There was a time when the notion of this as a great little country would carry a layer of irony. But, from a golfing standpoint, the inaugural staging of the £100,000 West of Ireland Seniors Championship at East Clare this weekend represents a remarkable achievement.

It is the third European Seniors event to be held here this year, coming after the AIB Irish Seniors Open at Woodbrook in May and the Senior British Open at Royal Portrush last weekend. And it has been put together through a splendid effort by the East Clare members, Bord Failte and the course designer, Arthur Spring.

The wonderful spirit permeating the host club was captured beautifully in the winning pro-am team here on Wednesday. It included Michael Fahy, who attended to his duties as course manager before and after the round, and the lady captain, Marie Long, who was seen serving lunches after contributing to the team effort.

Against that background, they were clearly heartened to have attracted 18 players from the current top 20 in the European Seniors money list. The only absentees are Brian Huggett, who is taking an understandable rest after his successful exertions of last weekend, and another former Ryder Cup player, Malcolm Gregson.

But there is certain to be tremendous local interest in the presence of Ireland's Eddie Polland, who was runner-up at Portrush; former amateur international Denis O'Sullivan, who finished in a share of fifth place; and Christy O'Connor Snr, who would always be welcome, simply as Himself. And Spring's efforts were clearly special in bringing the event to fruition.

For many years at this time in August, O'Sullivan would be challenging for the Irish Amateur Close Championship. As it happened, this year's event was held in June but either way, the 50-year-old Corkman is now fully committed to a professional career.

"The clincher came last summer when Cork, my club, left me out of their Senior Cup and Barton Shield teams," he said. "After that, I felt I had nowhere else to go in amateur golf."

So he went to the Seniors Tour School in France in October, when he claimed a player's card by sharing 11th place. O'Sullivan has since played nine events and, with earnings of £24,057, is 21st in the money list.

Given that his work with the Leasing Company of Ireland makes him essentially a part-time professional, was he surprised at his performance last weekend? "Not really," he replied. "I always considered myself to be a good strokes player. In fact my last championship win was in the East of Ireland in 1990."

Once ribbed by rivals as "The Snake", because of his decidedly odd set-up to the ball, regular practice has since helped O'Sullivan knock some of the unwanted kinks out of his game. And colleagues such as Peter Townsend believe it can be only a matter of time before he gains his first professional success.

O'Connor is here because he wants to support a new event. But at 73, he was clearly tired after yesterday's pro-am round, which was played in drizzle on heavy terrain. "I had six rounds at Portrush and a clinic as well," he said. "But it's good to be here. They did a magnificent job in getting the course ready for the tournament."

As Spring put it: "The whole community is delighted at what's happening here. We are in the middle of three weeks where golf is focused in Ireland. That has to be a good thing." It has indeed.