CADDIES ROLE:It is inspiring to see the former stars still proving their worth as talented golfers, writes COLIN BYRNE

BY SHEER coincidence I found myself meandering down a nostalgic lane in Carton House last Sunday at the final round of the Handa Irish Senior Open.

I am still a bit old-fashioned when it comes to golf. I normally only pay attention to the men’s main professional events and am pretty oblivious to the results in any other form of top competitive golf, male or female. Judging by the scant ‘crowd’ at the Montgomerie course in Kildare, I am not the only one who doesn’t have much interest in Senior golf.

Let’s say it was a fairly low-key affair. It seemed like there was a more intense atmosphere at the Captain’s prize in my home club the previous day.

The weather plays an important role in golf tournaments in Ireland and it would be safe to say Carton House has been jinxed with the weather any time it has hosted a major event. Given their commitment to supporting golf in this country, it is only a matter of time before they get a good break with holding an event at the stately and elegant Carton House in the future.

It was my first time attending a European Senior event and I am so happy I did. It was like being on the European Tour 25 years ago. I looked at the list of play for the final round and was instantly cast back to the Tour in the 80s. It’s funny how people look exactly the same to you as they did two decades ago.

Of course their skin sags more and their hair is greyer, but they all swing the club exactly the same as they did, just with a little less club-head speed and enthusiasm than they used to as young aspiring pros. With a little more girth and a little less vigour, I was immediately brought back in time to the early days of looping on the European Tour.

With a rain delay on Sunday at Carton (as usual) it was just like the old days; caddies huddled under an outdoor shelter slightly removed from the warmth of the clubhouse. I looked at the prize-fund for the week and it too looked like a throwback to the days of old with a total of €250,000 on offer for all 78 participants.

One of the early competitors on Sunday was caught out emotionally on the par three third hole as his ball came to rest inches behind the cup off his tee shot.

He was relieved that it didn’t go in because, on the money he was going to make last week, he couldn’t afford to buy a round of drinks for the group when he got back to the clubhouse. The Senior Tour is a bit like that, it’s got that very familiar members’ feel about it where if you made a hole in one you would indeed buy drinks for the lads back in the clubhouse.

Most of these guys have been competing against each other on and off over four decades. They are very familiar with each other. This is what makes the Senior Tour such a cosy place to be, it’s home for these golfers on a life-sentence of competitive golfing. They are probably a bit like career prisoners who are institutionalised and wouldn’t know how to live in the free world.

They wouldn’t know what to do if they didn’t compete at golf for a living, if they hadn’t become Sky TV commentators or tour referees they would have withered and faded away. Continuing to play professionally at a more stooped stage of their lives rightly gives them an extended sense of purpose because, of course, they are still talented. The winning score by Marc Farry of ten under for three rounds on the demanding Monty course is proof of their over-50s form.

I have heard some argue that the Senior Tour is a bit of a futile distraction from both the main tour and more particularly the Challenge Tour which is the breeding ground for young talent in Europe. Surely the money being sucked out of the overall golf pot would be better spent on these young hopefuls rather than the old fogies who have already had their chance to prove their golfing worth in their youth.

The philanthropist Dr Haruhisa Handa from Japan, the founder and chairman of International Sports Promotion Society, has certainly thrown a lifeline to the ageing European stars. Amongst other events world wide he is sponsoring a considerable number of the senior tournaments and boosted the prize funds of events in general on the Senior Tour.

There is of course a wealth of experience on the tour. I cast my eye across the scoreboard and recognized a host of players from Eamonn Darcy, Mike Clayton, Peter Fowler, Roger Chapman, Terry Gale to Marc Farry, all of whom I have caddied for at various stages of my international looping career. The more players you work for, the more experience you gain. There seems to be an element of work experience for the guys who were carrying the bags at Carton last week.

Whatever about pay, they will glean invaluable tips from players who have both survived the strain of constant competition for up to four decades and the wear and tear of life on the road.

The unique advantage of playing golf is of course that you can play the game until you are 80-plus. In this era of more age awareness it is inspiring to see these former stars still proving their worth as entertainers and talented golfers.

Even with the aches of arthritis and the need for reading glasses on a chain in the scorer’s room and the occasional bouts of grumpiness, the Senior Tour is proof that golf is the only game that can be truly enjoyed from the age of eight to 80.