Shark in tune with snail's pace

If Tiger Woods and other elite golfers from the US make their annual pre-British Open visit to Ireland next July, they will be invited to test Greg Norman's design skills at Doonbeg. But the Co Clare links, which clearly has wonderful potential, will not be officially opened until the spring of 2002.

Norman was on site yesterday, making his sixth visit since last May and his 15th in all. Such attention to each stage of the $30 million development reflects not only admirable enthusiasm for his work, but a deep-seated conviction that he is involved in something special.

Since it was first mooted about three years ago, the project has acquired a certain notoriety over an elusive little chap with the grand name of vertigo angustior. And though we were assured there are 10 million of them on the site, not a sign of the tiny little snail was to be seen during our trek around the layout, despite the expert tracking of Evelyn Moorkens.

"I hope that what is happening here can one day be held up as a model for the way developers and conservationists can work together," said the environmental consultant, who holds the distinction of having discovered the snail on the site. With that, she bent down in search of a sample at the base of a wooden stake, without success.

EU structural funds of £2.4 million have been freed for the project, now that everything has been sorted out regarding the protected species. It has meant leaving 50 acres of the 400-acre site untouched. "The important thing is to maintain the links between all the areas in which the snail exists," said Moorkens. "And I think this has been done very satisfactorily."

Situated on the Atlantic coast between Lahinch and Kilkee, the site at Doonbeg stretches crescent-like for about 1.5 miles around Doughmore Bay. And since the local population is a modest 220, there will be a job for everyone in the area when the new golf club is up and running.

It is the brainchild of Kiawah Resort Associates, of Charleston, South Carolina, working in association with the Landmark Corporation. These are the same partners who collaborated in the building of the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which played host to the Ryder Cup in 1991.

Their target is for five-star facilities to match a five-star course. These will involve luxury hotel accommodation to a maximum height of two storeys and built to resemble a village development. And the owners acknowledged that they will be using the Old Head of Kinsale as a marketing yardstick, with green-fees pitched at around £150.

For a while yesterday it looked as if the weather would rival one of Norman's worst links experiences, when he gave a two-iron his Sunday best and sent it all of 118 yards towards the seventh green at St Andrews during the Dunhill Cup. But it brightened considerably as the day wore on, with the wind a mere zephyr of 30 mph and the entire area bathed in autumn sunshine.

"I want visiting golfers to be talking about playing Ballybunion, Lahinch and Doonbeg," said Norman. "And I'm convinced word about this place will travel very quickly. Further ahead, I would truly love to see a tournament here, whether it be the Irish Open or a stand-alone event. I said it from day one, I can't wait to hear what the best players in the world think of it."

The chance may come sooner than he thinks, should Woods et al make an Irish visit next year. "When I looked at this place first, I thought of myself as the luckiest designer in the world," he went on. "I had never seen anything like this before in a virgin state and I'm unlikely to do so again.

"I don't know anywhere in the United States that could be compared with here. I'm currently doing a course in Australia, near Melbourne, but it has nothing of the character of this place."

The first and 18th fairways have been sodded but the remainder of the course has been seeded. And even at this early stage, one can see, in embryo, some captivating holes, notably the par-four 15th, where the green nestles amid majestic dunes, and the 100-yard, par-three 14th where the shot towards the ocean will rival the famous seventh at Pebble Beach.

As we prepared to leave at the end of an eventful day, Moorkens, our environmentalist, was positively glowing, as she held a test-tube in her hand. There among some mossy grasses was the mighty Angus, all two millimetres of him.

But how could one be sure that this little speck was the real thing? On being handed a magnifying glass, this particular sceptic could see him in all his glory. And he was delighted, no doubt, at having established an amicable relationship with the Shark.