Club selection important for up-beat Davies

Each year, the response is pretty much the same. "I keep coming back because everyone's so damn nice," said Laura Davies during preparation yesterday for the £100,000 Donegal Irish Women's Open, which starts at Letterkenny Golf Club this morning.

But the former world number one was uncertain as to her prospects of landing the title for a third time in six years. "It's not my kind of course," she said with typical candour. Certainly it would be difficult to compare it with St Margaret's, where she triumphed in 1994 and by a record margin in 1995.

Situated on the banks of Lough Swilly, the Eddie Hackett designed layout is intriguing for the absence of bunkers. This can be explained by the fact that much of the course is below sea level, which would make it extremely difficult to have bunkers properly drained.

The upshot is that Davies has been presented with a problem of definition, especially since she abandoned the idea of wearing contact lenses two years ago. "I've got poor eyesight and I'm finding it very difficult to club myself," she said. "Bunkers may not be very nice for the members, but they're a pro's best friend."

As a plus, however, she went on to praise the quality of the greens and indeed the overall condition of the course. "It is obvious that the club put a lot of effort into getting it to a high standard - and it shows," she said.

Dale Reid, the Solheim Cup captain, shared Davies's concern over definition. "I've decided that I simply have to trust my yardages," she said. She has also decided not to be overly concerned with Solheim Cup matters this week. "I'm here for myself," said the 40-year-old Scot, whose 21 tournament victories include the 1985 and 1987 Ulster Volkswagen Open tournaments, which were staged at Belvoir Park.

The field of 100 competitors will be playing for a top prize of £15,000, which is roughly the same as Sweden's Sofie Gustafson received for her victory in a curtailed staging at Ballyliffin last year. That was when Davies declared: "It's a disgrace that more of the leading players aren't here."

Solheim Cup colleague Trish Johnson was a late withdrawal on that occasion but she is here this week. So is the 1997 US Women's Open champion Alison Nicholas, who captured this title at CityWest in 1996. But Sofia Gronberg-Whitmore, winner last Monday of the Cantor Fitzgerald Laura Davies Invitational at Brocket Hall, is an absentee, having opted for a holiday at home in Sweden.

From an Irish standpoint, Oonagh Purfield strengthens the amateur support for home professionals Aideen Rogers, Debbie Hanna, Dymphna Keenan, Barbara Hackett and Lynn McCool. Hackett, the 1996 Irish Close champion, has had a fairly thin time since she turned professional in this tournament 12 months ago but she is looking to better things, having recovered from back trouble in July.

Indicative of the tremendous debt which Irish golf owes to the late Eddie Hackett is that he designed the Letterkenny course back in 1967 for the princely sum of £50 plus expenses. Situated on the 146-acre Barnhill Estate a few miles from the town, it has been trimmed to a fairly gentle 5,955 yards for this week's event.

Built on two levels, the course is greatly enhanced by mature trees and small, challenging greens. And the members have reason to be proud of their splendid, new clubhouse which offers ideal facilities for an event of this nature.

From a playing standpoint, all three par fives will be reachable by Davies and the other long hitters, especially the 405-yard sixth. With the rough not especially punishing, Davies will be encouraged to make extensive use of the driver, except for the opening eight holes, which are tight and decidedly tricky. Interestingly, she has dropped her two iron and added a fourth wedge to her armoury.

Though she has not won in the US so far this year, Davies has had three victories in Europe - in the Chrysler Open in Sweden on July 4th, the McDonald's WPGA Championship of Europe at Gleneagles on August 8th and the Compaq Open, again in Sweden, on August 22nd. The closest she came to success in the US was as runner-up in the prestigious Du Maurier Classic last month.

After a difficult time with the blade, she has seen her putting touch return to splendid effect over the last year. All of which has left her decidedly up-beat about the current state of her game. "I'm playing as well as I ever did," she said with conviction.

It remains to be seen, however, whether this can be translated into productive scoring on what she described as "an unusual course, demanding a lot of patience." Either way, she remains the player to beat.