenly atmosphere

The Sporting Club bar overlooking the 18th green at the Crans/Montana club has immortalised many professional golfers since they started playing professional events here in 1939.

Every winning golfer since then has had his photograph posted on the walls. If your swing has been framed and hangs in this historic cafe, it means that you are entitled to come back and play the European Masters for as long as you can still manage the journey up the mountain.

Not all golfers exercise this right, but with the increased success of the Seniors Tours, some past champions have been keen to pit themselves against tougher opposition than the normal friendly weekend fourballs back home. The desire to test their competitiveness coupled with the relaxed nature of this event and the sheer beauty of its location makes for an ideal week for a trial run swinging at 1,450 feet.

With the serious nature of competition on the modern European Tour, this is truly the last event at which some players and more caddies can engage in some serious unwinding. So the breathtaking days of golfing at altitude are continued well into the evenings at sophisticated hostelries at Crans. It's true to say that many players compete here mainly for the enjoyment of being here - the golf is incidental.

Chris Moody, a past European Master who won here in 1988, pointed out that this used to be one of the most prestigious tournaments to win. In fact Moody, with his sole European Tour victory taking place in Switzerland 13 years ago, was extremely grateful that it was the second biggest European event in prize money next only to the British Open Championship.

Today the European Masters fails to attract such star-studded fields. There could be a number of reasons for this but none so apparent as the redesign job on the course by Seve Ballesteros. In particular, his greens have come under some heavy fire from many vowed never-to-return absentees. The 1988 champion admits that the course lay-out has improved but was adamant that he should be quoted in saying that "Seve knows bugger all about green design, what's wrong with the ball coming to rest somewhere in the vicinity of where it landed".

Having hit an excellent tee shot to the short third hole, Moody followed his ball's progress towards the flag, narrowly sliding by the pin and finally coming to rest on the green's fringe from where he three putted. There was an offer of a kilo of gold for a hole-in-one at that hole. Moody, after his misfortune there in his first round, suggested that "there should be a kilo of gold for the first person who manages to hit the green", referring to the impossible nature of a ball coming to rest on an upside-down saucer shaped green.

Chris Moody was a journeyman of the European Tour during the 80s and he finally lost his playing rights in 1994. He was both intelligent and opinionated. So he was treated by the majority on the tour with caution because his sentiment tended to differ from that of the general throng. In fact David Feherty, who was a good friend of his on tour, was quick to point out to the vocal Englishman when he suggested back in the 80s that he was going to go and play in Australia over the winter that "they'll love you down there Moodles (as he was affectionately known), they'll be queuing up to bash your head in".

Moody (47), still cuts quite a figure out on the course. He has kept himself in good condition and despite the pallid complexion from having spent too long indoors over the English summer, he did not look out of place on the Crans course. The most distinctive feature was the lack of advertising on his golf bag and clothing. With his two playing partners looking more like walking sandwich boards, Moody had a reserved appearance in his plain attire.

Coming back for his annual appearance on Tour, he admits that he has a slight advantage over his fellow competitors in the sense that he can approach the week with a nonchalant attitude. His playing partners, the South African Des Terblanche and the Belgian Nicholas Vanhootegem, are both nearing the end of the season uncertain about retaining their playing rights for next year. Moody recognised the "scrambled eggs for brains syndrome that I suffered from in my playing days from having played 13 weeks in a row" in his colleagues. "When you are not playing for a living you can play like it doesn't matter" Moody explained.

He now sells advertising for Sports.Com, having set-up a national golf handicap system in South Africa before settling back in London two years ago. The progress with club and ball technology has made a strong impression on the part-time pro. He is astounded by the distances that his fellow competitors are hitting the ball today.

Despite the fact that he has only been playing once a week with friends for a modest wager, these intermittent games have kept him relatively sharp: "even if you are playing your mates for 20 quid you have to knuckle down and get the ball in the hole."

The 1975 champion, South African Dale Hayes, was also present last week but not in a playing capacity. He had been invited by the sponsors for a social visit. The 49-year-old Spaniard, Manual Pinero, the winner in 1976 and 1981, has made his final pilgrimage to Crans this year after 29 appearances in a row. Jeff Hawkes, the South African who won here in 1991, was also gauging his competitiveness as he nears senior status in a couple of years' time. He has been commentating for Sky TV since leaving the tour in 1997.

Moody, Pinero and Hawkes all missed the cut comfortably, which despite their positive intentions, did not surprise any of them. Craig Stadler, the 1985 champion, came here this year as a past champion entrant. Stadler has shown no form all year in the States, but the trip to Switzerland seems to have brought the best out in him. Having caddied for his own porter in the caddies tournament on Saturday evening, the relaxed European atmosphere (in stark contrast to the intensity of American events) seems to agree with the casual American. He had his best result of the year in finishing third.

Chris Moody claimed early last week that he had "found the secret to the game - whether it will last for 18 holes or more remains to be seen," the realistic Englishman joked early last week. It didn't last but the quest for one last realisation of talent lurks in all golfers no matter what age. If ever the mystery of the game was going to be figured out, the heavenly atmosphere of Crans-sur-Sierre would make it one of the most likely places to make that discovery.