A persistent, penetrating drizzle, characteristic of a miserable summer, had stopped by the time we reached the first tee. "See that white marker down there, a little bit on the left," said my guide, Michael O'Hanlon, who described himself as a FAS supervisor. "Well, Christy hit his opening drive right over it. Absolutely perfect."
We were at East Clare GC, which will play host to the West of Ireland Seniors Classic, starting on Friday, little more than a year after its official opening. Eight holes, from an original nine-hole layout designed by Arthur Spring, were in play in late 1993, and since then the Tralee-born architect has extended it to a full parkland layout of outstanding quality.
And Christy? It was none other than Himself who, unannounced, called on a recent Friday afternoon to have a look around and play a few holes. As it happened, a team event in aid of the local GAA club was in full swing at the time and one of the teams was a man short.
Now, there are substitutes and there are substitutes. And in these circumstances, it would have been difficult to imagine a more welcome candidate than the venerable Christy, who proceeded to card 14 pars as a contribution to a team score of 89 points. It didn't earn any prize at the end of the day, but the amateurs were left with priceless memories.
As for O'Connor: plans to travel on to Lahinch had to be scrapped when, in a manner of speaking, he fell among thieves later that evening. He was booked into Smyth's Village Hotel in Feakle, where a celebration was in full swing to mark the launch of a book on the Tulla Ceili Band.
East Clare, which is reached down a secluded by-road a few miles from Scariff, has a fascinating history. From the time the East Clare Golfing Society was formed in 1988, the idea of a golf course in the Bodyke area began to gain momentum.
Effectively, the five pioneers of the project were Tom Murray, Michael Hogan, T J McNamara, John Joyce and Michael Fahy, and when the first annual general meeting was held in December 1992, there were 50 registered shareholders of Bodyke Castletown Trust Plc.
By 1996, when the company owned 150 acres at a cost of £360,000, it was time to embark on the second phase. And when the fifth a.g.m. of the company was held on January 31st of last year, Joyce, the chairman since its inception, announced that the last of the 500,000 shares had been sold. With that, he resigned in the knowledge that the project was in safe hands.
Spring has made splendid use of a charming site set in beautiful surroundings. For instance, the seventh tee has the backdrop of classic bog which, I was informed, "would take the eyes out of your head when the heather is in full bloom".
A group of golfers from Toronto were so taken by the view that they promptly abandoned their round and headed back for a camcorder. "We can play golf any day, but it's not often you can feast your eyes on scenery like this," one of them declared.
Very little earth was moved in building the front nine, but excellent, strategic use has been made of water. In fact three of the four par threes are played over water, the exception being the fourth, which remains an interesting challenge at 185 yards off the back tee,
The first par five is the fifth, where O'Connor's partners were treated to his remarkable skill with the driver off the fairway. Playing the hole off the medal tee (520 yards) and with the help of the prevailing wind, his second whack of the driver brought the ball to rest a few yards short of the putting surface.
Leaving the sixth green was a sign informing competitors: "You should be here by - three-ball, one hour; four-ball, one-hour 10 minutes." Admirable sentiments, I thought, in these days of constipated snails.
Needless to remark, O'Connor kept his fourball going at as brisk a pace as was permitted by those in front, and O'Hanlon reported that they completed the round in just under four hours - enviable by general standards. Mind you, it probably helped that he and O'Hanlon travelled in a buggy while, according to his companion, "he hardly ever left the fairway".
He also introduced the locals to a decidedly brave route off the tee at the seventh, measuring 426 yards off the medal tee. "Aim just right of those pines, down there on the left," he was advised. "What's wrong with going over them," came the response. And so he did, leaving himself with no more than a short iron to the green.
O'Hanlon, who by his own estimation "plays badly off 11" (how badly would, no doubt, soon become apparent if some foolhardy Dublin visitor challenged him to a game), took particular pride in showing me around an area of the course known locally as Amen Corner. To O'Connor it was simply the loop, which starts at the par-three eighth.
This is an absolute gem, measuring a modest 144 yards off the back tee. The target, not unlike the famous 12th at Augusta, is a wide but dangerously shallow green, strategically bunkered and with water to the front and left. But the real attraction of the hole lies in a group of ash trees shadowing the green to the left and obtrusive enough to cause just the hint of anxiety to an indecisive competitor.
Then comes the ninth, 425 yards off the medal tee and fully justifying its index one status. In negotiating the final 165 yards to the green, the player is confronted by two lakes, one in front of the other. And as an additional hazard, they are separated by an old Scotch pine standing as a lone sentinel.
Admirably thoughtful design work affords the less skilful practitioner the option of playing left of the water, so making the hole a three-shotter. Still on the loop, the 10th, which dog-legs to the right, involves a drive and second shot over further areas of water to a two-tier, elevated green.
This fascinating area of the course is completed by the parfour 11th where a blind tee-shot is played over a hill, followed by a six or seven-iron shot to another two-tier green. And mention of the greens, prompts me to emphasise their superb quality.
As one would expect in modern construction, they are sand-based and with a smooth, even cover of grasses. But their real strength lies in the amount of movement created by a liberal use of tiers and gentle slopes. They are also sufficiently generous in size as to offer a wide selection of pin placements.
At this stage of the round I came across the club captain, Redmond Walsh. It's not often one sees a local bank manager raking a bunker without a golf stick in sight. "This is my green," he explained. It transpired that as his contribution to a novel maintenance scheme, he was using a holiday break to take care of his own, designated part of the course - the 15th green.
East Clare has 11 lakes and it seemed that each had its own family of ducks, including the one in front of the 195-yard 17th which has a particularly interesting green. Not only is there a deep ridge diagonally across it, but the gradient of the tier changes menacingly midway.
Finally, the competitor with the makings of a winning score in the bag, will find the nerves tightening appreciably at the prospect of the final drive up the par-four 18th. Though the carry over water is not especially long off the tee, the very thought of it should be sufficient to concentrate the mind.
Back at the temporary clubhouse, O'Hanlon showed me a walled area which once enclosed an orchard, the pride of Coolreagh House. Pending planning permission, the area will soon be transformed into a suitably luxurious clubhouse to be opened next summer. And there are also plans for 14 holiday homes.
Meanwhile, I learned that the practice ground would be accommodating the various areas of tentage involved in staging an important professional tournament. After that, one might be tempted to suggest that East Clare will be returning to normal.
With so much development planned for the coming 12 months, however, normality at East Clare is still some way off.
East Clare
Location: Near Bodyke, two miles from Scariff on Ennis Rd.
Contact: Clubhouse (Michael O'Hanlon) - tel (061) 921322; fax (061) 921717.
Course: 18 holes parkland, par 71. Back tees - 6,514 yards; Medal - 6,203 yards; Women - 5,346 yards (par 71).
Architect: Arthur Spring.
Open for play: 18 holes - July 1997.
Green-fees: £12 (weekdays); £15 (weekends).
