The caller from Dallas seemed fully acquainted with the set-up. "100,000," he said. "Is that Sterling or punts?" inquired Bill Cullen. "I live in the States," came the terse reply. Either way, there wasn't a chance that the chairman and chief executive of Renault Ireland would, as he put it, turf himself out of his own home.
With the event still six years and eight months away, the Ryder Cup at The K Club is already generating significant interest internationally. Hence the call from the Texas tour operator seeking to rent Osberstown House, which happens to be close by The K Club, during Ryder Cup week.
Cullen bought it as a home nine years ago and, as a former hotel, it is not short on accommodation. "We have 10 bedrooms and a ballroom, so it would be ideal for entertaining," he said. "But it's not for sale, rent or lease. In fact if we're all alive and well in 2005, I'll be the host at whatever celebration we have."
Which would be nothing new to him. As a member of The K Club, he holds the distinction of having been in the winning team of the Smurfit European Open pro-am for the last three years - with Padraig Harrington in 1996, Ian Woosnam in 1997 and Darren Clarke last August. "We had a party on the Saturday night of the tournament," he said. "Maybe that's how the word got out."
Meanwhile, wiseacres would now look back to an auction in April of last year and claim there was no real gamble involved. But as bidding rose beyond the £25,000 mark, not even Michael Smurfit could have been sure of landing the game's major team event.
So, it took courage for Dublin builder, Brian Lynam, to make the winning bid of £28,000 for three nights' accommodation at the five-star Kildare Hotel during the Ryder Cup weekend. He did it at a charity auction on the occasion of the Audi Chris de Burgh Classic at The K Club.
"I'm offering a simple gamble," said Dr Smurfit on the night. "If the Ryder Cup comes here, that accommodation will be priceless." If it didn't, the bidder would have paid a rather inflated price for a two-room suite which currently costs £2,100 for three nights: breakfast and trimmings extra.
Now, of course, the gamble has been landed. And it has been confirmed that all available rooms will be occupied by players, officials and special guests of the Jefferson Smurfit Group, owners of the facility. That will still apply, even if the capacity of the hotel is increased by an additional 33 suites, bringing it to 78 in all. Which makes Lynam's investment something of a snip.
"My seven-year-old daughter even asked me why I couldn't play my golf locally and tell them what I'd scored. I told her it was a brilliant idea which, if they'd allowed it, would have won me a lot more than I have."
- Richard Boxall on the continuing struggle for survival entering this, his 17th European season.
Deisy Flood is an American housewife who, on the face of it, seems very much in touch with golf sensibilities. Writing in the latest issue of Golf Journal about keeping peace in a golfing home, she has a special word of caution for women newcomers to the game.
"If you ever get a hole-in-one," writes Flood, "never mention it again after the day it happens. I've had two and my husband hasn't had one and I love him too much to upset him. So I don't talk about them in his presence."
Admirably caring of her, I think you'll agree. But then she adds: "My (hole-in-one) plaques hang in the den, one on each side of the television where he can see them every night. I also have a vanity licence plate - 2-HOLS-N-1 - and he washes my car every Saturday."
Which leads me to marvel at how the car and the television have not been given the nine-iron treatment, meted out recently by Nick Faldo's erstwhile American girlfriend to his beloved Porsche. Aren't we men golfers wonderfully tolerant?
On meeting Padraig Harrington this week for the announcement of his new sponsorship deal this week, we got to talking about related matters. And he recalled how Cindy Crawford's involvement with a leading watch company had her playing in the European Masters pro-am in Switzerland last September. This, of course, prompted some lively, clubhouse banter at Crans-sur-Sierre.
One of the more popular yarns concerned the Irishman, Englishman and Scotsman who partnered Cindy in a pro-am. Apparently she hit the ball quite well, but had an awful time on the greens, three-putting all over the place. Eventually, when faced with a treacherous 10-footer on the 18th, the supermodel turned to her partners and said: "Whichever of you helps me to hole this putt can take me out to dinner tonight."
Whereupon the Englishman carefully studied the line before declaring: "Definitely on the right lip." Giving it similar care, the Scot decided: "It's slightly on the left." But the Irishman, who had observed these antics with some amusement, sidled over to her and said with a grin: "Yerra Cindy, where I come from that's a gimme."
John Nestor, the former amateur international and long-time member of Milltown GC, phones me from time to time, just to assure me in his inimitable, gruff way that he's "still in the land of the living, you know". Given that he only recently got over a serious illness, it's always good to hear from him.
His latest call had to do with a mention I made here of Patty Berg who, among other things, shot a US Women's PGA record of 68 on her way to a one-stroke victory over Babe Zaharias in the Tampa Women's Open, 50 years ago this month. It was to be one of 55 professional tournament victories for the native of Minneapolis, who played in the Curtis Cup in 1936 and 1938.
As it happened, Berg made an extended, promotional trip to Europe in the early 1960s in the company of Jim Garts of the Wilson company, to which she was contracted. And Nestor made her acquaintance when she completed the tour with a visit to this country.
"My lasting memory is of her insistence on attending Mass and confession before flying back to the States," said Nestor. "She was a devout Catholic, so I dutifully collected her from the Gresham Hotel and took her to early Mass at the Pro Cathedral.
"But there was a problem. None of the confessionals was `manned' at that hour, so I had to walk up behind the altar to seek a priest in the sacristy, while the congregation of about 100 watched my every move. I remember thinking they must have had me down for one murder, at least. But I got a priest for Patty and all was well."
He went on: "During her visit here, she came to Milltown and partnered Christy Greene (resident professional) in a nine-hole exhibition. As it happened, I had the pleasure of caddying for her in the match against Daphne Tunney and Margaret Mulcahy and was hugely impressed by her skill. She was undoubtedly one of the finest players I have ever seen."
Two weeks ago I referred here to the fact that the current green-fee at Pebble Beach is a whopping $246. It has prompted Michael Walsh of Churchtown, Dublin, to write: "I remember on the day President Kennedy was buried, playing the full 18 holes at Pebble Beach, and I stayed overnight in the Del Monte Lodge. It was a short walk through the glass door from my bedroom to the 18th green. Cost for accommodation, meals and golf was less than $100." Indeed. And Europe's leading professionals, along with Australia's Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle, had competed three months previously (August 1963) for a prize fund of £5,555 in the inaugural Sweet Afton Tournament at Woodbrook.
This day in golf history
On January 23rd 1930, Gene Sarazen captured the Agua Caliente Open in Tijuana Mexico. With a prize fund of $25,000 it was the game's richest tournament at that time and Sarazen, who was a month short of his 28th birthday, was rewarded with a top cheque of $10,000. That same year, Sarazen captured a fourth successive Miami Open, equalling the record set by Walter Hagen, who won the USPGA Championship from 1924 to 1927.
Teaser: The entrance to a burrowing animal hole is out of bounds, but most of the burrow is in bounds under the course. A ball enters the hole from out of bounds and comes to rest in bounds under ground classified as through the green. What is the procedure?
Answer: Under Rule 25-1b, the player may drop the ball, without penalty, within one club-length of the point on the ground directly above its position in the burrow. In such cases, vertical distance is disregarded in applying the rules.
