JP's big gig allows everyone to be a winner

CADDIE'S ROLE:This was a pro-am that melted even the most hardened anti pro-am professionals

THERE IS a bizarre phenomenon in the professional game whereby highly talented golfers get to play with way-less talented golfers the day before their tournament starts. It’s probably the most unprofessional way to prepare for an event you could suggest.

We all get used to most things if we are exposed to them for long enough. This is how the weekly pro-am has become a permanent fixture at most events on all the tours around the world.

And in these tighter economic times, the professional is more appreciative of the talent these amateurs have for keeping the prize money in their weekly events topped up. It has become a more cosy weekly fixture that is met with less resistance than it was in the era of plenty.

Last week, not only did the pros in the Scottish Open present themselves for pro-am duty but a large number of the best golfers in the world congregated in Adare Manor on Monday and Tuesday for an irregular, early-week pro-am, and all of them had an air of expectation. This was not just another boring obligation, rather, it was looked forward to almost in the same vein as the 150th British Open at the home of golf this week.

Many of the professionals were shepherded from the French Open at the French National outside Paris the previous week by the mighty JP McManus Pro-Am machine which had set up a wing at the French venue to ensure the swift and painless passage of the golfers, caddies, partners, officials and families to the Co Limerick venue, with the only obligation on those on the trip being to ensure they had their passports on hand.

The chill wind that hit us on stepping from the plane at Shannon was more than compensated for by the pampering we received from the welcoming party. Some onlookers from beyond the perimeter fence at an isolated part of the airfield were disappointed when they realised they were star-gazing at a busload of caddies getting a police escort to their hotel beside Adare Manor. They waved enthusiastically nonetheless and we waved back.

Such enthusiasm set the tone for the brief but enriching experience for the most elaborate pro-am in the world.

For those of us who arrived late on Sunday night and played early on Monday, the scene at the driving range at 7am resembled the set for an epic movie about how professionals and famous amateurs can combine in a show of unity for charity through golf. We are accustomed to seeing famous golfers in our midst, but the even more famous movie stars who crouched over golf balls beside the famous golfers added another dimension to the ordinary star-gazing that you can get caught up in at a truly international event.

As I fumbled in my boss’s bag in an attempt to get organised for a morning round, the crowd stirred behind me as they jostled to get Samuel L Jackson’s autograph.

A television presenter got short shrift as he tried to get a few words out of the actor – “get the f*** out of here” in a southern drawl was a reminder of just how exotic a scene it was in Limerick on a fresh summer’s morning.

Samuel, it is reported, has a clause in his movie contracts that he has time for at least two rounds of golf a week. Obviously the amateurs were taking this pro-am more seriously than the pros.

The Adare course is long, and with firm, undulating greens at the end of these lengthy holes it was not surprising that the best score posted during the first round was one under par.

Most professionals treat Monday as their weekend when they are on tour, but the course was not in vacation mood: it demanded attention even if it was just a fun event.

With two shotgun starts morning and evening there were two intense hours on the range where the elegance of the professional swings broke up the more idiosyncratic swipes of the amateurs. No matter how famous these amateurs are there is always such a glaring difference between an amateur and professional swing.

The last time I saw so many spectators on a course in Ireland was at The K Club for the Ryder Cup. That was understandable.

But to see fairways deeply lined with spectators for a pro-am in Limerick was hard to comprehend.

There was an infectious sense of well-being that spread around the Adare estate, with mega-stars engaging with the exuberant crowds and unknown amateurs being visibly warmed by the cheers and encouragement they received for their modest feats.

To be honest, I had originally thought it was a lavish junket that was going to be an inconvenient interruption to our weekly tournament routine. Of course my player, like the other first-time pros to the event, was astonished by the presents that had been left for him in his hotel room as an expression of JP McManus’s gratitude for making the diversion from France on the way to the Scottish Open.

This was a pro-am that melted even the most hardened anti pro-am professionals, and although many went on to Loch Lomond last Wednesday to play their third round with amateurs in a row I didn’t hear a word of complaint.

JP McManus’s pro-am somehow combines a competitive but casual atmosphere where everyone is a winner.