An early start for perfection

AT precisely 5.0 am each day, and not a minute sooner or later, the high pitched whirr of the lawnmower blades and the diesel growl of the tractor engines acts as a dawn chorus at Druids Glen as course manager John O'Sullivan ushers out his team of greenkeepers.

Whatever about the self pitying reactions of players who have had to cope with tiger rough - as one observer put it, looking for a flymo rather than a flier should a wayward shot find the deep stuff - there has been lavish praise heaped on the quality of the greens.

They are, in fact, the oldest part of the course, constructed a full year before any work on the fairways or tee boxes. Designers Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock used a Southshore - creeping bent grass, a new strain, on the greens; Druids Glen was the first in Europe, and one of the first in the world, to use it.

With agronomist Jim Lynch, a member at Shinnecock Hills, where the grass was first used for overseeding, as adviser, the Druids Glen greens have developed into what Philip Walton described as "the best we have played on in Europe all season".

"We have six guys who double cut them every morning and again in the evening," explained O'Sullivan.

After the morning treatment, the staff return for another manicure at 6.0 pm until 10.30 pm. Obviously, the plan called for a little alteration after last night's rain delay.

Still, the upshot are pristine greens which have left players and spectators alike drooling.