O'Connor Jnr tries to make the most of a bad break, of course

While grieving the loss of his son, Christy O'Connor Jnr discovered during a remarkable 1999 season on the US Seniors Tour, that life can sometimes find a way of helping us through pain. And now, on a far more gentle level, he can see the upside to a weekend which might have had him seriously depressed.

Yesterday marked the first round of the Irish Seniors Open at Powerscourt, where he would dearly love to be competing, not least because of a distinct fondness for the course. But it also happened to be six weeks and one day since O'Connor broke his left leg.

Instead of being drawn into self-pity, however, he was busy looking towards significant happenings today. Like at Citywest, where the Village Course, a new, so-called executive layout designed by him on the far side of the Saggart Road, will be officially opened. And, at the same venue this evening, O'Connor will be honoured as "Galway Person of the Year".

And there are resonances of his current situation in Fairway Dreams, the latest offering from Lauren St John. In it, I came upon a little-known story about the westerner and his breakthrough tournament victory in the Zambian Open of 1974. It concerned the tragic shooting of David Moore, a richly-promising, 18-year-old English professional from Essex.

Believing that Moore and fellow teenager Gary Smith were flirting with his wife, the deranged gunman opened fire with a shotgun, and while Smith managed to escape, Moore was hit in the head. Later, in a local hospital, a senior British surgeon was unable to save the player's life, and when the assailant heard the news, he shot himself in the hospital car-park.

St John writes: "It was the unanimous decision of the players that Moore would have wanted the tournament to go on, and therefore it did and was won by Christy O'Connor Jnr (after a playoff against Eddie Polland and Mike Ingham). A memorial service was held for Moore, the unfortunate victim of a terrible tragedy." O'Connor retains a vivid recollection of those events, 27 years ago. "That unfortunate chap Moore was a wonderful prospect, another Tony Jacklin," he recalled. "Everybody was so upset that I felt sure the tournament would be called off."

He then turned his thoughts towards today and a charming layout which will break new ground in Irish golf. "I'm very pleased with the way the course has turned out," he said of the par-65 layout, which has an overall length of about 5,700 yards and incorporates 11 water hazards. "The executive concept is essentially an American idea, but I'm confident it will work really well here."

O'Connor also designed the facility's larger City Course, which played host to the Irish Women's Open in 1996. And between these two creations, there'll hardly be time to think of things at Powerscourt.

"You drive for dough and you putt for more dough."

- Padraig Harrington, reworking the old adage so as to make it more reflective of the modern game.