HAS the Murphy's Irish Open lost its glamour? At the ProAm day at its new venue - Druid's Glen in Wicklow the only celebrity from the entertainment world was funnyman Frank Carson. Even the PR man seemed determined to stress the golf over glamour of the occasion, saying mysteriously that "this year it's a different sort of event".
For the second year in a row the rainbow coalition team of Charlie McCreevy, Liam Kavanagh and Austin Deasy with Peter Baker were the Pro Am winners.
I did what any sensible girl would do in the face of all those lemon v necks and loud trousers - I went shopping. Having discovered in New York that Armani is now doings a range of golf clothes (alarming eh?), I headed for the Druid's Glen Golf Shop. Shockingly there is not a single Irish made T shirt or sweater in the shop - the manager claimed that the quality was hard to find.
The social side of the Open really got in gear after Thursday, the official opening day, with Dr Patrick Hillery and Maeve in attendance and Jean Kennedy Smith expected over the weekend. As a sign of the good humoured generosity of the crowd, Dr John Fennell from Loughlinstown hospital reported great sales for his fund raising raffle for a Volvo.